i finally found a site online that helped me understand what was wrong with the brother walking foot. apparently you need a spring loaded screw for it to fit the machine properly. so i searched around and found one for 4 bucks plus shipping. but i'm impatient and did not want to wait for it to be shipped. so i thought maybe i could find one at the hardware store or somewhere else locally. nope so i thought maybe one of the screws from the two old singers would work, or one from my serger. so i grabbed one of the old singers and removed the screw. it fit my other machine and is perfect for holding the bar while at the same time being screwed tight enough to keep the needle exactly where it should be. yay!! i outsmarted a sewing machine. lol
i was so proud of my accomplishment and started working on luciens rag quilt right away. i was able to finish it and he loves it. these pictures are from after i snipped it but before i washed it.
i read a lot of recommendations on how to wash it. most of them said to consider taking the quilt to a washateria/laundromat to wash and dry it because it makes lots of mess. well i'm too lazy to go sit while it washes and dries when i have a perfectly good machine here at home that is very good at catching lint and other junk. so i washed it here at home....well it made a lot of lint. our machine is a front loading machine with a trap that occassionally has to be emptied when stuff builds up. and when it is full the machine will not wring out the clothes (or whatever you are washing) all the way. this is how we know it's time to clean it out.
of course the blanket was taking forever to wring out so i knew to stop the machine and check the trap. well geez louise it was packed full of lint, coins, safety pins, beads and all sorts of other random crap that we forget to empty out of our pockets. after i did that i threw in a few clean towels to help the machine balance itself out and the cycle went much faster. marina and i also took the blanket out and wrung some of the water out by hand over the bathtub.fun times i tell ya.....she griped the whole time. lol
i didn't get to see the lint trap after it dried because marina emptied the dryer so she could dry her clothes that had washed after the blanket. but i imagine it was pretty full.
so i went to joann's yesterday and bought a bunch of snuggle flannel to work on some other gifts for different family members. after i make the quilt for my niece (she will be 2 this week) i will finish the quilts for the girls. i am also going to make my dad one for xmas. unfortunately i bought the fabric before i finished washing the quilt.
i was very dissapointed that the snuggle flannel seemed to fade and had a lot of pills on it after it was done. i mean fuck this fabric is normally $6 a yard so i would think it wouldn't have this sort of effect after washing! i'm really pissed about that but it's too late to take it back because most of it has already been cut, pinned, & i chalked the quilting lines on it. doh
maybe after a few more washes it won't look so bad. at least i hope so. :)
i have to go pick up the littles now, they have an appointment at 4pm to have their teeth cleaned....fun fun.
