Sewing Machines & a Kitty

 My sewing room is home to several sewing machines, but they all have a special purpose.  My current layout allows me to have 4 of my machines setup and ready to sew.  A couple have covers as I don't use them quite as often, but I would not want to part with any of them.  My kitty Butters can usually be found somewhere close by.  If I go up the stairs she is right behind me.  She wants to be on top of everything I do.  When not in use I have to keep the door closed to my sewing room because somehow she always seems to find another ball of yarn, or a multitude of other treasures she drags down the stairs to show me her new found prize.  Sometimes it is amazing the size of the treasures she can pull down the stairs, you can usually hear that she has something bigger coming down the stairs because she can make lots of noises.

My workhorse is my Juki TL2000.  It only does straight stitches, but it does them beautifully, and very quickly. I can usually find several tasks that I can compete better/faster using my serger, on the left.  In front of the other window, covered, is my Juki DX5 that does fancy stitches.  To the far right is my Juki Coverstitch... I forgot the # on that one.  I am still learning all its capabilities... I haven't had it too long.  It is a really cool machine with lots of possibilities, but sometimes I get too distracted with other things going on to take the time to really find this machine's full potential.

I have a couple antique sewing machines that still work.  Those are not typically setup all the time, but my Singer Featherweight gets pulled into service now and then when I want to use a ruffler because it has a really nice ruffler attachment.  I think that machine is older than I am.

Now I have a few other machines, but these are the ones I utilize most often.

Almost quilting...

Quilting has been kind of on the back burner lately.  I am not saying that I don't get any quilting done... it is just that it isn't a priority on my list of projects and things that need to be done.  There is a quilt retreat coming up soon, closely followed by the BIG quilt show in Houston... Inspiration!!!, but meanwhile I am trying to work at putting quilting back in the active mode... at least a little more active than it has been in the last several months.

My longarm is all set up in a room upstairs along with my embroidery machine.  These are important elements of the quilting process, but not necessarily something I use on a daily basis.  I have moved my regular sewing machine around a couple times since our move... trying to find the right spot, and I think I have found a corner of the dining area... downstairs... that does not stand out too much.  Now I know there are some that would not consider putting their sewing machine in the main living area... but when I feel like doing some sewing, I did not want the stairs to be an obstacle.  A more important obstacle would have been an objection from Ron, but he is totally with the plan.  It is far enough away from his TV viewing area, that the minimal noise I might create is not a distraction... and I am in the same room... kind of anyhow.

I recently started a quilting project using scrap pieces of fabric that I just happen to have on hand.  I have made a couple of these quilts in the past 2 or 3 years, but it has probably been at least a year since the last one. I think it is a fun project for a few people to work on at the same time... each on their own quilt, and it is amazing to see how different the end results are.  There are a few steps of this process that are a little confusing at first and someone that is easily intimidated might push this one aside.  I have helped a few others along with these steps... and I am freshening my memory before I make the suggestion to one of my quilt groups again.

This is one of those scrappy quilts that I finished a couple years ago, then took it with me to a retreat... to show them how cool this Kwik Krazy quilt can turn out. Turns out my sister really really liked it... almost as much as I did, and I could not say no when she asked me if she could have it.  I am trying to document my progress of the current "sample" quilt and will attempt to put a tutorial together. Another neat part of this quilt is the scrappy border that I made using adding machine tape. That could also be a process that would merit another tutorial.