So this post will be a little unusual – it’s a few links specifically requested by the lovely gals in my Invisible Machine Appliqué class who wanted to know where I found a few of the items I used in class today. Upon discussion, it was agreed that the easiest thing for everyone would be for me to post the links here.
First off, here are the light boxes/light pads I brought for everyone to use:
For a working surface just under 13″ x 17″:
Continue Reading…
In a previous post, I started experimenting with sewing quilt binding on the back of the quilt and then bringing it around to the front and appliquéing it down by machine (instead of sewing it to the front of the quilt, wrapping it around, and hand-stitching it on the back of the quilt).
I felt the experiment was successful, but the process needed refining. I’m going to give it another go. 🙂
This time I cut the binding strips 2 1/4″ wide. I still want the binding to be wider on the front of the quilt than the back (so that I don’t catch the binding in the appliqué stitching), but not as wide as in my first experiment.
I started by sewing the folded binding to the back of the quilt with a 1/4″ seam.
Then I wrapped the binding around to the front of the quilt, using Wonder Clips to hold it in place, and removed the clips as I worked my way around the quilt.
Continuing my evaluation of the Baby Lock Jazz – It’s time to piece a quilt!
One of the first things I looked for is a straight stitch throat plate, as I have found that very helpful for sewing perfectly accurate, consistently straight seams on other machines, especially when strip piecing. I was initially disappointed to find that there is no straight stitch throat plate available for the Baby Lock Jazz. But I decided to give it a go before making up my mind as to whether or not this poses a significant problem.
Here is how it went:
Since the last stitching I had done was a zigzag stitch, the first thing was to switch the machine back to a straight stitch. No problem. However, when I adjusted the stitch length to 0 (stitch width is not applicable for a straight stitch, right?) I immediately realized I had a problem:
I initially assumed I should set the stitch width to 0 for a straight stitch
Notice the problem – the needle hits the presser foot!
So I consulted the manual – which is terrific, by the way; very clear and well-illustrated.
Following the manual, I reset the stitch width to the dot marked on the dial.
This is the correct stitch width setting for a straight stitch
Perfectly lined up! Continue Reading…
