sewing Machines

Rethinking retooling

| ellenanneeddy

This last year has been a disaster for my sewing machines. Most of my work depends on intense embroidery. Lately I’ve depended more and more on that stitchery for my images. I love it. But it does wear and tear on the machines. I had 6 major machine breakdowns. last year. I broke down 3 220s, my 770, my 630 and a 930. Some have fixed. Some have not.

I’m a Bernina girl from way back and have been a Bernina Ambassador for most of my career. I work with Berninas because they are tough and they stitch accurately. That doesn’t mean they don’t break down, Particularly if you’re sewing at speed demon speed for hours on end. I was told this is my fault.

I suppose it is. It’s what I do. I can either back away from this kind of stitching or find another way.

Zigzag embroidery allows for intense detail and color, I can’t step away from it. I also can’t keep breaking machines. So something has to change.

Don is my miracle in this. He’s a wizard with older small motors. He’s not specialized in sewing machines, but very mechanically savvy. He’s collecting manuals and parts machines. As always, he’s my hero.

I really can’t function though without a working machine and I prefer 2 backups. I’m not exa sane without a sewing machine.

Years ago I bought a 20 U Singer for intense embroidery. That’s not what these machines are known for. In a way, they’re the cockroach of the sewing machine world. Not in the sense that they hide under the cupboards, but because they are pretty much unkillable. You find them most often in dry cleaner shops for repairs.

It was a mixed success. This thing eats babies and cats, breaks thread constantly, and is fast—too fast—even with different slower pulleys. And it was the weight of a tiny elephant. When I left Porter, I left it in my studio, where it has sat.

Ken, the person renting my house, offered to bring it to me. That in itself is a huge glft But I’ve had my reservations about making this machine work. I first felt I was stepping backward, Is it an answer to the same problem? Is this machine tough enough?

Well, we know it’s tough. Can we make it work with embroidery thread? There’s the question. It’s also paid for.

It had its problems before. But things have changed. I now use stronger threads. I no longer work in a hoop. And we found that a servo motor would step down the speed. So it’s coming to the studio sometime this month, and we try it out. I’ve gone from feeling like I’m stepping back to seeing new possibilities.

You can’t step in the same river twice. You are different and the water is different.

I’m digging out the studio this week to make room, which is why I don’t have new work to show you. I’ll let you know what happens next.

Wish me luck. I think it’s time for another spoonbill.

Machine Hell: How Commercial Do You Need to Be? In Search of a Tough Enough machine

The Broke Down Bench
| ellenanneeddy

What do you do when your techniques are killing your machines?

This is about component embroidery. Lately, I’ve leaned more and more on component embroidery to create large astonishing embroidered images. I love the work it creates. I am completely reliant on my machines.

I have a love/hate relationship with most of my sewing machines. I really love them when they work. I’m in abject hell when they break down.

Since I’m a Bernina girl from way back, I’m used to tough well-built machines. Yesterday, my ancient 930 had a moment. I thought it was a screwdriver fix; It was not. We’re playing mix and match between the two 930s in the studio. Neither is quite ready for prime time. It has brought to mind how intensive my work is.

The Broke Down Bench

That was underlined by the 3 220s I managed to break last year, and my 770 which has spent 7 months out of the last year in need of several kind of repairs. And is once again in the shop.

These are lovely machines. They’re built tough, and I’m still having them break under me like I was shooting horses I’m riding on in a battle. I’m devastated. I know better than to have only one functional machine. Because always, inevitably, something will break.

When I talked with my mechanic she said “You do know you sew more than other people..” Which means I stitch very heavily to make my images. Meaning perhaps I’m asking more out of a machine than it’s built for.

Which leads to the question, do I need a different machine? Do I need a commercial machine?

I went through this several years ago when I bought my 770 Bernina. It’s fast. It’s got that nice long arm and some lovely features. It does not put up with mad-speed sewing. I love it. I’m afraid of it too. It threw its hook at me through the door on the bobbin mechanism. I wish I were kidding. And I don’t know what to do about a machine that’s off more than it’s on.

So here’s my 2025 Challenge.

Do I change my work because my machine won’t do it? Do I find another way? Do I look for other tools? Or do I back away from a stunning technique that lets me do things past my earlier abilities?

