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When a squeak drives you mad!!

29/5/2016

I had a funny half hour this week. I was quilting a new piece of work and all was going well. But very gradually a small squeak began. Nothing much, just a little noise. So I ignored it and carried on. Probably not the smartest thing to do, but I had a nice rhythm going and I didn't want to stop. Slowly the squeak became louder and louder until I realised that it wasn't going to go away, and in fact, I might be doing some serious damage to the machine. So I stopped and did the (almost) right thing.

I got my screwdriver out and started to unscrew the most obvious screws I could see. I must say, I did unplug the machine first.

Remember to always unplug the machine from the mains before you go in deep! Not just switch it off, but remove the plug from the wall. I once was at a workshop when a beautiful old Bernina started stitching all by iteslf!

Starting in the bobbin zone

I started by taking off the foot and needle - pretty standard for when you clean your machine. (You do regularly clean your machine, don't you?) I removed those so I could easily get access to the bobbin zone and not damage myself on the needle.

Next, I removed the two small screws that hold down the needle plate.

Put the screws into a little pot - or even a few if you are likely to mix up different screws from different places. Those things can get lost at the drop of a hat!

If you have a machine with a drop in bobbin, you will be looking at something similar to this. See all those little fibres? If this is the first time you have been in here make a note of which way the dish is positioned.

A quick photo is always a good way to remind yourself of where things were before you started.

On my machines I regularly take out the bobbin case (that little black dish thing). It is amazing how much fluff accumulates there. Depending on what you are stitching you may need to give it a clear out every time you change the bobbin. I clean mine with a tiny soft paintbrush, on both sides. Check it carefully and get your glasses out if you need to!
While it is out inspect the bobbin case all over. As this type is made from plastic they can become accidentally damaged by the needle. Look for scratches, burrs, and other irregularities. If they aren't major you can try to smooth them out with one of those boards you use to buff your nails (not an emery board), but be gentle and be aware that it might make the problem worse, so use your judgement. If there is a big chunk or gouge in the plastic it might just need to replace the whole dish.

nail buffer block

Once the bobbin case is out you will see the race mechanism. If you manually turn the wheel on the sewing machine you will see how the parts of the machine move and how it all works. (If your machine has a vertical bobbin it may be a little more difficult to see, and the removal of the bobbin case will be done is a slightly different way. The user manual for your machine will tell you everything you need to know.)

The amount of fluff, odd threads and dare I say it, broken needle tips that accumulate down here is astonishing. Carefully and gently get as much of it out as possible. Again, I use a small paintbrush and have a good poke around deep into the workings. Get a little torch and shine it in; look for any stray threads that may be trapped or tangled. If you can reach them with a seam ripper gently ease them out. If you can't do this without risking damage to yourself or the machine now is the time to call in a professional.
*Some people use compressed air from a can - I have used this in the past, and it really does blast out lots of fluff, but I have read it can also blast fibres deep into moving the parts of the machine too, (which can't be good) so I don't use that very often any more. I have also seen little vacuum cleaners for computer keyboards that might be worth trying too.

Then I went a bit off piste. Do you see those concentric dark circles in the centre of the picture. Right in the middle of that is a little bit of fluffy looking stuff (some machines just have a hole here). I took a pair of pointy tweezers and gently pulled on the fluffy bit which pulled up a long piece of felt that looked a bit like a wick.

Now, my machine manual says there is no need to lubricate. Ever. Well, I disagree. Having lived in hot, humid and sometimes sandy places I have come to realise that a sewing machine likes to be lubricated. So I ignore the 'no-lube' rule and use a tiny amount of very fine sewing machine oil from time to time. I lube wherever metal parts move and touch. So for this machine, I remove the little wick and put one drop of oil down the hole and then replace the wick.

Satisfied that there was nothing else in this part of the machine that I could do myself, I reassembled the pieces then manually turned the flywheel to raise and lower the needle post, just to make sure everything was moving freely and that I had put the puzzle back correctly.

You did unplug the machine, didn't you?

Moving on up to the sewing head

Next I turned my attention to the top part of the machine - somewhere I don't often go!

I had a good look at my machine and found another screw on the back that I could easily remove. This screw hold on the plastic case that covers the sewing head. This is where the squeak seemed to be coming from and where there are lots more of moving metal parts. I was careful to put the screw into my little yellow pot so as not to loose it.

