Lightning Bolt Baby Quilt

My sister's friend, Mary U., made this gorgeous baby quilt for my sister's second baby due in February.  I love the bright yellow and gold colors on the the gray and blue background.  There is no doubt that this quilt will be treasured by my sister and my future niece.  One thing that worried my sister though, was the amount of quilting holding the layers together.  She thought it might come apart or bunch up in some areas after multiple rounds through the washing machine.  My sister asked if I could add a bit more quilting to ensure that neither of those things occurred.  I was happy for a relatively quick project and started thinking about which machine I wanted use.

The bright colors in this quilt are fantastic

The lightening bolts are outlined in quilting

The blue border has widely spaced triangles

A view of the back

For quilting ideas I consulted mom.  She came up with some good suggestions.  First, I filled in the background between the lightening bolts with free form squiggly lines.  I started this project on my Bernina 730 Record and for quite a while progress was steady.  Eventually, the motor started to run more and more slowly and after I finished the squiggly lines it stopped altogether.  I took apart the motor and cleaned it, but when I put it back in the machine I noticed worn belts that needed to be replaced.  I too a break to order new upper and lower belts online and then moved on to keep quilting with my Necchi Nora. This was the first project I had done on this machine and it worked great.

Squiggly lines in place

Now the lightening bolts pop even more

On to phase two of quilting

Next, I worked on the blue background.  Each triangle got divided into thirds and I used the Necchi for this.

Triangles through polka dots

The Nora excelled at her first quilting project

Stewie helped ensure that quilting was evenly spaced

The final round of quilting was on the lightening bolts themselves.  Each section of the bolt got divided into thirds similar to the triangles on the border.  Every six inches or so I had to make a ninety degree turn, but as long as my needle was in the fabric when I lifted the pressure foot I was able to start sewing in the new direction without any problems.  I was worried about having enough space under the sewing machine arm for the quilt, but I soon found that there was plenty of room for a baby quilt.

Quilting lightening bolts and view of the fantastic binding in polka dots

Nora's color compliments this quilt

Finished quilt before washing

The quilt got washed in cold water to remove the chalk quilting lines and it came out of the machine looking fantastic.  It held together well and it's ready to snuggle with baby. This was a fun project because there were some many great fabrics in the quilt top and Mary chose such a pattern I have never seen before. Every time I looked at the quilt I noticed different fabrics, one even had whimsical orange octopuses. I was glad to see that Mary signed the back of her finished quilt. Artists should get credit for their design and skill in construction. Now, the finished quilt has made the trip back to MN and is waiting with the rest of us to meet my new niece.

Lovely!

How-To: Install New Belts on the Bernina 730 Record

Today I replaced the upper and lower drive belts on a Bernina 730 Record.  I took some pictures along the way so you could see the process.
Start by unplugging the power supply. Take off the side panel under the hand wheel.  There are two screws, one on each side of the panel.

Screws for end panel

The panel then slides out an down to get from under the hand wheel.
Take the screw out of the hand wheel and remove the end cap and the washer.
Turn the machine on its side and remove the two screws holding the motor cover panel.  The panel with then slide/lift off, just be careful to navigate around the motor switch panel.

Screws for motor cover panel located underneath the machine

Now you should have a clear view of the belts and access to the end of the machine and the motor pulley.

End panel and motor cover panel removed

The screw to release the tension on the belt wheels is below the bottom wheel and you will need an allen wrench to loosen it up.  You don't need to take the screw out, just back it out a quarter turn or so until pulley behind the wheel is loose.  This will give the wheel some play horizontally and vertically.

Loosen screw below the wheel, do not take screw out

Remove the lower belt from the motor and wheel first and then slide the wheel up slightly to remove the upper belt.

Lower belt comes off first

The upper belt is nestled behind the lower wheel and stretches up over the hand wheel. Slide the hand wheel off and the belt should come with it.

Both belts and the hand wheel have been removed

Now start putting the new belts back into the machine.  Start with the upper belt and remember it tucks in behind the lower wheel.  You can slide belt over the hand wheel and put it back on the shaft.

Upper belt goes behind wheel and up over hand wheel

Hand wheel back in place and upper belt tucked in behind it

The bottom belt goes over the wheel and connects to the motor pulley.

New lower belt in place

You will need to adjust wheel position so that the belts are not too tight and putting strain on the motor or too loose and not engaging the wheel or hand wheel.  When you think you have the correct tension, tighten the screw back up with the allen wrench.  At this point you can plug in the power supply and try running the machine with the foot controller.  Make sure the belts turn smoothly and make adjustments if necessary.  Remember, the adjustment screw only needs a small turn to loosen or tighten.  Here is a quick video of the machine running with new belts.

Once you are confident with the placement of the belts, you can unplug the power supply and reassemble the machine.  Put the washer back on the hand wheel with the little raised tabs pointing out away from the machine.

Tabs stick out away from machine

Put the cap back on the hand wheel and replace the screw.

Hand wheel reassembled

Slide the motor cover panel back into place and put the screws back into the bottom of the machine. Reposition the side panel and tighten screws.You are now ready to plug the power supply back in and begin sewing.

This is my first how-to segment and I welcome any feedback you have that would help improve future segments. Thank you.

