Tasting Table Tuesday Tip

Can't post sewing pictures this week because I'm working on Christmas projects right now and don't want to ruin the surprise for anyone...  So I'll share a tip this week instead.

It's a storage/disposal jar for all those used rotary cutter blades and bend or dull pins and needles.

I won't throw those items loose in the trash, for fear of someone getting injured (mainly my husband, since he takes care of the trash every week).

I used to keep an old Altoids Mint tin in my drawer to throw them in, but I found this solution works even better.

 It's an empty Kraft Parmesan Cheese shaker container.  I just leave it sitting next to my machine, so as I come across a bent or dull pin, I can just drop it into the container thru the shaker holes.  And the half-round opening on the other side is just right for used blades.

Once the container is full, I can just snap the lid shut and throw the entire thing in the trash and start a new jar.  Safety note:  make sure to always keep the lid shut if you have young children or pets around...

Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - Family Ties #2

Family Ties #2 is all pieced and ready to take to the longarm quilter.  But first I have to find a suitable backing fabric.  Then it will be on it's way to be quilted.

And I just realized how close we're getting to Christmas!  Only a few weeks left, so I'd better get started on my shopping and sewing!  So please forgive me if I don't have a lot to share in the next month or so, because I don't want to give away any surprises...

Cheers!

New Juki Update

Out with the old...

And in with the new...

I know - you don't see much difference.  In fact, if I hadn't told my husband what I was doing, I bet he wouldn't even notice that I have a new machine!  But don't let the similarity fool you - I'm so very impressed with this new model.  I love that fact that it's just like my old one, so there's no learning curve to go through, but it's just "better"...  They have really made a noticeable improvement to the speed control of this machine, and after several hours of "playing" in the last couple of days, I've not had any thread breaks, or tension issues (knock on wood!).

Then I tore myself away from my new toy and made some really good progress on the next Family Ties quilt.  My client picked out a rich burgundy for the background on this one.  It's from P&B's Suede collection.

I've got all the pieced strips done and hope to cut the solid alternate strips tomorrow.  We'll see how far I get with the assembly...

Cheers!

Tasting Table Tuesday - New Machine!

The Pennsylvania Mountains Baby Quilt is now completely finished and will be traveling to it's new home in the next few days.

Then I took a day and quilted this one as a favor for a friend.  She pieced the top and asked me to quilt it in an all-over meander, so that's now finished as well.

As I quilted these two quilts, I reminisced about the last 5 years I've had with this machine...

and made the decision to upgrade to this...

My old one was the Juki TL-98Q, and now I'm upgrading to the new, improved Juki TL-2010Q.  It's basically the same machine, but they've added some new features that I'm really excited about, including:

• a built-in speed control (replaces the black box you see in the picture of my old machine, which is a home-made speed controller my husband made from Radio Shack components).
• a secondary tension device, which I'm hoping will really help with the thread breaks I deal with from time to time.
• new improved LED lighting (my over-50 eyes love this one!  yippee!!!)
• easier access to the bobbin area.

This new machine is due to arrive today sometime, and I can't wait to get some time on it to see how it runs.

And I already have someone in line to buy my old one, so it's a win-win situation for us both!

Cheers!