Thanksgiving is over. Time to start thinking of Christmas and FWs

It was a busy week getting ready for Thanksgiving and then doing all the cleaning up afterwards.  I'm sure I wasn't alone and I hope you all are getting a chance to relax a bit and catch up after all the food and fun.  We had a great time with 10 at the table and a visit from a cousin we hadn't seen in years as well.  He was just in time for dessert.  The last bits of pie and turkey noodle soup are almost gone.  I don't know how many pounds I gained.  I guess I should step on the scale.  Oh no!  That's too scary!

So now, I'm busy getting my Christmas lists made and shopping done. I'm sure you all have all that done but I've got a ton to do.  I haven't made my Christmas cards yet and I have dozens and dozens of Christmas cookies to make for the dear grandchildren and their families.  I do hope I will be able to get it all done.  But, I do have our Christmas tree out on the porch ready to set up.  See, I've started on Christmas!

We have FW Club Classes this weekend.  If you are within driving distance I sure hope you can come.  Skip over to the Class Schedule page and scroll down to see what we'll be doing this month.  We're making a FW sewing machine mat that will take us 2 months.  You can see the picture of the part we'll be doing this month when you check to see what you need to bring.

While I was making the FW sewing machine mat I was reminded that we do need to put a drop of oil on the bobbin assembly teeth  when we start sewing for the day.  Do you remember that I had you run your machine before we did the maintenance for the first time? I wanted you to see how much better your FW would sound once it was oiled, greased and lubed.  Well when I started the FW mat, I stitched a bit of a line before oiling those teeth and was immediately reminded because the sound wasn't as beautiful as I like to hear.  So, I know it might seem like a bother to do that one drop of oil every day but oh my, what a difference it makes in the end.  That beautiful click, click, click is music to my ears.  The clack, clack, or grind, grind makes cold chills go up my spine.  Do oil those teeth. (Yes, I do see that I need to clean out the fuzz but I needed to get this picture first!)

Okay, I hope to see you in a class but if you can't be there, I understand.  I hope to check in with all of you before the big holiday and try to see how you all are doing about getting ready. I'll be honest and tell you all about the stuff that I still have to do.  And, I won't be jealous of you having everything already done.  Well, maybe just a tiny bit jealous.  You do understand, right?  Have a good week, all.

Winter has arrived

Happy Veteran's Day to all those brave souls that have served at some point in their life and to the families that had to let a loved one go when their commitment meant giving a life physically or mentally.  We are free because of those brave men and women and I say THANK YOU for your service.

I guess a lot of records will be broken today in the weather columns.  I can't remember having this much snow this early but it's here.  We have 3" already and the snow is still coming down. Okay, this picture is more than 3" but if it keeps coming down it could get to be this much.  I drove to the next town to pick up a FW from a lady to fix it and the roads weren't too bad.  People in my neck of the woods are driving sanely.  I didn't see anyone in the ditch.  And, my new car handled the snowy pavement just fine, thank goodness.  I was wondering how she would like the winter weather. I'm back home now just watching it pile up.  It's good to have a nice warm house.

I hope you were able to attend our first FW Club meeting of the winter season.  We did have a fun time.  A few ideas were bounced around for this year's activities and I sure appreciated hearing what you all would like to do. 

We will be focusing on an attachment every month again.  There are so many that people haven't had a chance to see and use.  People that were at the meeting said they want to do these again.  It will take a couple of years to get through all of them.  My favorite is the buttonholer.  We did it at the last meeting.

And, the ladies also told me they like doing a little project each month.  We had so many at the Sunday class that we didn't have a lot of time to make the poinsettia pouches but everyone got the pattern and we started them.  So, we'll be making a FW mat at the next Club class.  I'm working on it now.  Watch the class schedule tab to see what to bring to the next meeting.  I'll post a week or two before class.

And, I'm announcing a challenge for this winter season as well. Drum roll please!  The FW Club Stash buster/Scrappy Challenge has begun.  I hosted one of these on my online quilt guild and it went over well.  You don't have to participate if you don't want but you can participate and bring your projects to any FW Club class to start adding up.  We'll run this challenge until time for me to leave in the Spring.  Totals will be revealed in May, 2020 and there will be a FW prize for the winner.  Here's the rules.

1. You have to use at least 15 different fabrics in each project to be counted.
2. Your project cannot be one that you've already started.  In other words, anything you begin new for this challenge can be counted.
3. You can make any size quilt, wall hanging, or whatever.  The total square inches of your project will be the number added to your total.   If you finish the item by quilting it and binding it to have it ready to use, we'll count 1 1/2 times the total square inches to your total.
4. You need to bring your projects to the FW Club meeting to show it off to be counted.

