Good Morning, Quilters!
It is 2018 and I am excited about the New Year! I have so many plans for The Inbox Jaunt which will include a new look, a new name, new projects and quilt-a-longs as well as our old favorites: Tuesday Tutorials, Open Line Fridays, Seamstresses in Fine Art and Silent Sundays.
Each month we will have a primary focus and we will start with Sewing Machine Love.
GOOD STITCH FORMATION REQUIRES A MACHINE IN GOOD WORKING ORDER!
photo via We All Sew
QUILT OR DUST? THAT IS THE QUESTION!
As you may know, I’m not much on dusting–except when it comes to my sewing machine! When we free motion quilt, we LOVE pretty stitches and pretty stitches require a clean, well-oiled sewing machine!
When is the last time YOU cleaned YOUR machine?
If you can’t remember, then it’s been way too long! It’s a good idea to clean and oil your machine after every few hours of free motion quilting. The batting layer adds more lint than in other types of sewing.
Use a soft paint brush or a pipe cleaner to collect the loose fibers. Rebecca Ringquist of Dropcloth Samplers uses a variety of tools including a lambswool duster to remove lint. Read about her method HERE
You can also use your vacuum cleaner but do not use compressed air! Hans Herzog from BERNINA writes about the dangers of blowing lint into your machine at We All Sew HERE.
REFER TO YOUR SEWING MACHINE MANUAL
Christine Haynes from Craftsy recommends checking your sewing machine manual...(if you are like me, you might need to do a little sewing room maintenance to track that down!?)
If you need a replacement manual, check with your manufacturer. Many have online manuals:
Baby Lock, Bernina USA, Brother Company, Elna USA, Husquavarna Viking, Janome, Pfaff, Riccar, SINGER Company, and White Sewing Machines,
Read Christines Do’s and Don’ts post HERE
She includes a reminder to unplug your sewing machine whenever cleaning or oiling.
CLEAN AND OILED AND READY TO STITCH!
Now that you’ve completed a little Sewing Machine Love-take a break and try a new quilting motif–The (Clean) Sewing Machine Free Motion Quilting Tutorial is fun and easy!
Perhaps you could use it on a new sewing machine cover???
BIG PLANS FOR 2018?
What about YOU?
Is YOUR machine clean and ready for 2018?
Any exciting plans?
What quilts will YOU quilt this year?
We’d LOVE to hear!
Signed,
Lori-the-occasional-Dust-Buster
PS…If you like these motifs and tips, be sure to check out my book, Free Motion Machine Quilting 1-2-3 or any of my Craftsy Videos!
PPS…All tutorials, images and information are the property of Lori Kennedy at The Inbox Jaunt and are intended for personal use only. Feel free to re-blog, pin or share with attribution to The Inbox Jaunt. For all other purposes, please contact me at lckennedy@hotmail.com. Thanks!
