Quilting and Airstreams

[tbaugh]

My wife will be working the gate and is a quilter. Ask for Sue.

[LizGK]

Greetings from a newbie. Just picked up the AS two weeks ago (2008 31' Classic) and will head out on our inaugural trip next weekend. No quilting on the first trip but hope to have my machine and projects with me on trip #2.

For all of you experienced road quilters - what kind of sewing machine do you use? My old machine is a 1974 Pfaff. Big and heavy. I'm going to be looking for a lighter, sturdy machine to use.

I'd also welcome any tips and tricks you've gleaned for sewing on the road.

I can't wait to get started!!!

[Minno]

I bought a refurbished 1938 Singer Featherweight for travel. It's small, sews beautifully for straight stitching/piecing, and stores in a small space under my dinette seat. It's mechanical so I can fix any problems on the road, unlike my big electronic at home. Feels like I'm sewing on a toy sometimes.... I have a cutting mat stored under the mattress of the bed (stays flat). I have a small sewing case that was my moms (still smells like her perfume) for my pins, needles, scissors, etc. and a small travel iron with a pressing mat I made. I've only hauled it all out once so far this summer, but it seems to work out just fine for me for piecing and cutting.

Kay

[lmgreenfield]

I also use a Singer Featherweight. Small but substantial, sews beautifully for quilting, mechanical so I can do all maintenance myself. I use a cutting-board/ironing mat combination that I purchased at a fabric store years ago, one side is for cutting, the other is padded for ironing. That easily stores behind the couch and the Featherweight in its case goes under the bed. Easy-peasy. on beautiful days when I feel like sewing, I run an extension cord to the picnic table and sew outside so that I can both sew and enjoy nature. Life doesn't get much better than that!

[LizGK]

Thanks for the advice! All good ideas to get me started. We're heading out on Friday for our 1st time. I wanted to bring sewing along and hubby thought perhaps wait until the 2nd outing. That's OK. Gives me time to assemble what I will need once we start using the AS more often. For the time being it will be weekends only. At some point in the next year or two we will hit the road for long trips.

[mcair]

I have used a couple different travel machines. All in portable plastic cases. My machines always ride in the truck as I believe the trailer would be too bouncy for them.

Most of the time they stay home unless we are going on a week or longer trip with a few days of downtime in the middle. Usually I bring knitting. Very portable and won't get damaged.

[Minno]

I made a couple of chenille rugs for the bathroom in the trailer this week. I got the idea for them from Susan Tiegs at the Vintage Trailer Academy: she had done a few for her class on upholstery and curtains that I attended. It gave me the idea because the sizes are so weird (can't find a 12 inch wide rug ANYWHERE). They are 4 layers thick with 3 layers of flannel and top layer of cotton fabric. There's a good tutorial video by Nancy Ziemann if you google it on how to make chenille. I learned the hard way to make the rugs 1 inch bigger than I really wanted and cut to size after I did the channels and before I bound them.

Kay

[Schools Out]

Love the chenille rugs, Kay.

[lisano]

Hello Quilters - I have a couple different machines that travel well. The smallest is the Hello Kitty Janome. It sews pretty well, but my best traveler is the Janome 3160QDC. I also have a Featherweight that I'm working on getting used to.

Janome 3160
Omnigrid folding cut & press mat
Rowenta travel iron

With this setup I barely miss anything I'd have at home. Has anyone been to the Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show? Where would be a good place to park the Airstream?

[Sbb]

Hi, I have. janome Jem Platium 760 for travel. I have pieced queen size quilts. Now time to free motion quilt them. Has anyone quilted free motion on their small machines? I only stipple, nothing fancy but quilt is big. I also somehow lost the feet portion of my clear extention table for machine.

[Minno]

Maybe you could find a long arm to rent. In my area of the world, there is a sales place that has a long arm machine they rent out by the hour. If you happen to already know how to use one, you can skip the lessons. I haven't done it yet, but I have a friend who rents the machine set up to long arm her bigger quilts, and says it's worth the money.
I quilted a double size quilt on my regular machine last winter by setting up on a card table in the middle of my family room and quilting it. Was a hassle but I was able to do it. My sewing room at the time was not able to accommodate quilting my quilt.
Good luck!

Kay

[Minno]

Anyone going to the International? Unfortunately, we will not be there, but one of my quilts will. I donated a large lap quilt for a raffle to make money for the MN unit to donate to the North Dakota Peace Garden sculpture effort. The person organizing the raffle from our unit (Linda Agre) decided to bring it to the International to raffle off. You might see it there! It's not my best effort........ I just hope it raises a decent amount of money!

Kay