Newsflash!! - I Used The Long Arm!

In what appears to be a most monumental hiccup in the universe, I have actually quilted a whole quilt in the last 24 hours. If this doesn't call for some massive celebrating, then I don't know what does!

Yes, I decided to at least clean, oil, change the needle, rethread top and bottom. I then needed to see about fixing the issue I'd been having (all the way to last fall!) - upper thread breakage. 

My guess was that I needed to loosen the tension knob. I did this, and I now have a fully functioning long arm machine. Yay!

Because I knew I might have to do some experimenting with settings, I wanted to use a quilt that really wasn't that special to me. I made this Good Life Tag Sale a couple of years ago, and had sort of earmarked it as a quilt suitable for a picnic blanket. I added a 6" border at the top. I planned to use this for testing the settings. It was a good idea!

I was also glad for that extra border for another reason, too.  Because I was a bit rusty, I needed that bit of practice space for recalling my muscle memory. 

 

Tag Sale is a pattern by Carrie Nelson that I have made previously. Good Life is a fabric line by Bonnie & Camille for Moda. I added random extra fabrics in to have enough for the quilt which is roughly 80" square. This version turned out to be so very busy! I typically like a little more orderliness, so that is why I designated this quilt as a suitable picnic or beach blanket.

I am so happy that I finally have faced this problem (which wasn't as huge as I'd been thinking it was), fixed the machine and finished a quilt! Now I can load on one that I'm super-duper crazy about!  

I will take the quilt out of the machine this weekend, figure out what to use for binding, then finish her up. I am so eager to get many more done!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Jayne