Ruffled Shirt Refashion

Let's start this year off with some color and whimsy.  My first refashion of 2017 was a dress to shirt conversion.  This is the only picture I have of the original dress.  The price tag says $5.88, but I got it for $1.93 last January.  In fact, I bought it on Martin Luther King Day last year, so it it only took me a year to get this refashion done. It was a button-up dress with ruffles on the front that had a matching belt.  It was too big for me, but I liked all the colors in the fabric and thought it could be sized down into a shirt.  

Belt missing from this picture

The first thing I did was to take in the sides a bit and to cut out the side pockets.  The pockets were placed a bit high, and there was too much fabric so it added padding to my already sufficiently padded hip area.  The next step was to shorten the dress to a reasonable shirt length.  Thirteen inches came off the bottom.  I finished the new the hem by hand.

New hem goes in

Finished hem after pressing

The sleeves were a bit short, but I didn't want to take them off, so I cut off the ends of the belt and put straps on the sleeves so I could roll them up and wear them as 3/4 length.  My plan was to make button holes, but I'm still learning how to work with my Bernina 730 and I am haven't mastered consistent buttonholing yet.  I rooted around in my button box and found two small snaps for plan B. They are not the same shape, but I figure they're going on two separate arms and no one will ever notice the difference.

Close enough for now

Here is one sleeve with the snap sewn in place.  You have to look pretty close to even find the snap, so I don't think anyone is going to notice the discrepancy in fastener shape.

Can you find the snap?

Once the sleeve is turned back and snapped up, the snaps are hidden and it looks good.

Finished sleeve

The finished shirt on the dress form.

Front

Side

Back

Zoom in on ruffles

The shirt was finished yesterday and it got its first outing into the city last night.  T and I drove down to meet his brother for dinner.  These pictures are from the hotel lobby near the parking garage.  The lighting is less than ideal, but we just snapped a few pictures before they kicked us out for loitering.

                                        

Good finished length

From where I sit, this project appears finished.

Borletti 1102

The gentleman who brought this machine in said that it had worked for a bit, but now thread was getting caught in the bobbin and it wasn't making stitches.  After posing for a few quick photos on the kitchen counter, this machine was ready to introduce himself.  I had never seen a Borletti in person before. This one needed to be cleaned up a bit, but it did have distinctive features already visible. The Borletti is Italian made and the overall shape and the white top on a different color body reminds me of a Necchi.  I think the gray color on this guy makes him look more reserved than my pink and green Necchis.  This model is the 1102.  The knobs, buttons, and levers are interesting and, to me, look a bit like gumballs stuck to the front of the machine. The bobbin winder is tucked under that gray panel above the hand wheel. The panel on the front center has a matching one on the back, they're both for cams for fancy stitching.  On the back there's also a max/min speed switch for the motor.

Here we are meeting for the first time

When I started cleaning I found a couple things that could have been causing problems for this guy. The first issue was with the brown threads hanging out of the bobbin case. I think this may have been a result of the bobbin not being secured in the notch. It was left to turn freely and thus created a mess within a couple rotations.

Bobbin arm should be reaching upwards not to the left

The second issue I found that was probably causing problems was under the needle plate. There was a significant amount of lint behind and below the feed dogs.

Packed in there pretty good

The third issue was similar to the second and didn't take long to clean out.  Not surprisingly, there was lint buildup behind the needle and in the tension discs.

After I got everything cleaned up and the machine lubricated, I rethreaded the machine and tried out the stitches. The machine was slow to start and then only sewed for a few inches before stopping again. It sounded like the belt was sliding.  When I took the belt out I found it to be very worn.  

Time for a new one

I looked online for a replacement belt, but turned up nothing. I couldn't find a part number or anywhere that someone specifically mentioned a replacement belt for the 1102. This belt is very narrow, here it is next to a 1/4 in. belt I tried.

New belt on left, original on right

The 1/4 in. belt length was a good length (20 inches), but it was not tapered and did not fit snuggly into the channel on the hand wheel, so I couldn't put the hand wheel back on the machine. I also tried a 1/4 in. lug belt that was 19 3/4 in. long. That fit into the channel on the hand wheel, but was not long enough to reach the motor. Finally, I ended up with a rubber belt that fit in the channel and stretched to the full 20 1/8 inches needed. I know that rubber belts have a shorter life-expectancy than others though, so if anyone has a source for a v-belt or lug belt that would work on the 1102, I'd love to hear it. With the machine reassembled, I tried out both the min and max speeds for the motor. It might just be my preference, but I think this machine prefers a faster speed. He seems to sing at the faster speed and it feels like he would sew through anything at this point.

All cleaned up and looking for a cabinet

Front, cam closure door open

Back, cam closure door open

Bobbin winder hidden near hand wheel

Bobbin case is free of loose threads and arm is secure in notch

The needle plate is small, but this one is in very good shape.

Top to bottom: Buttonhole settings, reverse lever (gray), stitch length regulator (black),  zig-zag limit buttons, zig-zag width control (red), left-center-right needle position (white), automatic reverse stitch length (black knob) and feed dog raise/lower button on bottom.

This machine is working well and will be going home soon.  I'm glad we had the chance to meet and hopefully, some day down the road, he'll update me on the wonderful projects he has tackled in the interim.