Hello Everyone,

 

Welcome June, Welcome Summer! I sit here in the quiet of Memorial Day morning putting together a few thoughts for the month and listening to the birds outside my window. The baby birds are already squawking for their breakfast as Mom and Dad fly back and forth through our Magnolia and Hydrangea bushes to bring their breakfast. These calm, quiet moments are rare these days as we work hard to build our new nest, the new shop, and still keep the current shop running smoothly. So many decisions to be made on the function of the new floor plan, the layout of the rooms, a new larger classroom with ideas for new classes and possible day retreats at the new shop. As we look out into the room that will become the sale floor, we think about how we will function in the new space. We make plans as to where everything will go, how the classroom will be set up and how we will bring back demo day and events at the new shop too. We have plans to bring in more fabrics and new products to spark your creativity. There is so much to plan for, all while keeping the current shop going even through the less busy quilting season of Summer. We are always adding to the class calendar. It is not quite filled in yet but getting there, so be sure to look that over if you need a little summer project. New Fabrics, notions and Sewing Machines continue to arrive, albeit slowly as so many products are on backorder, on ships, in ports waiting to be unloaded. In July we are heading back on the road to our first show in over a year. We will be at the One Stop Shop Hop in Kokomo, Indiana. Always a favorite event, the One Stop Shop Hop will have 29 quilt shops in one convention center. A great road trip to plan with your quilting friends.

 

I better get this day started now that the baby birds outside my window are fed and happy. I need to get back to sewing and planning for this Friday's Demonstration Day Video. This month's theme is "Home Tweet Home". Lots of feathered friends and sweet tweets to share with you!

 

May all your stitches be sweet,

Joan

Darla has a new project class "Oceanic" available in June. This is a fun, vibrant and easy quilt to make with your Accuquilt cutting system.

In addition to project classes, this month we have included "Get to know your sewing machine" where you will learn the basics of sewing machine operation, adjustments and maintenance. Click Here to Link to the Class Page

As we contemplate a world getting back to somewhat "normal", Sweet Stitches is planning a few trips out of the shop to attend quilting events as a vendor.

Free Motion Quilting is a wonderful way to express your creativity and finish a quilt project with a one of a kind design. No two free motion projects will be exactly alike, each has the signature of the artist.

While you may be "Free" to create your own patterns, shapes and style, you must adhere to the basic principles and physical requirements for setting up your sewing machine. A comment that we hear from time to time is that the machine is skipping stitches when free motion sewing. If this is the case, the first question to ask is if the machine skips stitches when running a standard stitch with a common presser foot. Does the machine skip stitches when piecing or running an applique stitch? If the answer to that question is no, it is highly likely that the skipped stitches during free motion are the result of an improperly positioned free motion foot.

When your needle is moving down and then back up through your fabric, the weave of the fabric creates friction against the needle and it is your presser foot that holds the fabric down as the needle is pulled up. In the case of free motion quilting, you will use a foot that will allow you to move the fabric, to do this the foot cannot press on the fabric when the needle is up. If your foot is adjusted too high above the fabric (be it adjusted electronically or mechanically) the needle, as it moves up, will drag your fabric with it. It only takes a small fraction of an inch and this dragging of the fabric will prevent the thread loop from forming and the machine hook will not create a stitch. By adjusting the height of the free motion foot to allow fabric movement with a minimum height from the fabric, the needle will move through the fabric without pulling the fabric up and this will allow the thread loop at the eye of the needle to form and the stitch will be made properly.