I recently turned a bunch of random scraps into a protoquilt.  The one above is a new bookshelf runner for my craft room.

Protoquilting is a term I’ve been using to describe my random projects that serve to practice quilting techniques that may one day be used for a king-sized mammoth quilt for our bed.  Protoquilting is my rationalized pasttime because, really, the thought of creating and quilting a king-sized quilt on my little machine is a little terrifying.  So, protoquilts.  Cute and easy.

This particular protoquilt was quite inspired by this lovely baby quilt.  I found myself enchanted by pebble quilting and thought I should give it a try. I love the way it turned out!  And it feels really great in your hands. The beige comes from a skirt that I previously made and cut up.  I like it much better now.  And the finished product kind of matches my sewing machine cover.

Instead of holding it on my lap, it’ll be serving to keep the grit and water off of my bookshelf from these here plants.

* New year’s resolution:  Learn how to take great care of a jade plant!  (i.e., see how long I can make it keep living…)

The other day I felt like making something other than a PodPillow. I noticed my scrap basket was overflowing and I thought I would see about using those.  A craft room explosion was the result, although somewhat temporary.  Eventually, just about everything was organized into neat little scrap bundles.

The rainbow scraps at the bottom were pulled out for the project, which I’m just finishing up now. More when I’m done!

Each year around the holidays – or more specifically, while I’m in the middle of the holiday sewing craziness – I lament about how infrequently I manage to perform the maintenance that I know my machine so desperately needs at this time of year:  cleaning and oiling!

First, the procrastinator makes an appearance:  ”Just one more bobbin.” or “When I’m done with this quilt!”

Next, denial sets in:  ”Wow, where are all these fuzzies coming from?  Must be this batting.”  or “Really, I’m sure that ca-chunk-ca-chunk-ca-chunking is just the dishwasher.”

But the dirty dishes are still piled up, and your projects continue to flow through the machine, one after the other.  And you don’t do it.  Or at least, I don’t.  Not nearly enough.

But there’s no excuse!  It’s so easy and takes about 3 minutes.  Below are the steps for you to do it yourself.  At least someone will be cleaning their machine, even if I’m not.

Cleaning and Oiling Your Machine

Getting started:  Unthread your machine and put it in the “needle up” position.  Turn it off. Find your brush and oil.  The ones pictured above came with my machine.

Step 1 – Approach:  Quietly, gently approach the machine in its native habitat.  Speak in soothing tones, so it doesn’t suspect anything.

Hunting for fuzzies.

Step 2 – Open the top:  Press open the stitch plate beneath the presser foot and remove it.

Woah, this could get ugly. See the fuzzies already trying to escape?

Run! Here they come!

Step 3 – Defuzzify:  Brush out all the fuzzies and gunk, bits of broken needles, toast crumbs, dog hair, extra threads, whatever else is stuck in there:

This can get a little messy, and it's hard to get into all of the nooks and crannies.

Step 4 – Appreciate:  Admire your clean machine top, and replace the stitch plate:

Clean and fuzzy-free.

Clean top with stitch plate.

Step 5 – Bobbin area: Open up the bobbin door, and remove the bobbin.  Clean out the fuzzies you can see.

Clean out what you can see. More detailed cleaning will follow shortly!

Step 6 – Release the bobbin hook: Now, release the housing that holds the bobbin hook in place. There’s a handy little lever on the top left of your machine to release it. Push this lever to the left to release the housing.    The housing will flop down:

Press the lever on the top left of your bobbin area to release the metal/black plastic housing. Not so conveniently for this tutorial, my thumb is covering it up.

Step 7 – Remove the Bobbin Hook:  Open the bobbin housing and remove the spiky part that sits on the right-half of the bobbin area.  This is called the bobbin hook.  It’s the part that rotates around the bobbin and makes stitches.

Remove the bobbin hook. Boy, I need hand moisturizer!

This is what it looks like up close:

Bobbin hook up close. I hear this item costs about $70. Treat it nicely!

Step 8 – Clean like the wind!:  Now clean out the hook and the rest of the bobbin area with your handy little brush so it looks like this:

Shiny!

Diversion! – Understanding the inside:  Small side trip! The bobbin hook sits inside the housing and “races” around in a circle while you’re sewing to make stitches.  The little track that it goes around on is called the race. Ultimately, this is the part that needs the oil on it.