Okay, the challenge is open.  Get busy using up your scraps and let's see what you make.  I know we're all going to see a lot of gorgeous items.  I can't wait.  I'm going to start working on the prize.  Let the fun begin. Here's one example of an item that could count.  It's called, Jean's Diamonds so you know why I picked this one to show you.

I guess I'll work on machines today.  I have a few to repair/clean, etc. for people.  Keep in touch.  I'm looking forward to a busy winter season of FW fun and lots of sewing projects.  Join me!

Fall is here.... Summer is over!

We're having the last few breaths of summer here this week but the cold will be coming in with a vengeance later today.  Did I hear the 'snow' word on the weather report last night?  I've been meaning to post the last couple of weeks but you know, it's been a busy time.  We've had company non-stop, and the packing is a lot of work for this old lady.  We'll be heading back to SE Michigan very soon though and it will be time to pull out the featherweights and get them cleaned up for the winter.

I hear that the colors are just barely beginning down state.  This may be the most colorful fall we've had in years here in the UP.  Bright reds, oranges, gold and my favorite, peachy leaves are everywhere and such a beautiful sight to see.  I had to drive to town to get a few things before this last batch of company came this week so I took my camera along to capture my drive.  Pictures do not do justice to how gorgeous the colors of fall are this time.  See for yourself!

And, over the summer I've really been busy working on my Little Brown Bird quilt.  I think I've finished maybe 11 of the 40 blocks this year.  I hadn't worked on it very much for a couple of years so without a wedding quilt to make or a Christmas quilt to finish, I got a big chunk of this LBB quilt completed.  I'm down to 9 blocks to finish before starting to put this one together and I'm jazzed to get it done.  No, it won't be done in 2020 but maybe it can be almost finished by the end of the year.  I do love my applique, don't ya know!  Here are 3 of the blocks I've completed this summer.

I've also worked on  things not applique this summer as well.  I'll bring a few of the quilt tops I've put together with Judy, my FW in the UP, when I come to the first FW Club class.  You need to bring your quilting projects made with your FWs as well. I think we'll have a big Show 'n Tell, because I've heard about a few of the things you all have been working on.

Have you heard about the new Featherweight Super belt or the horizontal spool pin thread holder from the FW Shop?  I got a preview of them during my trip to the FW Shop in Idaho back in June.  I've been patiently waiting for the big introduction of these new products.  I'll have them at the first FW Club class for you all to see and I even have one of those tools to show you how much better the belt will be for your machine.  I have a limited supply at the moment but can order more as you all need them.

I've been busy getting things ready for our fall FW Club classes.  You'll have to check out what to bring and what we'll be doing over on the Class Schedule page.  I'm very excited about this year's classes.  Bring your machine and your excitement.  It is always so much fun.

Okay, I have to go start my morning.  With company here, there's always a lot to do.  Don't forget, the maintenance classes will be October 26, 29, and Nov 15.  And, we'll have the FW Club class on Nov 1 and 3.  Mark your calendars.  It's almost time to get this FW season started.

Wait just a minute here!

My featherweights are supposed to sew perfectly, all the time, right?  Well, Judy, my FW that I use all the time here in the UP, just wasn't acting right after I got her home from the retreats.  In fact, she was acting horrible.  I set her up just like she was before I left and I started to sew.  Well, I tried to sew.  She started skipping stitches and not just a little bit. 

Wait just a minute.  I took the tension off and cleaned everything at retreat and I took the bobbin assembly all apart and cleaned that, too.  I knew I had put everything back together correctly.  So what's the problem?  I did all the steps that I tell people to do when they have skipped stitches.

1- take the thread off and re-thread everything.

2- Check that the finger is in the valley of the throat plate.

3- Check to see that the flat side of the needle is on the left.

4- Check to see that the needle is threaded from right to left.

Okay, all that checked out.  I knew it would.  But, still stitches were horrible.  Okay, when did I last change my needle?  I couldn't remember so I changed it.  Still, nothing different.  Urgh!!

So all the usual reasons for skipped stitches were fine.  I guess I needed to check the needle timing at this point.  I watched the stitch being made and could see pretty quickly that the needle and the hook weren't linking up like they should.  And, when I checked out the needle bar timing I found out that the needle bar was set too far down.  So, I fixed that.

Wow!  Judy is stitching okay again.  Wait.  she's stitching when I am sewing two pieces of fabric together but when I go over a seam, she's skipping again.  Okay, I needed to check the hook/needle line up once again.  And there was the problem.

At some point someone had adjusted the needle bar timing to match up with the incorrectly set main shaft timing.  So, it worked before but when everything was taken apart, cleaned, and put back together, the incorrect setting took over and Judy didn't like it even a little bit.

