Another Wednesday has rolled around. I have missed a couple of weeks posting because I have just been incredibley busy! I feel like this is my first day at home where I can give myself permission to do a task that is not time sensitive.

I have decided to take a leap of faith.

As my blog will show I bought a Babylock Tiarra over a year ago. This is a great machine. It is  a sit down midarm machine for quilting. At the time is was a good fit for me because I felt it would be a boon for my art quilting as I could use the large throat space to thread paint and quilt larger quilts then on my domestic machine. And it is/was.

My problem came with my severe headaches and back problem issues last year in April. Since then I have had a fall (balance issues) and found out I have disc deteriation in my spine in many of my vetebrae and that is normal they say for my age... (54) but I also have a stenosis in my C4/5 area and a disc problem in my lunbar area. Add in a dash of arthritis and curved spine with Fibromyalgia and I have become a bundle of inflamation.

I am working on the things to do to make life more manageable but I have to limit my sit down sewing. And I love my sewing!!!!

An hour is about all I can manage before pain rears it ugly head.

So an opportunity came up to buy a stand up long arm on sale and my wonderful husband said you need to get this so you can keep on with the work you love!

The Tiara makes the work easier but makes the quilting of the larger quilts that I was sending out even easier for me. No strain on my neck from bending it and no slumping of my shoulders.

So now I have my Tiara 2 Babylock up for sale.

If you know anyone who may be interested in Southern Ontario it is a deal. It really works like a charm. I have it posted on Kijiji and Craig's List or message me for details.
Please pass this on to anyone who may be interested. They have come out with the Tiara 3 but there is very little difference and I had added the Tru stitch regulator and the overlay table.

I am not panicking about selling it but the funds do have to go toward the new machine. I can't work at my secretarial job anymore because I can't sit at a desk and work on the computer for an 8 hour day.

What else is new in our house... my husband is retiring.... so we have to learn to live with each other more hours in a day. I don't think we will find this to hard. We miss each other after a long weekend. Up until last April I worked in his office for 3 years and we loved it!

He will have some new adventures and probably will do some work or consulting in a year. He is head tired and needs a sabbatical but in his line of work you can't get one. lol

So I have no sewing to link with this week to the needleandthreadnetwork but a sewing machine instead.

The sewing room is changing looks... I have to take over the whole  basement now which we had stuffed with stuff. Slowly I am reclaiming space to sew. I need to start on baby sheets etc for our first grandchild coming in July!

Time to get to work and work smart so I am not in pain for days after.

Have a great week! And what if anything did you find indispensable for your children, nieces/nephews and or grandchildren to have sewn by you?

Craftsy Class Review - Amy Johnson - Quilting with Rulers on a Home Machine.

Craftsy Class Review - Amy Johnson - Quilting with Rulers on a Home Machine.

So I have set my note book (see last post), viewed the whole class and now have completed some of the lessons.

I have to say I really like Amy Johnson as a teacher. freemotionquiltingadventures.com is her blog which has lots of information and her online shop where you can find machine rulers and feet for your domestic machine. Disclosure: I do not get anything for promoting her web site. I just love it!

Her teaching style is easy to listen to, filled with information and she repeats key points which is helpful when you are learning. She shows many rulers that are available but stresses that you can use just two to start a straight machine quilting ruler and a curved machine quilting ruler. She even provides a template and how to create your own temporary ruler to get started! No hard sell for supplies here. I like that in a teacher. This makes this a class for those who maybe can't quite afford it all to participate. And will let you test some experience before you leap into the world of supplies.

Here are a couple of pictures of my first attempts

The machine I am using

Using the straight ruler in grid work. Notice the little glitches on the bottom line as I started up the line.  

 The great thing about this class is you can take a picture and ask the teacher why this happens. Amy responded within a day.

Here is the finished square. 

This square was done not using the stitch regulator that comes with the machine. I have yet to try that. 

Next I did grid work with the curved ruler. 

 This I didn't feel as good with. I did not take my time or mark the grid lines well. I also did not understand how to use the registration lines on the ruler. Rulers are not created equal. Before you invest I suggest watching or looking at on line tutorials of how the ruler is used and see what you think would work best for you. I plan to use the two rulers I have until I feel that I have mastered them. My I bought are about 6 inches. If I bought another I would buy a 12 straight ruler as well for bigger blocks.


Seeing Amy do it it looks effortless. But she stress what I think we all know... practice, practice, practice.

I would definitely recommend Amy's Craftsy Class.

If you are interested you may click here to go to Craftsy and this class description
Quilting With Rulers on a Home Machine

Disclosure: If you do, I do get an affiliate fee.
I am stating that I don't want to turn anyone off of reading my blog.  So No Pressure Here!

From time to time I am going to share my free motion progress as well. Here is a sample of a design based from Leah Days 50 Free Motion Filler Book. freemotionquilting I have been following her since shortly after she started her 365 free motion project. Go to her site and check out her story. She has posted the most amazing videos showing her designs for free. You can also purchase supplies from her.  Disclosure: I get nothing from promoting her web site. I just love her. 

Leah also has classes on Craftsy with if you went through my craftsy button I would get an affiliate fee for. Again no pressure. 

I will add more pictures of my class work for you to view. This I hope is going to keep me accountable. 

How do you feel about machine quilting. Is it something you want to do? Is the learning curve to high? If you are an accomplished machine quilter how long did it take you to feel comfortable with your skills? 

Trying to figure this new skill out is a challenge for me for sure! 

jo