Monday, June 17, 2013

After finishing up one large section of my mystery project this morning, I decided it was time to unpack my new sewing machine (Pearl 2) and try it out. Like Ruby, Pearl 2 is a Janome and it felt very familiar right from the start. The bobbins for both machines are the same so the three bobbins I filled this morning will last me for quite some time. Pearl 2 is noisier than Ruby but sews a nice seam without much adjusting from the presets it came with. I used Pearl 2 to finish up my mystery project top. I’ll continue to use Ruby for quilting, but it will be nice to be able to switch to Pearl 2 for piecing if Ruby is set up for quilting.

I’m amazed at how much easier this top went together following the Craftsy lessons. I didn’t do everything according to their plan, but turning the photo into a graph and their hints on those 1.5 inch pieces were very valuable. I cheated a bit in my other pixelated projects by using longer strips where the squares were to be the same colour. Surprisingly, the project went together better with the smaller pieces.

While stitching today I’ve been revisiting some of the albums of the House Concert performers we had last season. The albums are a different atmosphere than their live performances, but enjoyable all the same.

My knitting is progressing well and I’ll have the baby blanket done in plenty of time. Actually the knitted blanket is a back-up plan in case I don’t get the quilt finished that I’m planning to make. Since the quilt hasn’t been started yet it is good to know I have a back-up!

Now it’s time to get a few things packed up for the sewing bee tomorrow. It’s been over a month since I was at a bee and I’m really looking forward to catching up with everyone.