Which leads me to humming something like a Sheryl Crow song. “Are you tough enough to be my sewing machine?”

Being an artist is only peripherally about making art. It’s mostly about developing skills, ideas and visions. The art is a byproduct. It is a picture of where your art is at a particular moment. This is why I can always let go of a piece of art if it raises my abilities as an artist. Any artist’s first creation is the skills, techniques, and vision you make art from.

I’m looking. I need a zigzag machine that is commercial grade I can control the speed on. And I need to find some money to look with. I’m always willing to give up a piece of art to further what I can do as an artist.

Those of us who live an artist’s life live with constantly unbalanced finances. Don and I are on social security. I don’t discuss my difficulties hoping for a handout. But I have used my art to fund things I couldn’t buy any other way. I’ve offered work of mine at dead rock bottom prices, when the need arises. I’ve never asked for money itself. I’ve offered the work I have to make what I need happen. I’m doing that now.

These pieces represent work I couldn’t have done ten years ago. They’re made with component quilting elements, separately embroidered and incorporated into the quilt itself. It’s changed what I can do. I need a tough enough machine to do it.

My Etsy Shop

So my quilts are back at 40% discount, on Etsy.

If there’s something you are in love with, this is the time. And I’m open to offers. I am a motivated seller. If you wish to see more information on my body of work, it’s also on my Portfolio Page. The price on the portfolio does not reflect the sale price, but you can click through from the portfolio page to the Etsy shop.

My Portfolio Page

Also, if you have knowledge about industrial or particularly tough zigzag machines, I’d love to talk with you. I need more options, and would appreciate your expertise. And if you have questions about a particular quilt, let me know.

Thank you!

Ellen

In Praise of Older Machines

| ellenanneeddy

No one likes a new machine better than I do. That whole new machine excitement when you take it out of its box, set it up, and take a square of cotton to run it through its paces, see what marvelous things it does. It’s a magic moment.

And not an everyday one either. Most women keep a machine for around 14-15 years. I do too. At that point, if you sew a lot, you’ve probably worn it a bit. And there’s always the new and cool things the new machines do. But after 15 years with a machine, it’s almost like an extra arm. You know what it will do and how to do it best.

Small disclaimer: I am a Bernina girl. I have no affiliation other than the fact that they have the best stitch in the business. I appreciate other machines. But my workhorses are all Berninas. This is not to say you couldn’t do my techniques on other machines. I’ve demoed everything at one time or another. But I prefer my Berninas for their stitch, their feet, and their toughness.

Several years ago, Don bought me an old Bernina 730. It’s at least 60 years old. I didn’t bond with it over much because it wasn’t quite as fast as some of my machines, but it ran well. Its zigzag was a little ratty. I was in the process of new knees and that occupied most of my time and all of my energy. It got put on my machine rack. I didn’t exactly forget it, but I didn’t pull it out.

Lately, I’ve been working on some much larger work. This is a craziness of some sort, but I have a show coming up in September, and there’s nothing like one big show-stopper quilt to kick that off.

The new 770 Bernina is my love. It’s monstrously fast and excellent for large embroideries. But it hates monofilament thread. Even with the tension adjustments at a slow speed, it stitches about 3 stitches and something breaks. Mostly my temper.

So I’ve gone to using my 230 travel machine which handles monofilament fine. But it’s tiny. It’s a three quarter head machine with a 6 inch throat. I love it. It’s the best classroom machine I’ve ever used. It is, however, impossible to fit a 69″x 50″ inch quilt in that six” throat.

I pulled out the 730. Its slower stitch ate up miles of monofilament nylon without a hiccup. And I’m finally less afraid of the monster sized quilt.

Some personal thoughts:

Machines don’t break down in the closet. Your machine will break down in the middle of a crisis sew. This is just mathematics.

You need more than one machine if you sew seriously. See above.

When they offer you a trade-in on your machine, if you have the money and the space, hold on to your old machine. Becue there may well be things it does better than any new machine on the market.

Finally, if you do garage sales, rummage shops, or Ebay, keep your eyes open for legend machines that may need homes. They show up, much like God-given gifts. If not for yourself, for someone you know who may need them. Good machines deserve good homes.

