Creations by Ruth: 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: