It must be July here because it is hot! This kind of summer weather makes me really appreciate my basement sewing room because it is the coolest spot in our otherwise un-air conditioned house. It's my refuge.
Heading down!
My Pfaff went in for a spa treatment on Tuesday afternoon, so I took that time to clean off the sewing table. Amazingly, the LQS where I took it (and where I also bought it) gave me same day service! I really liked that! I was expecting to be without my sewing machine for a week.
She's really purring now!
How often do you take the bobbin cover off your machine and clean all the lint and crud out from under there? I've done that twice in the year and a half I've owned this machine. The sewing machine guy suggested doing it after every project. Since I sew every day, but don't finish a project all that often, what do you think? Should I clean under the bobbin once a week? Once a month?
Of course I did have to sew something right away, so I worked on my blue and yellow scrap slab project. I thought yellow thread would be a fun contrast with the dark blue batiks! (It's Aurifil Lemon.)
A couple photos from our hike in the national park the other day -
Beautiful and green, lots of sun, and no one on the trail but Mike and me.
Hiking along Mill Creek - I love the sound of the water!
First tomato of the season - a cherry tomato - yummy! And I've gotten several more since. Still eating those green beans, too.
Have you ever read Make Modern Magazine? I was lucky to win a subscription to it for participating in Sandra's Centred QAL at mmmquilts. Lots of inspiration and good information in here!
Thank you, Sandra and Make Modern!
Thanks for visiting today! Hope you're having a great week!
20 comments:
I clean my bobbin lint about once a week and try to make sure I do it before I start quilting a project. It's amazing how much builds up. I need to take my Janome in for service.
I really love the blue and yellow crumbs.
You are lucky to live in drier climate with no AC! I hope it is not too miserable for you this week. We are forecast a week or more of high 90s and low 100s with high humidity. I expect that will be the end of our garden! Glad you are still enjoying yours. :)
Same day service is pretty exceptional! I clean out the lint from around the bobbin case when I rewind my bobbins. So how often I clean depends on how much I've been stitching. Looks like a very fun hike. Hopefully you did that in the morning, before it got too hot.
I clean my bobbin case after every five bobbins used, also before and after every large quilting project. Same day service on machine spa treatments would be wonderful!
I clean the bobbin area in my Baby Lock every time I change it, but I only periodically take the plate off and clean up the innards. My cherry tomatoes are starting to blush; maybe some will be ready by the weekend.
I actually clean the bobbin area - taking the whole area apart about every week if I am using it daily and every other week if I'm not sewing every day. I can't say I remember to do this all the time but most of time.
I love your park trails - I remember one time living in Idaho years ago with no A/C and it was very hot and we had a partially unfinished basement, I would bring the baby down to the basement and a book, there was a couch in there and spend the afternoon down there to cool off.
Yeh for the first mater of summer! You are lucky to have your sewing machine in a cool area of your house. I haven't been sewing much because the attic is so warm and we even have central air! Can't believe you had one day service for your machine, that is AWESOME! I clean my bobbin area frequently so I say at least once a week! Have a wonderful week Diann!
When we built Hubster wanted a basement, I wanted a loft. Goodness our loft is the hottest part of the house. Should have built down. LOL
Hi Diann! Same day service on your sewing machine is just fabulous. You did a little cleaning and it came back to a fresh spot with a newly relaxed attitude. Just like a spa day should end. HAHA! I think I'd be living in the basement if we didn't have a/c. And it's been so hot and humid for days and days now. I clean out my bobbin area after every two bobbin refills. If I'm in the middle of a big quilting project then the cleaning waits until the end unless I notice a lot of lint. YUM to the first tomato of the season - isn't it just the best?!! I love it when it's still warm from the sun . . . makes my mouth water. Happy Thursday! ~smile~ Roseanne
Yikes, I'm surprised you weren't having problems with your machine if you had only cleaned the bobbin area twice in 18 months. I don't have a bobbin cleaning schedule and my sewing intensity varies wildly throughout the year, but I always clean it before quilting a quilt and then again after since the batting seems to create a lot of lint. So much depends on how linty your thread is and some fabrics like flannel are super linty. I bet your one day service was due in part to the pandemic keeping people at home. Our quilt shops are finally open, but I have yet to visit any. Hot here, too, 95 today and tomorrow, although a thunderstorm yesterday brought a much needed inch of rain.
