Day 11

Today I sewed around the edges of the 12 GT pieces. First, I returned the old sewing machine and found one that allowed me to set the length and width of the stitches.

I already bought the thread and sewing machine, but before today, I had never used one of these. It comes with a thick book full of instructions, and even has a few options for stitches to use for the applique.

The first order of business was to read the instruction manual...well, at least part of it...to learn how to use the new sewing machine. :-) I had read the instructions and watched the DVD of the other machine. Even though this one was different, that info was helpful since there was no DVD for this one. I learned how to feed the bobbin and top threads through the machine properly, use the pedal, change the stitch length and width, and so on. This is me putting in the light blue thread - the last color I used!

This actually didn't take that long! Well, most of it didn't. Threading the needle proved to be quite a challenge. I was incapable of threading it manually, and had a very difficult time trying to figure out how to use the needle threader. I thought it was broken, but realized after about 15 minutes, that I had to raise the needle all the way up or it wouldn't work. This is a picture of how to use the needle threader.

I could not imagine switching thread so many times without having that needle threader! The needle hole in this machine is MUCH smaller than the last machine, and even wetting the tip of the thread was useless.

I had bought scrap material in advance, and spent about 20 minutes fusing a curvy design together to mimic the cars.

I then tried out different stitches and practiced sewing along the edges.

I should mention that I had a lot of problems keeping it centered through the curves. It's hard to figure out when to turn the material while sewing and when to stop, lift the zigzag foot, and turn the material manually before continuing. Apparently, I'm not cut out for sewing!

I tried zigzag at different widths and lengths, which I had to be careful of. If the stitches were too close together, the result is bunching of the fabric. If they were too far apart, I would have to worry about the pieces being pulled apart or frayed over time. If they were too wide, the sewing would stand out too much and cover up the graphics. If they were too narrow, they would not cover both sides of the edge, which would make it easy for the edge to pull apart, separating the 2 pieces of fabric.

Zigzag is a good stitch for applique, because it goes back and forth across both sides of the edge. The satin stitch is a very tight (short length) zigzag stitch. It looked the best, but around the turns it bunched up and jammed the machine. That was length .3. I ended up using length .5 and width 2.5.

It's tight, but not overly so - I can still go back a few stitches without it jamming. The width is somewhere between 1/8" and 1/16", which is pretty narrow for a beginner sewer. This is what it looks like on one of the heritage GTs. You can see that even though it is narrow, the thread still covers both sides of the edge (at least when I didn't screw up, it did).

The practice did not go as well as planned, but after trying a cutout and finding a stitch that worked, I decided to go for it!

I used white thread for the bobbin (lower thread) for everything. For the top thread, I started with black. There were black sections on all of the cars.

Here is the front and back of the yellow car after adding the black stitching. You can see the white thread on the back side.

When black was done, my bobbin was almost empty, so I refilled it and worked my way through the other colors. I changed thread frequently, and tried to remember to go back a couple of stitches before cutting the thread and also to make a few reinforced stitches at the beginning. Once I was done with a section, I cut the threads from the sewing machine, and then cut the threads from the front and back so they would not not be noticeable.

The hardest parts were the black rear diffusers and going around the mirrors. It was also difficult to see what I was doing on the lighter colors (light blue, yellow, white, and gray). And there were a number of times I had to redo a part or cut and restart the thread due to bunching. Overall though, I am happy with the result (not to mention, I feel like I can now change thread like a pro!).

Here are a few pictures of the finished blocks. You can see a lot of mistakes, but as my roommie says, it's a labor of love. ;-)

And here is the back of a finished one:

I am typing this after working all day on these and my back and legs are killing me! I guess that's what happens when you use a 2 foot table to work on rather than a desk... I was hoping to applique the border cars tomorrow, but since I have not received them in the mail from my sister yet, that will have to wait. Oh well. I did try to make it to the quilt store before they closed to pick up some more material, but since it is Saturday and they close at 4 PM instead of 5 PM, I was too late.

I should also mention that I just saw a picture of the little one and he ranks up there as one of the most adorable newborn babies I've ever seen! :-)