If you have never done this it is worth a look. Be careful not to dislodge any of the cables, and don't go poking around too much, but once again I was amazed at the fluff and stuff that had accumulated up here.
I manually moved the fly wheel again and looked carefully to see what was going on. I could see there was a piece of thread metallic thread (that stuff is so tricky isn't it!!) that had got itself tangled in there. Using long pointy tweezers I was able to easily pull it out. I gave everything a good brush with my little paintbrush, starting from top to bottom and removed quite a few chunks of fluff.

I also found a small lump of accumulated lint on the take up lever, which I used the tweezers to ease off. It came off like a tiny doughnut!

Once all the fluff was gone I carefully put one drop of oil onto each moving joint for all the parts I could reach, then moved on to the next part of the machine - the tension discs.

The tension discs on my machine are covered by a small plastic plate with yet another little screw holding it in place. After undoing it I gently eased the plastic cover off.

And there they are - to the left of the big spring - the tension disks! Put the presser foot lever up and down a few times and you will see what happens.

To clean between the discs and under the little thread guide plate I discovered (above right) I took a spool of thick thread and put two drops of my old favourite, 'Sewer's Aid' between my forefinger and thumb. I pulled a length of thread between them to add a little lube to the thread. Then I threaded the machine up as normal (minus the needle) and pulled the thread back and forth (think dental floss) several times through the whole mechanism. Quite a bit of fluff and odd bits of thread were dislodged. To finish I put a drop of oil on the spring area and then put all the parts and screws back into place.

It is good to know about how the tension discs are controlled, as when you thread your machine you should always have the foot in the 'up' position so the thread can slide nicely between the discs. Once the foot goes down the discs close together according to the tension setting you have selected.

Once I had checked that the mechanism was moving up and down freely I replaced the needle and presser foot and plugged it all back in again. To make sure no residual oil would make a mess I stitched onto a piece of scrap fabric for a few minutes - and guess what.............. the squeak was gone! Da da!!

Thanks for reading.

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Taking a look at what's going on in the South and South West of England

26/5/2016

As well as keeping busy trying new ideas and creating things, it is also good to keep up with all the fantastic work that is being made and exhibited by so many other talented artists. However, I do sometimes difficult to keep track of 'what's on when', so I have been searching around to find some great exhibitions to visit in my first month back in the UK. Here are a few that have caught my eye.......... it looks like I won't have time for anything else!

Dorset Art Weeks: Textile Exhibits
28th May to 12th June 2016

Go to Dorset Art Weeks website

Birgitta Debenham: Holy Trinity Church, Turnerspuddle DT2 7JA
28th May to 12th June

Birgitta Debenham: Conversation

Go to Birgitta's website

Kate Dowty: 5 Lodge Lane, West Allington, Bridport, Dorset, DT6 5QR
28th May to 12th June

Kate Dowty

Go to Kate's website

Blackmore Vale Embroiderers' Guild: Bishops Caundle Village Hall, Bishops Caundle, DT9 5NG
28th May to 12th June

Liz Cox: Lava Flow

Go to Art Weeks website

Fracture: prism textile group
1st to 12th June 2016

Go to Prism website

A Child of the Sixties: Threaded Together
2nd to 23rd June 2016

Stephanie Crawford: Peace & Love

Lady Sew and Sew Warehouse, Farm Road, Henley on Thames, Oxfordshire RG9 1EJ

On The Edge: Contemporary Quilt Group of the Quilter's Guild of the British Isles
4th to 11th June 2016

The Bramble Patch, West Street, Weedon, NN7 4QU

Brunel Broderers: New Worke
8th June to 11th July 2016

Go to Brunel Broders website

Bucks Open Studios: Textile Exhibits
11th to 26th June 2016

Go to Open Studios website

Rachel Wright: Obsidian Art Gallery
11th to 26th June 2016

Barbara Shaw: 3 Linden Lea,Wendover
11th to 26th June 2016

Go to Rachel's website

Go to Barbara's website

Making Space: 62 Group of Textile Artists
17 June-3 September 2016

Go to 62 Group website

Unfolding Stories 2: Contemporary Quilters West
24th June to 5th July

Go to Contemporary Quilters West site

So, if you happen to be in the South West in the month of June you certainly have plenty of opportunities to see some wonderful textile art. I am amazed and delighted at the amount of work there is going to be on show. I guess it demonstrates how popular textile art has become.

If you notice any errors, please do let me know, and if you have information you would like me to add to this list, please get in touch and I will happily add it.

Thanks for reading.