The race - this is the part that ultimately needs to have oil on it.

This is the part of the hook that sits in the race.

There are two different ways to get oil onto the race.  Are you ready?  3, 2, 1…

Step 9 – Option 1 – Oil the Hook: 

The hook, getting a one-drop oil bath.

Step 9 – Option 2 – Oil the Race:

Oiling the race - One drop is all you need!

Place one drop of oil at the bottom of the race hook.

Please note: You only need to do ONE of the above methods.  You DO NOT need to do both.  When you’re done with your chosen method, the rest of the steps are the same:

Step 10 – Put Humpty Back Together Again:  Reinsert the hook into the race and close the housing again:

Clean and put back together.

Step 11 – Run the machine and listen to it purr:  As the hook turns in the machine, oil will be distributed along the race.  Run the machine without any fabric in it until the oil is distributed.  This saves you from the disappointment of getting a bit of oil on your project as the machine settles in to its new-found lubricated state.  Machine sounds better, doesn’t it?

Take your new tidy machine for a spin.

When should you oil your machine?

I’ve heard a lot of different things:  Every bobbin, every 3-5 bobbins, at each needle change, every day, never…  But my rule of thumb is usually the following:

1) After using up 3-5 bobbins.

2) When it start ca-chunking – sometimes the machine just sounds like it needs oil.  When this happens, I oil it.  It’s possible that it hits this mark after the 3-5 bobbin stage, and comes from my minor neglect, but I will deny this if anyone asks.

3) When Bernina tells you you should - Bernina will display a cute little oil can icon on the front of the machine after about 180,000 stitches, indicating that it’s time to oil.  Almost all the sewers I know oil more frequently than this, but it’s a good reminder to get once in a while, and it’s a cute icon, to boot!

What you shouldn’t do when oiling: Compressed Air

People say that compressed air is ok for the older mechanical machines that are not computerized.  However, most sewing pros I know don’t use compressed air on their computerized machines, for fear of blowing the dust into the internals of the machine and messing something up.  I’m not sure I buy it completely, but better safe than sorry!  I steer clear of it just to be sure!

Hope this little tutorial was helpful.  Happy cleaning!

It appears that a year has come and gone since the last time I posted to this here little blog.

A lot has happened since I last popped in.  A busy year to be sure, due to all sorts of things.  But in terms of craft chronology, it went something like this:

Nov – May: Sew lots and lots (and lots!) of Podpillows.  Become best friends with my local post office clerk. Stockpile fabric.  Drive down the price of barley at every supermarket for miles around (seriously – from $1.29 to $.89.  That was all me, I swear).

June – Now – Abandon sewing machine.  Put Etsy store in “vacation mode.”  Spend time recovering from craft overload.

After a few months of recharging, it was this here Joel Dewberry fabric that drew me back into the fold.  I spotted it at the second-newest fabric store in town (yes, there are TWO new fabric stores in town.  Craft heaven.) and I bought some.  I made this wristlet and lots of curtains for home.  Here’s the wristlet!

It’s my first foray into flower adornments.  I used this awesome tutorial.  It’s also my first foray into Melissa Averinos fabric (also found at the aforementioned fabric store.  Did I tell you it’s a discount fabric store, too?  Love!).

The inside has six slots for credit cards, and, of course, a custom pocket for an iPhone.  I carry this sucker everywhere.

Isn’t the power of new fabric amazing?  Anyway, glad to be back!

Growing up, I was the type of tomboy kid that refused to wear dresses and play with Barbies, and would instead prefer riding my dirt bike around town.  My mom had to try all sorts of tactics to get me to agree to finding and buying a dress for some special occasion (chorus concert!  family pictures!), while attempting to stave off the inevitable cranky fighting that would occur during these mutually-dreaded trips.  It pains me to think of what a picky, annoying mess of a dress-hating daughter she had to deal with, but she was a pro and had the patience of a saint.