Pat
LOVE that Dark BLUE slab mixed with the yellow!!! Same day spa service for your machine? Unheard of around here! What a peaceful place to hike, Diann. Nothing better than the sound of a bubbling brook, is there?
Yum, tomatoes! My first ones are still green, but they're growing! I clean out my bobbin when I start FMQ, because I have to turn the machine on it's side (and usually when I can see all the lint!). Sometimes I do it when I switch colors of bobbin thread - I use that as a reminder. The creek looks nice - and I'm sure the sound was wonderful. I have three quilting magazines that someone gave me that have sat around for a year, STILL unread. One of these days...
I don't have a routine for cleaning out the bobbin area but I'd guess once a month. And I usually find a great big fur ball-and no I don't have pets, LOL. Yes I had won a subscription to Make Modern a couple years ago. Fun to read a magazine again as I don't subscribe to any.
I don't have a routine for cleaning my bobbin either, but try to do it fairly often. I'm always amazed at how much lint is in there. Some quilters clean their machines on the 1st of each month as a way to remember That hike looks like it was nice and relaxing! I do like Make Modern magazine, and have made a few items. It's a good source of inspiration.
winning a subscription is the best gift! a year of gifts!
so jelly of you having a peaceful non human interaction place to walk.
I clean all around the bobbin case each time I reload a bobbin. So much dust and teeny threads
L.A.
In the summer, when I sew the most, I clean out the bobbin once a week. Your blue slab is gorgeous.
I was instructed to clean under the throat plate and the bobbin case every two bobbins. It's hard to remember if I'm on my first or second bobbin sometimes so, if I know I'm into a good-sized project or know that I will be using a neutral color thread, I'll load up two bobbins. After cleaning my machine, one goes in the bobbin case and the other stays up top on the bobbin winder. When bobbin #1 runs out, I load up #2 and put #1 on the winder. Then when #2 runs out, I know it's time to clean again! Works pretty good but sometimes I ignore my good sense! Lol!
When we lived in Denver, all we had was heat, no A/C either. Loved the Colorado weather! Love how it could be 90s by day but always cooled off at night and the air was so dry. Here in St. Louis we go into the 90s with heat indexes well into the 100s. Then we only cool off to a soggy, heavy mid-70s at night. It's disgusting and I wish I had gills some mornings when I walk the dog! Hahaha!
Forgot to plant beans this year but my arugula is up good, my herbs look good, and I'm looking forward to zucchini this year. Haven't grown that in quite some time. Tomatoes here are difficult to grow due to the high humidity. Mine tend to rot on the bushes and then the bugs invade the fruit. Uck!
Thanks for the upbeat post!
I seldom clean out my bobbin area...I should really take a look shouldn't I!
Lovely stitching as always, Diann, love that lemon coloured thread...great choice against those pretty dark blues.
Tony's office is in the basement still here and it is the coolest area of the house. So lucky for you to have a nice cool place for sewing. My fan is on full blast these days which is a nuisance for making stuff fly about. LOL
Your hike looks lovely!!! I tend to clean out under my needle cover after every big project or whenever my machine starts coughing. But I mostly use polyester thread which doesn't seem to shed as much. When I use cotton thread I clean under there much more, like maybe after every 2-3 hours of quilting?
Hi Diann!
I clean under the bobbin at least once a month and definitely before starting a project. You don’t have AC? Oh dear. You have an outstanding shop with that one day service. Great choice on the “lemon” thread. That’s a really cool group of colors on that quilt.
Enjoy!
Mary
Hi there! You get to hike in such beautiful surroundings! Awesome! I actually clean out the bobbin area every time I change out the bobbin. Just a quick swipe with a Q-tip. I also clean out under my plate at least once a week, depending on how much I'm sewing and the brand of thread I'm using. Some threads are more "linty" than others. Like many others who commented, it also depends on how much I'm sewing that week.
I hope this helps!
My sewing room is also my refuge...usually in the mornings because it is one of the warmest rooms in the house - even with AC.
Thank you for sharing!
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