Bernina 830 and the bobbin sensor problem

Click on the photos to enlarge to see the information.

I purchased my Bernina several years ago and have had continual problems with the bobbin. I have had the machine in for maintence many, many times. The machine comes back and works beautifully for a short period of time.

I use the machine almost daily for garment sewing and quilting. I had the machine in the shop in early October and by the end of December the bobbin sensor code was once again showing on the machine.

My husband-the fabulous computer geek and can fix anything man-was in my studio and asked what was the problem. I removed the throat plate and opened the bobbin door and moved the shuttle case down to show the inter workings of the machine. He looked at the machine and discovered it has 2 sensors one magnetic and one possibility a photo sensor for the bobbin. He took a can of air and sprayed the sensors for quite a period of time. We put the machine back together and bingo the no bobbin sensor code. So I now blow the dust off the bobbin sensor every time I change the bobbin and no more problems. Who Knew?????

One more tidbit of information. The bobbins have silver-colored rectangles around the bobbin. If one of these is scratched or nicked the bobbin sensor will not see the bobbin and the bobbin code will appear on the screen with a question mark. Check your bobbins with a magnify glass to see any problems. Don’t use these bobbins–I have put them in a bag and hope that some day Bernina might replace them, but I doubt it.

I love the 830 for all its bells and whistles and the wide machine bed for quilting is fabulous. Now that I have solved the bobbin problems; I love it even more.

Embellished Jean vests

The fabric used on these vests was the best selling in the local crafts shows. The vests sold very well this year. The vest were purchased at thrift shops and ebay. Some of them are denim jackets and I cut the sleeves out and stitched the armhole seam allowance to the garment.

Useful information for quilters

I am always looking on the internet for the size of various pieces of fabric and quilts. So I thought I would post the information on my blog for everyone who has the same problem.

Fabric Sizes:
Fat Quarter 18 inches x 22 inches
Fat Eighth 11 inches x 18 inches
Fat Half 36 inches x 22 inches
Jelly Roll 40 strips of 2 1/2 inches by width of fabric

Quilt sizes:
Wall 24 inches x 36 inches
Lap 36 inches x 45 inches
Throw 55 inches x 42 inches
Twin bed quilt 39 inches x 75 inches
Double or full quilt 54 inches x 75 inches
Queen 60 inches x 80 inches
King 78 inches x 80 inches
CA king 72 inches x 84 inches

Magic Cutting numbers:
square or rectangle finshed size + 1/2 inch
half square triangle finished size + 7/8 inch
quarter square triangle finished size + l 1/4 inches

rusted fabric

Rusting fabric is so simple, yet it yields fabulous restults. Cotton, silk and wool can be rusted. Soak each piece of fabric in water and squeeze out the water. Soak each damp piece of fabric in white vinegar and squeeze out the excess. Any metal object made of iron can be used to rust the fabric. My favorite is steel wool available at the home depot, lowes or any hardware store. It can be found in the paint section of the store. It comes in different grades from very fine to coarse. I have tried them all.

The fine steel wool yields the light colored motif that looks like brown sand sprinkled on the fabric. The coarse yields a darker field of color. The rusted motifs were made with large nails, washers, a star shaped object found at a flea market. The best motifs will come from object that are not sealed–wire, chain, cans, etc. If the object should be rusted before starting.

To rust metal objects make a bath of vinegar and water and let sit in the sun for several days. If the object has not started to rust then it is not made of the correct metal.

To rust the fabric: wrap the fabric around the steel wool or object and secure if necessary. Lay the bundle on plastic and cover lightly with more plastic on a humid day. The silk and wool will rust quickly check in less than 2 hours. The cotton can be left over night.

Shake the fabric into a trash can to remove all the metal flakes and rinse in water–outside. Do not do this in your sink. Once the fabric is clean wash it in the washer with a mild detergent and dry.

The pictures show the final results. There are also 4 silk scraves that have been rusted shown in the photos. Experiment and see what you can create.

