Randy is BRILLIANT!

 

While I was waiting for my sewing machine at the sewing machine spa (Aka Bittersweet Fabric Shop) I was browsing their fabrics. 

While I am trying to work my way through my stash, my collection of White On Whites is getting bit thin, so I decided I would get some. The WOWs at Bittersweet were on a shelf just above my eye level and I was having a hard time seeing what they looked like. When I mentioned it, Randy, the owner, said, "That's why we have a black light right there." So I took the light down and pointed it at a bolt of fabric. 

OH HOLY HELL!  Randy is BRILLIANT!

I had to share. I told Randy I was going to post it on my blog. "Oh right," he laughed, "now quilt shops everywhere will have to have black lights available for their customers. You'll start a trend."

Hell yeah!

Anyway, I bought 10.

Randy Says...

 I was having a small problem with my sewing machine. When I would press the button to cut the thread more often than not the thread would be cut so close to the needle that when I went to sew again the needle would become unthreaded.

My sewing machine is an Elna X680.

Clearly this was a tension issue, so I brought my machine to the sewing machine spa, in my case, Bittersweet Fabric Shop in Boscawen NH.

Randy knew just what to do (duh), and then he went into the innards of my machine to see if anything else was amiss. I asked if I could watch. Glad I did, because I learned a few things.

We all know dust can be an enemy. I use a little tool like this to get the dust out of places (particularly where the bobbin lives), and I had been told never to use compressed air to blow the dust out. Randy corrected me.

He said I could VACUUM dust out of the area above, and then it was fine if I wanted to use a can of compressed air to blow the leftover bits out, because after that there wouldn't be many and they would be tiny.

HOWEVER,

I was ABSOLUTELY NOT to be doing this - using the little tool or a pipe cleaner to jam it into the recesses of the machine to get out dust or debris that might be lurking there. (I was guilty of that.) 

WHY?

Apparently there can be little springs and other very delicate gizmos lurking under there that we cannot see and a pipe cleaner or tool like the one I used to use can dislodge said spring and cause the machine to run, shall we say, less than optimally. Randy found the little spring my overeager cleaning had dislodged and put it back where it belonged. (Consider me chastised.)

One hint he DID have was to use a pin to separate things in the bobbin race (where the bobbin lives) to get the dust that might get between those thin metal strips (I think it's kind of a spring). You can just blow the dust out with a puff of breath. (You know, your own lung power.)

We both agreed that sewing machine manuals do a poor job of explaining what we SHOULD do and what we shouldn't do.

It should also be noted that the thread I was using was partly responsible. A 60w thread, (such as the Precensia 60w thread I use) requires a different tension than a 50w thread. For my machine the AUTO setting was fine for 50w, but I had to reduce it to a 3 for my 60w thread. (On my machine AUTO = 4.)

Here's a big THANK YOU to Randy and Holly from Bittersweet Fabrics for letting me watch him work and allowing me to ask my questions and help us all out. Naturally, my machine now works like a charm and the thread cutter works precisely the way I want. 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In other much more fun news, I ordered some postage stamps online the last time I had to ship a package via USPS. They arrived yesterday and I am delighted to share them with you. I think it is quite possibly THE COOLEST STAMP EVER.

I do not know if these beauties are available at your local post office, but you can get them at USPS.com.

Sideways

 I am pretty sure we have all had a day that goes sideways, despite our best laid plans. My Friday was like that. My boss had encouraged me to start taking some of my vacation time, so we decided I would take Friday off.

I had it all planned out. I would get up, shower, strip the bed and change the sheets, go to the town hall to register my car, pick up a few things at the grocery store, then head to Bittersweet Fabrics to bring my Elna sewing machine for servicing. Then I would drive to Peterborough NH, where I would get some fresh herbs and flavored olive oils, have a good lunch, and then drive home. I even had a restaurant picked out.

