I first took inventory of everything that I was supposed to get, including the normal accessories as well as the optional accessories. They were all there and now to get down to play. But first, I thought it would be a good idea to go to Amazon's web site where I saw my sewing machine to print out all of the names along with photos of all of my accessories so I would know what they're called and a photo of what they look like since there are so many of them.
As I went to the web site, I noticed my machine had gone down in price about $20. I quickly called Amazon and they quickly deducted the difference, plus tax, from my credit card. This was another thing, along with receiving my new machine, made my day.
OK. So with instruction booklet at my side, I made sure the bobbin was in correctly and the top threading was also done correctly. They have made this machine so easy to thread and load the bobbin, which after the first pulling of the loop up into the bed, was no longer a thing to do after that. The automatic needle threader is a little bit easier to use than my old machine, but still I'll need some practice to make doing that go just as fast, if not faster, than threading the eye of the needle manually.
I got back to sewing a quarter inch stitch on to my squares for my Quilts of Valor quilt. I used the foot peddle for a while and then realized my automatic thread cutter won't work with the foot peddal, so I sewed like they said to in the handbook in order to be able to automatically cut the threads at the end of sewing my squares together. What a heaven sent this feature is. You not only not have to reach for a scissor and get in there to cut the threads, being careful not to cut the material too, but having the machine cut the thread, saves soooo much thread. I wouldn't have believed it until I used this feature and saw it for myself. Also, this also eliminates having to go back and cut all of those hanging threads when you have to pull the material away from the machine and then cut the threads. After a while of sewing with the standard straight foot, I thought I'd look up what the quarter inch foot looked like and I put that on. How great. Everything on the foot is measured perfectly. No watching where on the standard foot is a quarter inch.
So I've sewn all I could since I ran out of blocks which have whites in the corners. I guess I'll just press all of these blocks I've sewn together and that will be it until I get to our next meeting.
No one at the quilting group knows I got a new machine, so when I walk in with my new baby, in it's own carrying case, which also was included in the package, I'm sure everyone will gather around to see it in progress.
I'm soooo happy with my new machine and now I know why it got almost five stars on various web sites' reviews. And I've only used a few features and accessories. I've been dreaming of the many things I will be able to do. Embroidery with different threads will be the next thing I'll tackle and I'm thinking of going over to JoAnn's Fabrics in Citrus Heights, which I understand is gigantic, compared to the one in Folsom. It's a bit of a drive, but I'll make a day trip of it. I've already got a list going: some heavy embroidery thread, more bobbins, some blank dishtowels, water soluble stabilizer, some new materials to add to my stash and I'm sure I'll think of some other things to get and for sure I'll see some things while at JoAnn's that will catch my eye. I really have everything and more than I really need to do practically anything, i.e., cutting mats, roller cutters, pressing board, my new iron and so many other things that I'm sure will come in handy and I will definitely use. This is what I've been waiting for all this time stocking up on all of these things. Now, that's all I need is a house so I can have my crafts room set up permanently.
So, here is a photo of my new sewing machine and all of the blocks I pieced together.
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