Some of you might be wondering what happened to me... Did she ever come back from that machine class? Did she run away from that very intimidating machine? (Remember the picture of Lucy in last post?) Well, no I have been here diligently working on a quilt and becoming acquainted with my new friend Bernie. The machine class was great and I decided to put some of what I learned into practice.
This is a baby quilt for a friend at work. She is expecting her second son on June 22. If you remember I bought that airplane fabric at the NJ Quilt Show in March.
I saw a similar quilt on Pinterest with these airplanes and decided to draw the planes myself on fusible web and then add my own design around it. (FYI - I did search for the pattern and didn't find anything.) Love the rickrack contrails.
The machine did a great job with the buttonhole stitch around all the planes.
I added 5 inch blocks and a couple of borders and it was ready to be basted.
In the meantime, we took a trip one Saturday out to Ephrata, PA to Hinkletown Sewing. On a back country road with farms on either side, we found the shop nestled in a small white building located on their farm. This is the dealer that I bought my machine from at the AQS Lancaster quilt show. 
This dealer only sells Bernina sewing machines, except for a few trade-ins on the floor, and is owned and operated by a Mennonite family.
It is a small shop but with great customer service and good prices. The have used presser feet that you can pick up for $10. A real deal! I was lucky enough to find a clear free motion foot in that basket.
Back home, I was ready to start machine quilting this baby quilt. The machine comes with a stitch regulator foot, but for right now I prefer to do my FMQ with out the help. I loved this clear foot for seeing exactly where I was going.
I did invest in a walking foot, not being sure that I would need it. With the dual feed on this machine, quilt binding goes on with no problem. But for straight machine quilting, which I would like to do more of, this walking foot was fantastic! It was quiet and smooth and the guides worked great. I think it is a keeper.
I have added my label and I am working on getting the binding finished!
Hope the baby's mom loves this quilt as much as I have enjoyed making it. Her baby 'sprinkle' is on Tuesday. :-)
I am no longer intimidated by my new machine and I am really enjoying working with her. :-)
Happy Stitching!
Deb
