Machines that purr

 I recently had two of my machines serviced by a man who does mobile servicing only - Ludwig Castillo - 1300 124 122 - Castillo Machine Repairs . Stephanie came to mine and we watched the magic happen asking lots of questions and getting lots of tips. 

Here are the component scraps from the donated machine that started smoking.

It came from the huge mother board in the electrics of the machine and it turns out it is not needed these days anyway.

I would recommend Ludwig's service to anyone who has sewing machine issues. He is so thorough and willing to explain things as he goes. He demonstrated the final sewing and would not leave it until the stitches were perfect.

My other machine also had lots of issues even though I had kept it relatively clean where I could get to.

One thing I did learn about was his fabulous screw driver. None of the screw drivers supplied with machines fit under the machine properly to remove the screws in the bobbin plate but he had a short stubby one.

I'm now going to find the one he had which has interchangeable screwdriver inserts.

On Friday I'm going to give myself a sewing day with Elaine.

While I could not get on with sewing upstairs I finished the jigsaw that Janice lent me when she visited a few weeks ago. I is a lovely one.

The part I liked most about the mobile sewing machine service is that in a few hours you could watch ALL parts of the machine being serviced and know that in the end it was done thoroughly.

Thank you Ludwig.

Tread carefully and clean your machines now!

Last week Kerrie donated her mother's old sewing machine to us. It is a really good Bernina. But as it had not been used in some years I decided to give it a clean before I tried it.

Following the instruction booklet I set to and found...

Again, following the instructions I proceeded to take all the bottom section apart and got my trusty computer vacuum cleaner attachments out and really went to.

An hour later I put it back together again and plugged it all in.

Straight stitch was lovely then I changed to zig zag which seemed OK until I heard terrible noises and the electric section started smoking.

 I did not get a picture of the smoke billowing forth because I was in too much of a hurry to unplug it all and open the window so I did not have smoke alarm hassles.

I think it will be a really good machine but I think I'll leave the electrics to a machine man. 

More news to come on our new Bernina.

So on your next free day clean your machine and change the needle.

Last week's quilt gatherings

 At our last quilting weekend we had our two visitors from the Central West - Janice and Chooky (see previous post). Karen presented her latest quilt top. She says... With help from Stephanie and Linda, my leaders-and-enders quilt is now basted. It has reduced my pile of L-&-Es only slightly. 

I began with one of my practice star blocks from some years ago and then worked out from that, aiming to use as many L-&-Es as possible in various patterns, front and back. And using some other fabrics that went with those colours and for which I had no other purpose. 

Next will be a quilt using my accumulation of green, yellow and brown L-&-Es...

Stephanie busied herself putting our Betty's Garden blocks together when she was not basting Karen's quilt. Our two visitors were making Card Trick blocks for our next quilt but unfortunately the large triangles were the wrong size so they were taken home to finish but will be returned.

Then, this week Kerrie came to visit and brought her mother's sewing machine for us to use. We spent time creating extensions for her quilt that used to be a wall hanging. She wants it to be a single bed topper.

So far we have one end complete. Of course we could not match the fabrics so have decided to at least keep it in a 'country' theme. We have enough of the original green fabric for a border to add once the bottom extension is complete. After that we'll consider the next move.

Just behind Kerrie's quilt top can be seen the Betty's Garden blocks that Stephanie was trimming and sewing together.

When Quilters Tour

  On Friday, after 2 hours of rehab, I returned home to await the arrival of Chooky (Coonamble) and Janice (Bathurst) who were coming to stay at mine. Stephanie joined us for afternoon tea as well.

On Saturday Stephanie came back to mine and we all travelled by train to the city to meet up with Janet (Utah) and use a wander around Sydney as the background to meeting in real life (rather than on Zoom). 

Before meeting Janet we met up with Jules (Coonamble), another quilting friend, and took a little detour via Customs House at Circular Quay for the surprise in the floor.

After meeting up with Janet, her husband and two friends she was travelling with, our next stop was to City Extra for lunch.

By then we were quite a crowd as Leah (another friend of Chooky's) had joined us. Janet's 3 travel companions then left us to tour on the Red Bus while we others took the ferry to Manly.

The day was very hot but we were able to stay in the shade most of the time.

