Boy Quilts are Done...YEA!

After whizzing through the binding on the Janome 6300 with the walking foot, all is done! I have shipped them, and hope they get there in time to keep two little guys warm for the rest of this winter and early Spring! The odd thing is that the J6300 doesn't have any problems with thread at all when sewing regular things, but only when  doing FMQ.

After experimenting with other threads and other measures in order to come to a FMQ nirvana, I have found that Bottom Line top and bottom, and putting the feed dogs in the up position, and setting the stitch length to 0.0 improves the FM greatly. Kudos to Leah Day for the dogs up thing. She says she always sews with dogs up. Interesting. Other folks disagree with her surmise that the modern machines are set to work interdependently tension-feed-dogs-stitching but I think she is on to something. In fact, I also skipped putting the thread through the last thread guide - that one right at the needle bar itself - the thread tends to get caught there as it goes through. I am still experimenting though, and will try some So Fine #50 next time - probably tomorrow.

Meanwhile I am designing a quilted coffee table runner that will use the leftovers from my Flying Geese quilt and be sort of definitely scrappy. The middle seam will not be a perfect pointy geese thing at all because I am combining two pieces I cut off that quilt because it was too long. Very unorthodox, but then I will have sashing on it and hopefully the same binding as the larger quilt or the binding I put on the Boy Quilts. I have lots of leftover binding.

Also in the works are two pair of pants. I need to use up some fabric here to make room for quilting stuff, and I have two pieces of really nice beige-to tan bottom weight material here. I am going to do a tracing of my favorite elastic waist pants and use that pattern. I know the alteration I must do to get a good fit in the back now.