She's all fixed now.  Both the main shaft timing and the needle bar timing are correct and Judy is sewing up a storm.

When you all tell me your machine was working better before cleaning, I guess I understand now.  There is probably something that was 'off' before and now your machine is letting you know there's something 'off'.  You probably wouldn't know exactly what to check.  Sometimes I know quickly and other times I have to think about things and check out issues one at a time.  Sometimes I even have to call the techs at the Featherweight shop.  But, it gets figured out in the end.

Aren't you glad you have a sewing machine that can be fixed so easily?  I'm glad that I know how to fix them. 

The Later August 2019 Retreat/Workshop

Okay, did you notice that I've added the word Workshop to the retreat's name?  That's because we don't just have a retreat.  We have a learning, working, sewing, having fun kind of retreat that's really a retreat/workshop combination.

Here's something that I should do at every retreat.  Someone suggested it this time so we made sure to get this picture before anyone left on Sunday.  It's all the gals in this later retreat.  Okay, we probably look a little tired after 3 days of working and having fun, but we did have a blast with all the stuff we did and all the good food we ate.  If you come to one of the future retreat/workshops, be sure and remind me to get a picture of the group.  I love this picture.  It documents who came to learn.

So, while I'm thinking about it, I should mention this.  Annette G, one of the gals that's not missed any of my retreats, is putting together a Featherweight Club recipe book from all the good recipes that were fixed at the 4 retreats we've had so far.  So, if you came to one of the retreats and haven't sent in your recipe, get that to me ASAP so I can pass it along.  We'll give more information about the book when the FW Club meetings start in November.

Okay, it looks like everyone was working so intently and not having fun.  But we WERE having fun the whole time while we were working, making great quilt tops and cleaning the machines. Again, I heard how the machines were sounding so nice the whole time.  I love hearing that.

There were quite a few quilt tops finished.  This one was in process but isn't it a beauty?

And, I heard another story about some sewing machine repair person charging a lot of money to clean and oil a machine.  We discovered that the cleaning and/or oiling just didn't happen.  Do I have you convinced that learning to clean your machine  yourself is the best way to go?  I hope so.

The BLAST we had will not be forgotten soon. So many cute little gifts were given and accepted.  The drawing table was full of great things to pick from and I thank you all for making this such a wonderful 4 days.  You all are the BEST!

There is only one spot open for one of next year's 4 retreat/workshops.  You should go to that tab and check them out.  Get your name on the waiting list if the one you want to come to is already full.  We do get people drop out when something comes up that they didn't know about when they signed up. 

I will try to post again soon and not wait too long.  The weather is cooling down here in the UP.  It feels like fall already.  That means that it will soon be time for me to pack up and move again, back to the winter house and back to teaching FW maintenance and Club classes.  I've already gotten ideas in mind for the things we'll do each month.  I have those dates listed in the Class Schedule tab. Check that out.  And, if you have any FW questions, don't hesitate to ask.

The Early August 2019 retreat

Where do I start?  The early August 2019 retreat was a blast, as always.  The house was full with 16 beautiful ladies working on more than 16 beautiful featherweights. I think I'll start calling these retreats workshops because we do so much more than sew. We take things apart.  We clean parts and replace things that need replacing.  We put things back together the way they should be and yes, we sew.  If I heard, "my machine sounds so much better" once, I heard it a dozen times.  No, I heard it more than a dozen times.  It was more fun that a barrel of monkeys.

And, what beautiful machines we saw.  Look at this one.  Isn't she a beauty?  And, she sewed like a workhorse all weekend. 

Several ladies worked on the FW dust cover.  They are really cute and so practical to cover up the machine when it's not in use.  I use mine in the UP all the time because my machine up here sits in a cabinet.  I needed a cover for her.

The jewelry cleaner was used so much cleaning parts on the machines, it got hot.  And, I don't know how many times we changed the water.  The tensions and bobbin assemblies were squeaky clean when we went home, Yeah!

In fact, I should tell everyone that when they come to a FW Club retreat/workshop, they shouldn't pay a machine repair person a ton of money to 'clean the machine' before attending.  I always hear stories of gals getting charged around $100 for a machine to be cleaned and then, we find goop and grime  that should have been cleaned out for that price, but wasn't.  I heard stories like that at both retreats this time.  People getting gouged by machine repair people makes me so MAD!

We do have FUN at our retreats, too.  Yup, the Bailey's gals had a very good time!

So, I'll post more about the Late August 2019 retreat yet this week.  I'm still recovering from the whole two weeks.  Check it out when you can.  The 2020 retreat/workshop dates are already set and some are already full.