The first distraction was when I decided I should make myself a cake. After all, I have a birthday coming up. I decided I would make Dorrie Greenspan's Celebration cake, and I would use lemon curd as a filling. That meant I needed to go to Angela's because I think Stonewall Kitchen makes the best lemon curd anywhere. I don't keep the stuff in the house because lemon is my favorite flavor, and I have absolutely no problem eating the stuff out of the jar every time I open the fridge.

This is the Cocoa Yogurt Cake with Coffee Glaze and Toasted Almonds from Yossy Arefi's book, "Snacking Cakes"

 
But that was a pretty fancy cake. I could make that for my birthday and bring it to work to share. I checked out the ingredients and added them to my grocery list. I could make a "snacking cake" to enjoy right away. I had all the ingredients, and I didn't even need to get my stand mixer out. So I make that and put it in the oven, then took a shower. When I got out of the shower I stripped the bed and put the sheets in the washing machine, like I do every Friday morning. About that time I got a text from the pharmacy saying one of my prescriptions had been automagically refilled and I could pick it up. I made a note to swing by the pharmacy on the way home from the grocery store.

So I got on the road about an hour later than planned. I drove to the town hall and registered the car. On the way to the grocery store I stopped at the local farm stand to buy some fresh corn on the cob. Then I hit the grocery store, and the pharmacy. I drove home, put the stuff way, and was about a quarter mile down the road when I realize I had forgotten the list of stuff I wanted to get in Peterborough.

I drove back to get it, then I was on the road to Bittersweet Fabrics in Boscawen NH, home of Dave, the Janome and Elna dealer. I've written about the shop before. You can read that here. I brought my machine in. Dave was right there, "Did you call and make an appointment?" he asked. I had not. I explained the problem, "It needs regular maintenance, and there's some thread stuck in it. Do you want me to show you where?" "No, I'll find it," Dave responded cheerfully. Dave is the very definition of cheerfulness. "It'll be next up on my bench," he said, "you can pick it up tomorrow, but we close at 1 PM, so make sure to get here before then."

Needless to say I was dumfounded. "OK," was all I could manage. Looking around, I saw one of my former students and beta testers, Marie. We chatted for a while, and she introduced me to Dave's wife, (whose name I have forgotten) Mrs Dave and I chatted about what kinds of quilts I made, and what kinds of classes I taught, and what kinds of tutorials I wrote.

Dave came up to me, "Are you going to be in the area for the next hour and a half," he asked? "I'm going to be working on your machine next, and you can come back and get it then." 

Again, I was dumbfounded. "Yes, I was heading out to Peterborough. I can swing by on my way back." I left the shop and programmed the address of the shop in Peterborough. It was almost 90 minutes away. It was almost lunchtime. 90 minutes there and 90 minutes back was three hours. That and having lunch would make it a tight squeeze, given the late Friday afternoon traffic I'd be facing on the way back. And the leisurely day I had planned in Peterborough would be reduced to a mad dash. Not my idea for the day. So I found a restaurant in Concord, and drove there to have lunch. 

After I ordered my lunch, I thought about getting my Elna machine back right away, and the three rows of blocks I had been tinkering with all week. WELL HELL! I had already started sewing them together with the Bernina. Now I was going to have to... what? Take THOSE apart too?

Home again.

After lunch, I drove back to Bittersweet and picked up my machine. Apparently a spring had become loose and fallen off. The machine was skipping stitches. Dave got it humming like new.

You're all probably wondering why, with a Bernina, do I use my Elna as my #1 machine? Truthfully, it's the bright light. I can see so much better on it than the Bernina. I actually have one of those little clip on lights, but it isn't as bright as I'd like it to be.

 Back in the car, I decided the trip to Peterborough was not going to happen, so instead I drove home and cut out new blocks for all the rows I had previously sewn together. Yes, it was probably silly, but I figured it would be a lot less stressful than ripping and tinkering.

The afternoon's work complete.

Then I cleaned up.

OH! Do you know the absolute BEST PART of the day (NOT!) ?

When I got home and unpacked the car I realized I had left my jacket at the restaurant in Concord (a 25 minute drive away.) I drove back to get it after supper.

So when will I go to Peterborough and have a nice relaxing day visiting the artsy shops? Damned if I know.