Slow Down
“Slow down, you move too fast. You got to make the morning last.” If you were a teen, when I was a teen, then those words are etched in your brain. They are the initial lyrics to Simon and Garfunkel’s The 59th Bridge Street song, commonly referred to as Feeling Groovy. One of the advantages of being without my beloved Bernina 990, is I am being forced to slow down. Of course, I could do housework. However, I prefer to play with “what if” type ideas in my studio.
George
Many of you who read my posts graciously passed on your condolences over my Bernina needing to be repaired. Some even suggested I buy a back up machine. Since the whole point of purchasing the Bernina was to downsize to one machine, that won’t happen. However, I still own my George.
George is a sit down quilting machine perfect for free motion quilting large quilts because its throat is 18″ wide vs a more common throat of 8″ on a domestic sewing machine. What it doesn’t have are feed dogs, fancy stitches and everything else that comes with a domestic machine. In other words you can’t piece on it. However, maybe, just maybe, I could find a way to be creative with my George and I did.
Experimental Rose
Now that I am in slow down mode, I find myself reviewing the daily posts sent to me by Pinterest. Most of these include free motion quilting designs. However, I also received a collection of images of flowers that could be stitched on an embroidery machine.
What would happen, I wondered, if I took the tulip design and turned it into an appliqué design instead. Then I could quilt it on the George.
First, I sized the image to 8″ x 8″ and then printed it twice. The first copy was my reference photo. The second copy was used to cut the appliqué shapes.
The wide border surrounding the tulip is there because it will eventually be wrapped around an 8″ x 8″ x 1.5″ canvas frame.
I finished the preliminary quilting. Next week I plan to do some very intense quilting in the background to help give more of 3 D appearance to the leaves and tulip.
Rainbow Scrap Challenge
I am so grateful I was able to start June’s Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks. This is my partially completed teal block.
Question of the Week
What would title would you give to the tulip quilt?
I’m linking up to the following posts:
“Nothing is impossible to a determined woman” — Louisa May Alcott
😉 As for the tulip quilt, how about “Pretty in Pink”?
Great suggestion. But would you believe I already have a quilt by that name. It is a thread painted portrait of my youngest granddaughter. She is wearing a pink sunhat.
Bloomin’, it can also sub in for a swear word because you Bernie is awol.
Now there’s a thought. Love the double entendre.
What a good way to stretch your tool box with George! How about Tulip Experiment or A Stem of Pink?
There is a special interest group at SAQA (Studio Art Quilt Associates) who explore ways to use their longarm machines in particular, but also machines like George in ways beyond the quilting. Although I haven’t joined them, the concept and what are they are doing does get my imagination going.
Thank you for the titles. I will bear them in mind.
Glad that you were able to find a way to continue to create while your machine is out for repair. It is amazing how far we will all go to avoid housework!
You can say that again. Fortunately, the only housework that beckons and that I ignore is deep cleaning in the hidden spaces. So much happier in the studio.
I’m impressed with the ways that you’re figuring out to be creative with your Bernina gone! Meanwhile the time is getting closer to when he’ll (or is it she’ll?) be back. Your piece rose is really pretty, Gwyned – I might name it “Elegant,” because it is!
Elegant. What a great name, Diann. Thank you.
I tend to think of machine(s) as an extension of myself, no different from my hands, eyes or less tangible parts, such as my soul or muse. So, the absence of the machine is like having a piece of me gone.
It has to be difficult to wait while your machine is repaired. I would be going crazy! LOL And yes – I did grow up at the same time as you so those lyrics immediately triggered the music in my head.
I had feeling there were many out there who would recognize those lyrics and perhaps even start singing them out loud. Can’t say I’m going crazy. Like many voids, it is quickly replaced other things. I do miss the Bernina, though. Can’t wait to get back to piecing again.
Always good to hear from you.
My first thought for your tulip title was “Blowing in the Wind”…since “Feelin’ Groovy” was still playing in my head, lol. Yes, we are close in age, and I just checked: the songs were released within three years of each other in the 1960s. Thanks for the memories!
Blowing in the Wind is a great title. Thank you for the suggestion. I would have thought there was bigger gap between the two songs. Must be how when you are young years take much longer 🙂 I was primary school when “Blowing in the Wind” came out, but high for “Feelin’ Groovy”.
I like “Blowin’ in the Wind” as well. Because I was def singing “Feeling Groovy” when I read your post. LOL So fun that you are experimenting with your George. It’s good for our souls (and our brains) to do new things. Love that tulip!
I agree, Sue. I have always gravitated towards experimenting and trying new things. However, as I age I find myself doing it not just for the excitement of creativity, but to keep the synopsis of my brain functioning.
Always nice to hear from you.
Great use of George. Your tulip looks great. Downsizing the number of machines is a challenge… dare I say I gave my mother’s “heavyweight” Singer that she used to make me cloths in ’50s away. More need to go. How about A Peek of Spring or A Touch of Spring for your tulip. You’ve have gotten some really great ideas so far. Have fun making up your mind.
Thanks for the title suggestions, Bonnie. Yes, including Spring in the title is tempting.
It is difficult to relinquish machines, especially those we have spent so much creative time with.
It is good for us to realize that we can grow “outside the box”. That’s what you’re doing now with the machine unavailable. Thanks for sharing in Sew & Tell. I like the suggestion of “Pretty in Pink.”
Blessings!
You are kind, Melva. I felt less like I was growing today, than stumbling and tripping. However, I know that comes with territory.
How about “Tiptoe through the Tulips”? You had to tiptoe to figure out how to get George to be your substitute machine while the Bernina got fixed. Actually I just went down a MAJOR rabbit hole with your George. I never heard of that machine and it sounds perfect to me. Do you have any trouble getting him serviced or do you have an APQS rep near you? Too bad it doesn’t look like they make that machine any more.
Love that title, Sue. Thank you! Would you believe I have never had the George serviced? I feel fortunate that it hasn’t needed it. Unlike a domestic machine, all this machine really does is lift the needle up and down. When I bought it, there was only one permanent foot. I do lubricate it and clean out the bobbin area regularly. Yes, I had read that APQS was no longer making the George. Was sorry to hear that. I had zero interest in learning how to use a longarm and coping with the space requirement of the frame. I already had strong FMQ skills when I bought the George. So, it was easy to go from FMQ on my previous domestic Bernina to FMQ on my George industrial machine. I also liked that a mid arm machine in a cabinet didn’t require me to stand. At the time I bought the George, Bernina had yet to come out with its Q series. Of course, the Q series became available within in a year or two. If I were to buy a sit down quilting machine today, it would be the Q 16 or Q 20. If money is an issue, you could keep your eye out for used ones.
Hi Gwyned, I’m glad that you have a backup machine. I dread having to bring my Janome to the shop, even if I have two backup machines that don’t FMQ. I like your tulip project. That’s going to look great. Sometimes it’s important to slow down. Enjoy and thanks for linking up to I Quilted This!
It is never easy to be parted from one’s machine. Yes, I’m using my “free” time to play and experiment. I do miss having a larger project to work on, though.
George is a lifesaver, and your work on this rose is so delicate. As the rose has a story, I thought of it in terms of Resilience. In relation to the missing Bernina, and also because it’s the name of a species of rose!
Thank you for sharing, and sorry for being so late visiting.
Resilience is a lovely title, Frédérique. Thank you for the idea.