Resits on fabric

A resist is something that painted onto cloth that will not allow paint or dye to penetrate. The resists that I have experimented with are mashed potatoes flakes, baby rice cereal, oatmeal, tapioca. The oatmeal is the one that gives the best texture when removed from the fabric.
1. Mix 1 cup of oatmeal with 2 cups of hot water stir and let the mixture sit for 10 minutes. Using a spoon or other utensil spread the mixture on the fabric and let dry. It will take at least 24 hours or longer depending on the temperature and the humidity.
2. Using thickened dye: 1 tablespoon sodium alginate in 1 cup of chemical water(1 gallon warm water, 1/3 cup soda ash, 3/4 cup urea) ; mixing throughly to remove any lumps. Let the mixture stand until thick. Add 2 teaspoons mx Procion dye and 2 teaspoons of a 50/50 mixture of baking soda and soda ash to the thickened alginate mixture. Paint this onto the dried oatmeal or other resist covered fabric.
3. Let batch overnight. Scour with warm water and a brush to remove the resist. If the sink has a garbage disposal the resist can be washed down the sink, if no disposal–do not wash the resist down the drain-it will make a mess of your plumbing. Wash the fabrics in the washer and dry.
Beware: my dog loved the mashed potatoes on the fabric and licked one piece clean.
The fabrics are oatmeal(top right second line), tapoica, baby rice cereal, mashed potato.

Hand dyeing explorations 2011

I have been hand dyeing for many years; each year brings new discoveries. This year was not different. I discovered how to make mottled hand dyes. Who knew????

I took my PFD (prepared for dyeing) fabric and shoved it into cut off panty hose, the net bags from vegetables and the thanksgiving turkey breast, trouser socks. I soaked the blob in water and dropped it into dye baths of either RIT dye in a bucket or large zip lock bags full of MX procion dye. Yes, I used RIT dye–I let the buckets and bags sit over night in my studio and dumped them the next morning in the sink, rinsed and washed them in the washer and dried in the dryer. So easy–and beautiful results.

The sibori designs on the fabric were created using PVC plumbing pipes from Home Depot. They have it precut. I wrapped the fabric around the pipe and secured it with string; then stuck the pipes in the bucket with the rest of the dyeing fabric. Beautiful results. Next I am trying resists. Stay tuned

Salvaging a drab quilt top

Before color adjustment unquilted

landscape after crayon color change and quilting

The first landscape was made a year ago and has hung on my design wall in various places. Sometimes it was hanging by one pin or a piece of tape. What to do with it was always a question? How to quilt it?
There was something about the piece that I liked too much to give it away or put it away, but I never felt compelled to work on it—just look at it sadly hanging on the wall.
Last week I took down the piece and started quilting using some free motion quilting pattern that I had. At first I traced the shapes and penciled the quilting lines. The amount of paper that landed on my floor made my studio look like the aftermath of a confetti parade. Something still bothered me about the landscape. I could not see all the mountain ranges and the yellow strip shouted. One afternoon I grabbed my crayons, yes childrens crayolas.
While making a wearable art project several years ago, I discovered that crayon melted quickly on hot fabric(I know what a discovery). So I tried this with the landscape. The crayons worked wonders-not only on the fabric, but on the quilting stitching. The stitches stood out in some places and melted into the quilt in others. The landscape only needs the binding sewn down and it is finished. I am feeling good about salvaging the top and am pleased with the results.

BOXES

Do you wonder what type of stabilizer is necessary to make a 3d object like a bowl or box? Timtex or Peltex is wonderful for such projects. These stabilizer are useful for fusing wonderunder and fabric to create a dimensional project.

Cut the stabilizer to the size desired for the box- the 4 sides will be the same size. The bottom will be slightly smaller that the sides. Fuse the fabric or paper to both sides of the cut stablilizer. Stitch a grid or other design on the pieces.

To assemble the box: zigzag the pieces together to form the structure. Insert the bottom and using a the free arm part of your machine zigzag the bottom to the sides. All of this may also be done by hand.

To form the lid: Cut a piece of stabilizer slightly larger than the bottom piece; plus four pieces 1 inch by the length of the top edges. Zigzag these into place around the lid’s edges.

The fabric for the yellow box was hand painted with fabric paints and foil was applied using wonder under. The fabric for the blue box was a brown bag painted with acrylic paint and stitched to the stabilizer. Brown paper looks and feels like faux leather when painted with acrylics.

Scarves from found fabric

The scarves are made from tshirts purchased at thrift shops, or giveaways. Some of the fabric was found in my stash. They were fun to make and I have created a class to teach the methods of making these quick and easy scarves. Check out my website for more information. http://www.priscillastultz.com

beaded hand dyed shoe string pendants

The rosettes on the pendants are made from hand dyed shoe strings. The rosettes are stitched to a firm stabilizer that has been cut into the shape of the pendant. Seed beads are added until a pleasing beaded structure has been built. Crystals are added around the edge of the beads and in the center of the rosettes.