My favorite (and probably the most successful) tactic of hers was when she’d have me wait in the dressing room in some department store, and go out to the sales floor alone and find a few things without me.  This way, I couldn’t veto everything at first sight.  She’d return and only enter with the dubious goods once I’d closed my eyes.  She’d put one of the dresses on me (eyes still closed!) and we’d discuss the merits of the dress (“isn’t it comfortable?  feel how soft!”), all with eyes tightly shut.  She’d then have me open my eyes, having worked to create a more positive attitude, and have me look in the mirror to see this much talked-up dress.  It actually worked and I can remember leaving with a dress on a few occasions.

I’m not sure when or how it happened, but, now, many, many years later, I own lots of dresses, and no one had to coerce me into buying any of them (…my eyes were open the whole time).  Perhaps even more surprisingly, the most frequently seen colors in my closet are now pinks and purples.  In fact, at times it feels like those are the only colors in my closet.  Ryan would agree.

So, when I took a break this weekend from PodPillow production, I decided to make this pink patchwork belt.  Happily, it matches just about everything in my wardrobe and I love it!

And now that I’m on such a girl-roll, I’m on the lookout for Barbie fabric.  Do they make that?  Just kidding.

Thanks everyone for your suggestions on how to get my craft juices flowing.  I think I may make a wristlet next.  I need something to tote around work that holds an iPhone + a credit card + my (non-existent-but-planned) DD large iced tea cup cozy so that my hands don’t freeze this winter while I feed my daily addiction.

I made another quilt!  This one is for Melinda & her family, who received it the other day.   Now that she has it in her hands, I can show it to you!

It’s a strip quilt made from lots of colorful polka-dot fabrics, and also includes my favorite Elephant fabric plus some Flea Market Fancy that I’m surprised I still haven’t used up after all this time (though, it’s on its last legs to be sure, heading into “scrap” status at this point).  Melinda’s family includes two adorable children.  I’m hopeful that the kids find this quilt’s colorful disposition not quite as blinding as I do, and instead find it to be fun and joyful instead.

Here’s a view of the front:

Here’s the back (or – the other front)! Mostly brown, some more polka dots for good measure:

I’ve got a few more projects on the docket, but I’m laying off the polka dots for a while for the next up.

Hope you’re all having a great weekend!

Some serious experimenting has resulted in another member of the PodPillow family!  Behold the PodPillow for Kindle, featured in one of my fave Amy Butler fabrics, upon which my lovely and dear first generation Kindle is perched!  And it’s more pink and green, which is apparently a new favorite combo.  This one’s for sale at my Etsy store!

Coming soon:  PodPillow for iPad!

I just bought this full-of-awesomeness new chair for just $20 bucks at a yard sale.  It was totally meant to be that I and this chair would come together in holy craft-room-accessorizing matrimony – I’m sure of it!  I was on a bike ride and passed this yard sale in a posh part of town.  I think that if there’s one rule of yard sales, it’s that you have to stop at the posh ones for the big bargains to be found at rich peoples’ homes, right?  I mean, the nicest houses seem to have the nicest stuff.

But I didn’t stop. I violated my own rule, even though I spotted this cute little pink chair staring right at me, and despite the fact that I’ve been looking all over for a small, comfy chair for this corner forever.  I went on to my destination (a 40-some-mile ride in total, with a lovely stop to visit my dear friends’ new baby in between!).  On the way home, a few hours later, I re-passed the posh yard sale, and it was STILL THERE.

I sat on it, and it was comfy!  And then the guy came out and told me the magical price of $20 – serendipitously the exact amount I carry with me on bike rides – and I forked it over and told him I’d be back later to get it.  And now the chair lives in the craft room, together with me, and the little scooter-covered footstool.  We’re still in the honeymoon period.  The chair doesn’t know yet that it will be piled high with fabric from time to time, and we might fight about that, but I hope we don’t.  Aside from these (hopefully) brief messy periods, I think we will live happily ever after here in the craft room together.  Sigh.  Love!

Fabric ideas for the perfect throw pillow?

Hi everyone!  Wow, it’s been a while. I’ve been busy, busy, and each time I let some time pass between blog posts, I get first post syndrome all over again.  But I’ve gotten over it in time to say hello before next Christmas.  Phew!  And I brought some elephants with me to help break the silence.

I won’t bore you with details of what’s kept me away from Blogland, but just know that I’ve missed you all!  Want to see some more PodPillows?

Several PodPillows have just arrived in my Etsy store!  Take a look!