Another Review...Simply Retro by Camille Roskelley

  

  First off, let me say that I am a huge fan of Bonnie and Camille's fabric lines as well as their beautiful patterns!  I also took Camille's Craftsy class, Pre-Cut Piecing Made Simple, which I really should have reviewed already but will soon.

I've followed Camille's blog, Simplify, since I first entered the blogging world and shortly after, started following her mother, Bonnie.  They are truly a beautiful team and their fabric and patterns reflect everything I love. 

Now the review...No disappointment here! 

This book is Eye Candy!  The pictures are bright and bold and make you want to drop everything to start every quilt in it.  I have browsed through a hundred times and read through this book at least twice and I only received it on Saturday.  I just can't get enough of the pictures.

The patterns are fresh and bright and she gives you exactly what she claims, "fresh quilts from classic blocks".  One of her baby quilts is one large classic block (don't want to reveal too much here).  The scale of the block, along with the quilting, give a modern feel.  And I can only imagine how quickly that one block will go together.  (Perfect gift for daughter #1's friend's baby shower that she just told you about yesterday, and the shower is on Sunday - LOL - Thankfully, daughter #1 has not done that to me...yet)

My absolute "must. start. now. " quilt is "Dwell".  Simple little houses with a few surprises thrown in.  Her instructions are clear and to the point and doesn't require multiple re-reads to figure out what needs to be done.  She gives measurements at multiple points along the way, making it easy to individualize it.  I've got a bundle of happy-go-lucky that I can't wait to cut into and I'm going to throw in a little of this and a little Bliss to make it larger.
                                                                       
This book gets a FIVE STAR rating!

Definitely a keeper for your quilting library.

Cheers!
                                                                       

A Review...Brother Nouvelle 1500S

So I purchased another machine. 









My other machine is a Janome, QC.  I absolutely love my Janome!  But the throat is a little small.  So when I'm quilting anything larger than a lap quilt, it's really tight.  So I thought I would get a machine that has a larger throat, making maneuvering a larger quilt easier. And I'm all about making things easy!

The Brother is comparable to the Juki.  So comparable, in fact, that they even look alike!  The difference appears to be in the price but I'm guessing here because I haven't seen the Juki up close and personal...

This machine is relatively simple.  It has one stitch and one stitch only - the straight stitch.  (My Janome has a ton of stitches so straight stitch only is fine.) I've read reviews where people were disappointed with the location of the bobbin as well as tension issues, but I haven't any concerns.  The bobbin case is under the needle plate and it does feel awkward (after using a top-loading bobbin) when you first install the bobbin.  The very first machine I ever sewed on (when I was about 10 years old) had the bobbin in the same location so although it did feel awkward, it also felt familiar.  The location also doesn't allow you to see how much thread you have left on your bobbin and there isn't anything to let you know that you've run out of bobbin thread.  Although this can be frustrating, I am learning about how long I can sew before I need to check the bobbin thread. Definitely not a deal breaker.

When I first tried the machine I did have all kinds of tension issues and the top thread kept breaking.  Both the tension issues and the breaking thread were entirely my fault!  That first machine I ever sewed on?  It had a knee pedal (instead of a foot pedal) that you (literally) pushed with your knee to operate the machine.  Well, this machine comes with a knee lever that allows you to lift the presser foot without using your hands.  It turns out that not only was I pressing the foot pedal, but I was simultaneously pushing on the knee lever.  Of course I'm having tension and thread issues!  I'm lifting the presser foot while I'm trying to sew!  Duh!  So, I removed the knee lever and...Surprise!  Perfect tension and no breakage! I will try using the knee lever again but for right now, I'm good.

 The Brother came with a number of attachments, including a 1/4 inch foot, a free motion quilting foot, and a walking foot.  It also has a pin feed system (for thicker fabrics or in lieu of a walking foot).  You can adjust the pressure of both the feed dogs and the presser foot too! It has reverse and a button to stop sewing with the needle in the down position.  In addition to the thread cutter on the side, it has an automatic thread cutter that cuts both the top and bottom threads.  I think that's my favorite feature. You don't end up with long tails of thread at the beginning or end of sewing.  The larger table is removable and it comes with a vinyl dust cover.  It also holds either spool thread or cone thread.

And although it can manage up to 1500 stitches per minute and it has a built in stitch regulator, I can't manage that kind of speed (yet)!

And did I say that the machine is metal?  No plastic housing here!

This machine does require oil!  Simple.  Five holes and the bobbin hook when I change the bobbin.  See? Simple.

So far I've quilted two quilts - a baby quilt and a twin size quilt.  Both quilts took less than half the time to quilt and, for the larger quilt, no space issues.

I am very happy with this machine.  It met my expectations and it does exactly what I wanted it for.  Let's hope it does as well for the long haul.

Cheers!