When we arrived at Manly Stephanie and I stayed at the ferry terminal enjoying an ice cream which melted as quickly as we could eat it while the others walked to the beach so Janet could put her feet in the Pacific Ocean (or is it the Tasman at that point?). Of course she came back with her jeans wet to the knees!

Once we returned to Circular Quay we returned to Customs House to show Janet where she was in Sydney and enjoyed a coffee nearby. We then caught the Light Rail to the QVB. 

Janet was suitably impressed with the stunning interior of the QVB. We then walked through to Haighs where Stephanie just had to buy supplies. We all sampled the chocolate buttons. Yum!

It was then time to start heading home so we caught a train to Mascot station then while some people walked I caught an Uber with others to the Moxy Airport hotel where Janet and friends were staying for just one night before leaving on a cruise the next day.

We enjoyed dinner together at the Moxy before saying our goodbyes to the Utah mob. How unfortunate that they only had one day in Sydney but maybe they'll be back again. 

The four remaining of us caught an Uber back to my car at Allawah and I drove home to a surprise meeting with Geoff and the girls who were at mine to collect their beehive. Stephanie drove home to hers. This was followed by a bit of a wind down and a long sleep.

On Sunday our quilting day together started at about 10am. We were joined by Stephanie again as well as Karen and Linda.

What a weekend we all had. By the time everyone had left for their respective return journeys I just collapsed in front of TV until bed time. We had had an amazing long weekend with so many friends and look forward to repeating the idea again soon.

Thank you Janet for being the catalyst for this gathering.

Stephanie is keeping busy with bags

 Stephanie is making bags...

I like the square ones.

A new quilter in the making

 Artie is a young lady interested in patchwork and quilting. She came to mine with her first bundle of fat quarters last weekend and we played. After some discussion about the sorts of designs she liked and a lot of browsing through books and online she decided on a block.

This was followed by lessons on grid paper and some colour play. We searched my stash for some plains to add to her patterned fabrics.

Then we started... ta da!

Artie's first block! She is coming back this weekend to choose another block for a sampler in her chosen colours.

This was just what I needed as I am in house arrest while my hip heals and my movement strengthens.

Jeanette's quilts

 Jeanette says: I did a card trick quilt for Mum about 10yrs ago.  Different method though. I've also added pic of circular baby quilt I've just finished for a friend in NZ. I used minky on the back. 

Thanks Jeanette. I love the circular one.

A Citrus quilt for the author

 Karen made a small quilt (for table or wall-hanging) for a friend who published a book on Citrus in November. 

The book: Citrus by David Mabberley (a friend and colleague)

This is an amazing book with lots of illustrations from the ancient and modern art world as well as information that ties the history of the world to citrus.

Karen's latest Show and Tell

 Karen made cushions for three friends as Xmas presents. The colours and themes reflect the interests and tastes of the recipients: cockatoos for an animal-lover; banksias for a keen gardener; and pink/red eucalypt flowers and  leaves for another gardener. They are 18 inches square and are made pillow-case style.

Stephanie's latest show and tell

 Here is Stephanie's progress on her Oh My Gosh quilt. The smallest pieces are 1.5" cut squares so the half square triangles are 3.5" squares untrimmed I think.

I'm inspired to make one as well to use up some of my scraps too. I just have to find enough whites and tone on tone whites.

Our first get-together for 2025

 Yesterday a small group (Karen, Elaine, Stephanie and I) worked hard upstairs, and Linda and Jess came for lunch.

We were able to put all the tulips together and really love the final design. If your blocks have not been included we can still use them as orphan blocks when and if they arrive.

This allowed us to clear the design wall and put up our "stained glass" blocks and discuss what next with this quilt top. To avoid making it too formal as a grid we will probably offset the blocks somehow. There are still some of these blocks to come so by the end of February they should be here.

Heather joined us on zoom in the afternoon and lots of laughs were had. Stephanie showed us her take on what she and I should do with our 'black' quilt and I like it.

It means cutting up the blocks we've made into 4 and inserting alternate black patches then cutting the sides and adding them back flipped. It does look amazing, I hope I have enough black.

Some people sourced colours for our next block from my stash. The background fabric is the focus fabric and it should be on its way to you now. If you want it please let me know. 

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone back in March with all blocks returned.

Macquarie Home Stay Appeal

 Hi all, here is a great cause to donate to:

https://chookyblue.blogspot.com/2025/01/macquarie-home-stay-fundraiser.html