Hello, My Darlings: You Are the Heart of My Art

| ellenanneeddy

There aren’t many times in your life when you bring home a new sewing machine. Even for those who work in the industry, it’s a red letter day.

Thursday, I brought home a new to me (gently used ) 770 Bernina from Feed Mill Fabrics and Quilting in Oneida, IL. Don took this picture of me having fallen into the machine sewing. Yes. Like that. I sew until the machine and I are one.

I’m not a high tech girl, and I’ve worked most of my life on mechanical machines. But there are things about this bemouth that are to love. The throat size. The quiet motor. The speed of it. The excellence of the stitch.

My 630 is gratefully on the side as a backup, but I can see this new machine is going to take center stage of my sewing. It’s just as well the dogs and cats are banned from the studio, because I think it could eat a cat solid. We just won’t go there.

You don’t just buy a sewing machine. You buy the ability of a sewing machine. You buy the ability it gives you. I don’t need the embroidery capability. But this is the kind of solid sewing I crave, and what I test out every day doing the crazy stitching I do.

So this is what I did the first day I brought it home. I stitched my ass off for an afternoon, 12,000 stitches according to the machine! It ran like a top.

It needs a moth, I think!

Most of all, I’m touched by the support I’ve had. Don has believed in me and given me more backing than I’ve known in my life. He gave me my studio and walked me into get this machine. He leaves me amazed. He sits in the studio and cheers me on day after day. I adore him.

We kind of crisped our plastic purchasing it, but it was possible at all because people like you bought quilts and made it possible. The quilts are all still on sale until Sept. 21, in case you would like one, or like to help.

But all of you who helped me, bought quilts, backed me up, went to my classes, read my blogs and have wished me well, Thank you! You’ve made it possible for me to follow my art. You are a part of my heart and my heart.

You can hear me with my heart beating in time with the machine. I’m in love.

No Place Like Home: Quilt Stores Make Our Community

| ellenanneeddy

Yesterday, I had the pleasure of doing a live Facebook show with Beth Rylander in her delightful shop, Feed Mill Fabrics and Quilting in Oneida, IL. I talked about free motion stitchery, and brouht in a small trunk show of work.

I’d visited Beth’s lovely shop, looking for a new Bernina. I believe I’ve found my machine, a lovely 770 that is coming in as an experienced machine someone has pre loved for me.

Today was so much fun! She does this every Saturday. She reaches out to her group by doing a live show weekly, so people can know what is new, fun, exciting and there for them.

Beth’s shop is stuffed stem to stern, and top to bottom with beautiful fabrics. And she not only sells Berninas, she has two lady mechanics. I’m impressed.

But her store bears something much more precious even that fabric. She has made a store in a feed mill in Oneida, that is a community for a huge circle of other women, like you and like I who love fabric, sewing, and each other’s company. What a quilting store does best is it makes community. Which is why all quilt stores are precious, and need our support. Because they support us all.

Here is the video we ran this morning.

Farewell, My Lovely: What Can You Do When Your Sewing Machine Dies?

| ellenanneeddy
Quilts 40% off!

It’s the words no one wants to hear. Yes, if it’s stopped changing stitches, the board is probably going out soon. Gasp. No. It’s my machine!

Lots of desperation here. I do have backups, but they are not meant as major machines and they won’t back me up long.

My dear friend Elaine always knew when I called her at 7am, that I’d trashed my machine again. I’d call to ask if I could borrow hers. She’d thank me for having waited until 7, That bad.

I may be retired, but I’ve sewn and quilted all my life and probably will until they dig the final hole. I need a new machine.

But the other difference when you’re retired is that the easy money is much harder to find. So I’ve put all my quilts on a 40 % sale. I have a number of great new works at every price range. And I’m willing to let them go to make sure I can get a new machine. The sale will be on until September 21.

If you’ve been wanting a quilt of mine, this is the best time! The prices won’t go lower, because they really can’t. And I have some fabulous new work.

  • 842 Hosta Moon
  • 866 Arabesque Rose

IF you are new to my work, please take some time to see what I’ve made. I feel each quilt is a separate world of it’s own, there to warm you from your wall, visually.

Prices on the web page and on Etsy will show the full price and give you the discount in your cart.

I’m asking your help to replace my machine.

Thanks!