On a ship from Switzerland.

April 19, 20141 Comment

My sewing machine, Bernina 1630, has been in the shop since March 4, 2014 — six weeks and counting. It needs a part from the manufacturer, located in Switzerland. I just learned Bernina doesn’t ship parts as they are ordered. They pack a container, full of machines and parts, and when it is full, they ship to the U.S. on a ship. Once here, the machines and parts are offloaded and shipped to a distribution center in Chicago.

There is no way to know if my part was placed in an empty container, waiting for it to be full, or if it was one of the lucky last passengers.

I have had nightmares, fearing my sewing machine part is lost at sea. I channeled those thoughts into a quilt:

Bernina: lost at sea.

I hand appliqued the “Bernina part” and quilted “the water” by hand. I used the backing as the binding.

I know you’re wondering — Switzerland doesn’t have a sea port. Right? I did some sightseeing on the country’s website: MySwitzerland.com. And it looks marvelous, but no port. Lots of water, though — “land of water” per the website. “Switzerland. Get Natural.” That’s the theme of the website. Tempting!

I’ve been told I can’t fly to Switzerland and pick up the part. I just have to wait for my ship to come in.

Vintage Moments.

April 5, 20144 Comments

I struggled to complete this quilt (hand quilting feathers is time consuming). I began in December 2010, taking a class taught by Laura Blanchard of Plum Tree Quilts. The pattern is by Marsha McCloskey.

A few more photos:

Design Wall.

March 24, 2014May 1, 20157 Comments

The Design Wall is now up!

I first taped the two insulation boards together. I used duct tape:

I ironed and pressed the flannel (no photo of that). I then pinned the flannel to the insulation boards using silk pins:

I also used duct tape to hold the corners on the back (no photo).

We — a two-person job here — installed the design board to the wall, using screws. We made sure to install the screws where the studs were located. We are not home improvement experts by any means. We had some trouble at first because the screw caught the fabric, twisting it as it went into the insulation board. We made it work in the end.