Using 'what if ?'questions to help with quilt design

17/5/2016

I met a lovely group of very accomplished traditional quilters this week. We spent a great morning together eating cake, swapping stories and sharing our work. It was a pleasure to see such beautifully made quilts. It always makes me smile, but the world over, quilters always seem to ask the same questions...

'How long did it take to make?'; 'Where do you get you ideas?' and 'How do you turn the ideas into quilts' being the top three that seem to get asked most often.

Question 1: I honestly can't give a good answer - ages seems to be my best guess!

Question 2 is easier: I keep my eyes and ears open, take lots photos and collect nice images from brochures, magazines and the like, then put them into sketchbooks / workbooks to work on later.

Question 3: well, this is the big one, isn't it?

Sample sketchbook page for the roses quilts

A quick Google search brings up lots of videos, online courses, tutorials, books, and tips for those who would like to make the transition to designing and making their own work. If you want to get technical you can get into the detail of good design and like many other quilters I have written a book about it. One of the main things to do is to stop wondering about it and take the plunge. Try something small and don't worry if it doesn't work out. But that still doesn't answer the question, does it?

So, here is one quick and easy technique to at least get started, and once you have started it will all seem a lot easier!

Find something that you like. It might be a picture, a cushion, your auntie's old tea towel, or maybe a quilt that has particularly caught your eye. It can be anything. You aren't going to make a copy of it - so no need to fret about copyright. (However it might be polite to ask the permission of the original maker if you think it appropriate.) This is going to be your inspiration and you are going to look at it carefully and ask......... 'what if ?'

To demonstrate what I mean, here are several quilts made using the quilt 'City of Roses' (a quilt I made several years ago) as the starting point and the 'What if ?' questions that I asked.

What if................ I changed the colours?
This is a pretty straightforward and not terribly original, but it is a good place to start this explanation.
(note: if you are only changing the colours of a quilt then you really do need to ask the permission of the original maker, as it is a copy). So, instead of green and pink I chose blue & purple and peach & pink. Already it is starting to look different. (I will be teaching this quilt and many options for altering it at Midsomer Quilting on 3rd July)

'City of Roses II' ©2016 Claire Passmore

What if.............................. I modified the shape of the flower motifs?
In my sketchbook I tried several different ideas for the rose shapes. There are lots of different variations that could be made. I stuck with roses, but I could have easily changed the type of flower to something like a daisy for a really different look.

I decided to change the way I cut the spiral. Instead of a simple straight edged spiral I made the edge bumpy.

Simple spirals

Bumpy spirals

What if ....... I changed the way I put the flowers onto the quilt top?
Instead of using raw edge applique I thought about how else could I put flowers onto the fabric. I made a lino cut stamp and also experimented with Derwent Inktense pencils and mono printing

Derwent Inktense Pencils

Lino cut rose shape stamp

mono printing

What if............. I add some leaves?
Just a few little green leaves add enough contrast to help define the rose shapes on the busy background. They act as visual cues to say 'we are flowers' and stop the rose spirals from appearing as a big scramble.

What if....................... I changed the background?
As you can see from the quilt below I made quite a few changes to the background. You can read more detail about how I made this quilt in an earlier blog post by clicking here, but basically I cut the quilt into 3 and inserted panels of white fabric in between. On the white fabric I wrote a message with dye to tell the story I wanted to convey.

'Before They Fade Away' © Claire Passmore 2016

At a glance this quilt looks quite different from the original, but if you look more closely you will see it shares many similarities with 'City of Roses'. There are changes to the size, colour, overall shape of the quilt, as well as a slight change to the flower motifs and the method of adding the flowers. All this has contributed to making this a new and unique design.

What if...................... I simplify the quilt?
Instead of having 3 central panels - how about making it smaller and just having just one? Alternatively how about making it larger and having 5?

'Before They Fade Away II' © Claire Passmore 2016

What if ................. I change the colour of the text?
Rather than have black and grey, what would it look like if I had black and rose coloured text?

The answer turned out to be YUK!! Oh well, sometimes these things happen and when they do you get to try another 'what if ?' to solve the problem.....

What if ................. I change the colour of the white outer fabric?
To quieten down that bright pink writing that was now shouting out I tried painting some weak blue and green dyes onto the fabric. It calmed it down a lot and I like the new look.

What if .................. I change the position of the band of appliqued roses?
To be honest, this happened by accident, but is nevertheless another good example of a 'what if !' When I fused on the flowers I did not notice I had the quilt upside down, but rather than pull them all off I stood back and looked at the quilt to see whether I liked it or not. I liked the new position - so they stayed and were stitched down.

