I am So Excited

A long beautiful table runner in pinks and greens.

Simple things do excite me and I am so grateful and happy that I have so many blessings in my life.

But what has specifically excited me at this point.  I bought a quilting machine and frame (quilter) from the US and with shipping costs it still cost a lot less than buying something here in Australia.  Bad girl I can hear you say but if I could have bought the same thing here for a similar price then no worries.  At the time I had a limited amount to spend.  The sewing machine is a lovely Juki, very sturdy and heavy and the frame is a Little Gracie.  Together a great pair.  Because I forgot to tell the company to modify the machine for Australian power usage I had to also purchase a transformer to convert it from USA conditions to Australian.  No trouble.  Darling WH put the frame together and I was in business.  Or at least for a short while.  Unfortunately the hand control that came with the quilter stopped working after a while.  To be very fair, the company I purchased from were wonderful but couldn't really understand the problem.  But they did send me a second hand controller which worked for a while as well.  Then needles started breaking and I was getting quite frustrated.  Apparently with quilting the machine has to work very fast but at the same time you are moving it and the cradle slowly so as to create the desired quilting pattern.  If the controller wasn't working properly then the machine wasn't running at full speed and hence putting too much pressure on the needles. So my poor quilter sat idle for many months.  I just couldn't face the frustration of more broken needles and stops and starts.

I finally plucked up courage and sought advice at a local business which makes its own quilting frames and exports them.  Of course I got the spiel about buying overseas and not having local support.  Yes, yes I understand all this and over the months previously I wished I had waited and bought locally.  But the deed was done and I badly needed help.  This business came to my rescue and made me a custom hand control.

By the way, hand controls are vitally important when quilting on a frame as they are hooked onto the handlebars of the frame and plugged into the machine.  It is extremely difficult to master smooth quilting when you have to use a normal foot control as you have to keep moving the pedal as you move along the frame

Well last week, heart in my mouth, I set up a quilt, backing and batting and gingerly turned the machine on and switched on the controller.  Oh wow.  It worked and how beautifully it worked.  I was laughing and excited.  Anyone who called on me at that time would have thought I was mad.  How wonderful to be able to quilt.

So far I have only completed one quilt since my new controller was installed but I have several ready to go including some very large ones.  I am scared but will keep practising and now can look at learning how to do fancier quilting designs and improving my techniques.  Love to learn new things.

So I say thank you, thank you to John Watts at Booval, in Ipswich.  I am so, so happy and grateful.

Some new items available for sale:

 

Set of 4 placemats using up scrappy strips of blues (my favourite colour)



Yellow gingham and pretty green make a lovely fresh table centre.

An original design - one of my Easy Peasy Designs for Beginners - using Fat Quarters cut into strips

Another long table runner in beiges and dusky pink with machine embroidered centrepieces

Apart from the machine embroidered cupcakes (yummy) this table centre was entirely sewn by hand

A pretty table runner highlighting a lovely paisley print

Discipline

The cutting table - as you can see not much room to actually cut - I am always shuffling things around.

The roller doors with some unfinished objects on that rack and a basked of my original designs made up into fabric packs - currently one bag and one cushion pattern.

Three of my machines - overlocker, embroidery machine and general machine - in the work area.

Area behind my sewing desks.  Laptop normally sits on roll out desk, printer in corner and small ironing board.

My quilting frame and machine with door to patio, bookshelf and fridge.

Looking towards door and window onto patio.  Red quilt is not quite finished.  In the middle of quilting.  Blue quilt is one of my very first projects and now a table cover for desk holding overlocker and embroidery machine.

I am convinced that I need to become more disciplined.  Not that I am undisciplined or unorganised all of the time - my previous careers meant that I did have manage my time and workload well but when you are a 'crafter' time doesn't seem to be as important.  However, in reality, time is important.  We all have the same amount of time each day but how do we use it to ensure that we are not wasting or whittling it away somehow.

I am an organiser of some degree - not as disciplined as many but much more so than some - and my WH and children and possibly even friends and other family will tell you I am inclined to perhaps be a little bossy (I think this comes from being an eldest child - anyway that is my theory and I am sticking by it).  But I do let things pile up then have a big sort out every now and then.

So why now, you ask, should I suddenly worry about being disciplined.  No, this is not something new.  I always strive to be more organised in my 'studio' and in the house but it is not a regular, every day thing.

Take my studio, for instance.  This is our garage (cars sit outside, sorry) and I have tall cupboards, small cupboards, shelves, tables, desks, chairs and a quilting frame (plus a fridge and small chest freezer).  I have drawn up plans on the computer, rearranged them and the furniture physically but still not entirely satisfied with the arrangement.  However, until we fully convert this area into a studio (ie replace rollup garage doors with sliding glass doors) I cannot finalise permanent arrangement of the work area.  I say permanent arrangement - what a laugh as WH will tell you that I love to rearrange rooms and furniture so nothing is really permanent when I get hold of it.  I am happy and grateful that WH has 'allowed' me to use this space - a large double garage - and we will build a new carport soon to keep the cars under cover at least.

But my 'studio' is truly a work space - my 'sweat' shop as my lovely brother-in-law calls it.  In the middle of it and helping to divide my work area from display/showroom area is a large cutting table which has become a holdall for all current projects. 

So my current 'disciplinary action' is to finish all UFOs on my cutting table and reorganise it to be just that - a cutting table.  But how hard is that when I come across fabulous patterns that I just have to make, or designs pop into my head that I need to get into writing and practice immediately, or that I have several large containers with projects yet to be started or even half started.  Do you see what I mean about discipline?

But I need to carry on this motivation to all areas of my life.  I seem to have been roped in to various organisations and sometimes find it hard to say no.  Not that I mind being involved and it does give me some interaction with other people otherwise I would just lock myself away in my studio and create to my heart's content which I would love.  However, perhaps this makes me a very boring conversationalist as many of my friends and family are not crafters like me and not really interested in how to cut up perfectly good pieces of fabric into small bits and then sew them all back together in a different arrangement.  Also, the voluntary work that I am involved with is wonderful, as is most volunteer work, and I am happy to do it but, and I know I am repeating myself, I must get more organised. 

So next week after Monday selling raffles for the hospital auxilliary, Tuesday doing my weekly morning shift as a meet and greet volunteer at the hospital, Wednesday attending the hospital auxilliary AGM (of which incidentally I have just been nominated and elected as secretary) and Friday taking my friend shopping and out to a girlie lunch (which I enjoy doing) that leaves my just Thursday to 'get down and disciplined', create some beautiful objects and catch up with bigger household chores (usually I manage to make the beds, wash the clothes and dishes, and generally tidy the house every day) such as vacuuming, dusting (constant at this time of the year and with our wood fire going every day - yes even in south east Queensland), etc.  Not that I am complaining mind you.  All is good and I am very happy and grateful to be able to do what I am doing.  I have friends who still work fulltime and they have just the weekends and evenings to catch up with their household chores and creative inspirations - now they must be disciplined and I know because I have been there too.  So they provide me with good motivations to get more organised and I will, I will, I am, I am.

Have a wonderful day everyone and make the world a happier place for your family and friends by telling them you love them and how happy you are to know them.