Sunday 5 July 2015

She's Arrived!!!

Hooray, after weeks and weeks of nervous anticipation... my Juki TL-98P finally arrived!!!! Oh joy of joys she is everything I had hoped she would be.   Its like going from 4 cylinder sewing to a roaring V8.  She goes from 0 to flat out in a second.  It's lucky there are no speeding fines in sewing or I would have lost my licence for sure ;) haha




We've had lots of playtime together, mostly piecing and I'm really happy with my purchase.  I did, however, have to make another purchase to make room for her in my little studio (sometimes one thing leads to another!).  I still use my old Janome for teaching students and piecing work (I bought the Juki mostly for FMQ) so I soon realised that if I was going to make the space functional I required a better setup.

So I purchased these two desks from Officeworks and did a bit of rearranging.





My studio is now a lot more manageable and the light from the window is a godsend.  I was working in my shadow before - sew annoying ;).  I also made myself a design wall from a large piece of batting and a dowel rod.  I just folded the batting over the top and stitched down to make a rod pocket - too easy and much better than laying out on the floor.

This is actually the meals area of the house, which is great because its right next to the kitchen, makes me accessible to the kids and I can keep an eye on dinner and sew at the same time!  I usually pull out my cutting mat and place it on our dining table if I need to cut yardage, otherwise my old cutting mat is under my Janome so I can trim up blocks or do paper foundation trimming... perfect!  Storage is aways an issue for me, but I cleaned out my linen cupboard in the hallway so my batting and large items live there.  It did lead me to wonder though, why hasn't someone invented and ironing board with straight legs?  That way we could store things underneath it.  I may (shhhhh don't tell DH) get another shelving unit and just have an ironing board mounted on top to solve this problem.... need to think about it a bit more.

I had a new student start a few weeks ago and there is also talk of a custom quilt job on the horizon so having a space that can cope with all of these things is quite important.

I've been quite busy working on a mystery quilt for our guild members.  It's a garden themed quilt.  At this stage I can only reveal the first block as the members have only just been given this block... but as you can see, its quite pretty.


Dresden plate centre block


The colours were picked with the help of my friend Lorraine, from Patchwork Passion in Cranbourne and what a marvellous job she did.  Beautiful fabrics are always a pleasure to work with.. and.. this will be my first quilt where I haven't pre-washed the fabrics! Eeeeek!  That scares the crap out of me but sometimes we have to live on the edge a bit ;)

I've been delving into my scraps making some quilts for a worthy cause... more about that in the next few days... and also a baby quilt for a friend who's daughter is expecting a baby in August... my friends first grandchild :)


I also played around with my Dresden plate ruler and came up with this little beauty... I might do a tutorial on this soon :) I call it my Kaleidoscope Cushion -  it was so much fun!




There is lots going on here, especially being school holidays, so I have lots to share... I'm lucky I'm getting a lot of time of late to spend in the sewing room... going to dig into my growing pile of UFO's and get some things finished so you may see some 'oldies but goodies' popup.

Can I just say that the very inspiring Victoria Findlay-Wolfe has a lot to answer for and I'm itching to play in my fabrics and make some truly unique quilts, so expect to see more of that from me in the future :)

I'm linking up with Mollie Sparkles Sunday Stash, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, My Quilt Infatuation and Pink Doxies.

Ok until next time

Yours in Stitches


Leanne x




14 comments:

  1. A new machine! How exciting is that! It looks wonderful. Great idea to rearrange your sewing space too. It really does make a difference having table space and good light. Lovely work on the dresden and the scrap patches. Love the cushion.

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    1. Thanks Karen :) I'm amazed at how much more I'm getting done in the new space.

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  2. Your excitement for your new machine is very contagious! Enjoy every second! Sounds like you're in for a great summer of sewing! I love your Dresdens, so pretty, and your cushion is just mad! :)

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  3. Your excitement for you new machine is highly contagious, looks like you're in for a great summer of sewing! Your Dresdens are very pretty - that cushion is just mad! :)

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    1. Thanks :) here in Melbourne we are experiencing an icy cold winter brrrr. Great sewing weather but looking forward to summer :)

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  4. Thanks :) here in Melbourne we are experiencing one very cold winter brrr.... can't wait for Summer :)

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  5. Your new set-up and machine look great! I have seen lots of people with ironing boards mounted on storage items. A lot of them make the board a rectangle which s nicer when ironing yardage.

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    1. Thanks Jasmine, yes I've seen them too... so much better to have all that storage underneath. Will have to see what I can come up with ;)

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  6. Love your new set up. I'm thinking of getting a cheap second machine just for piecing. I work on so many different projects at the same time it's a pain to keep changing feet and thread.
    Love the fabrics you're using for the mystery quilt and yes please to the tutorial for the Kaleidoscope. I love that and will be off to buy a ruler in readiness

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    1. Thanks Gina :) yes having the second machine set up is great as you said. Even get yourself an old vintage machine. Perhaps one that has a zig zag as well just in case you need it. Glad to hear you liked the cushion... I will def make a tutorial. Get yourself a dresden wedge template ruler and you will be ready for some kaleidoscope action!

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  7. Your new machine sounds wonderful! Looks like you're having lots of fun with it. I love your projects, especially the kaleidoscope pillow!

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  8. Leanne, I have a TL98-Q that looks just like your machine, and I love it!! Many happy years are ahead of you and your machine. Whoop whoop for you!! PS I'm going to feature your pretty Kaleidoscope cushion on this week's Whoop Whoop Friday...

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    1. Oh wow, thanks so much Sarah! Yes lots of wonderful sewing mileage ahead lol

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