'Before They Fade Away III' © Claire Passmore 2016

Do you notice that the central panel isn't completely square in this one? That would be another good avenue to explore -perhaps trying a parallellogram or trapezium shape instead of the square.

What if............... I added a big extra border?
The blue outer border made me wonder whether another border might look good - giving a much more traditional look to the quilt.

'Before They Fade Away IV' © Claire Passmore 2016

Looking at it now I am thinking what if I extend the flowers across the blue border? I might lay a few on to see how it looks.

What if.............. I took the text away and replaced it with some quilting lines instead?
For this one I free motion quilted thorny rose stems and leaves and then added a little colour with Derwent Inktense pencils. It has given a light and delicate look which I like very much.

What if................ I change the quilting pattern?
Instead of the straight line quilting I used a micro stipple to fill the gaps between the leaves. I think this one might be my favourite!

'Before They Fade Away V' © Claire Passmore 2016

That pretty much explains how I approach the whole 'What if' idea, and it has yielded some interesting results.

Thanks for reading.

Using the colours of autumn to create beautiful colour palettes

10/5/2016

It was another glorious autumn day today, and although I had lots of things I needed to stitch I just couldn't stay inside - so took a few hours and drove into the Kaimai Mountains to enjoy the spectacular colours on show.

The colour of all the trees around the lake was incredibly vivid, but on the shaded valley sides the tree ferns were very different; such a contrast.

It is so different from what I am used to, seeing such different types of vegetation growing in such close proximity.

Once back at home I decided to use the photographs to create some interesting colour palettes. I love to do this and keep a sketchbook just for this purpose. It is such a simple thing to do and is a really useful resource that I refer to often when deciding on how to combine colours for my work.

Why not have a try?

Thanks for reading.

Avocado dye part 2

2/5/2016

I hope you will be as pleasantly surprised with the results of the avocado dyeing experiments I did last week. You can see the results below. After soaking overnight in the dye bath, I laundered the fabric and the result was a beautifully soft dusty pink (it is the fabric in the centre). The other wonderful thing is the fabric had the most lovely smell - a slightly perfumed citrussy freshness. I wish I could bottle it!

I think the 3 fabrics below look beautiful together don't you? - The original white, the avo dyed fabric and then the walnut dyed fabric I made a few months ago.

Left: original white fabric; Middle: dusty pink avo dyed fabric; right walnut dyed fabric

Adding the iron after mordant

If you have ever tried working with indigo or wode then you will know about the magic that happens once the fabric comes out of the vat - well, a similar thing happens with avocado dyed fabric once it hits the iron after mordant. It is like magic!

The iron after mordant - effectively rusty water!

I think the best way I can show you what happens is in pictures..............

I decided to try a folding technique and dip the dyed fabric into the iron after mordant to see what would happen. I folded the fabric following the instructions in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTaAl4us8aY

Fold the fabric accordian style into pleats

This is how it looks when it is opened up.

Start by folding the corner up into a triangle

Then fold the triangle back on itself to make a new triangle

Keep going until the whole strip is folded up

Secure with elastic bands to stop it all unfolding

Once it was folded I poured the iron after mordant I made last week into a bowl and briefly dipped the edges of the fabric into it. As soon as I took the fabric out and the air hit the fabric it began to change colour.

The whole reaction takes place in a matter of seconds, and the more of the iron mordant you add the darker the fabric becomes. I had not realised quite how strong or quick the reaction would be, and unfortunately on this occasion I think I rather overdid the dip! Still - it was a great learning experience, and next time I will be much more light handed.

I have also experimented with other methods of applying the iron water by painting lines and dripping it onto the fabric. There is a lot of opportunity to experiment here.

The results of the dip dye

Sadly the lovely smell is now gone, replaced instead with that curious metallic smell which reminds me of blood (that'll be the iron!) Still, it turned into a pretty interesting piece of fabric.

And to my friend k3n - you are absolutely right - 'saddened' is a very good adjective! (see the comment k3n left at the end of last weeks post) I Hope you have fun if you have a try.

Thanks for reading!

When a squeak drives you mad!!

Starting in the bobbin zone

Moving on up to the sewing head

Taking a look at what's going on in the South and South West of England

Using 'what if ﻿?'questions to help with quilt design

Using the colours of autumn to create beautiful colour palettes

Avocado dye part 2

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