Gosh! It’s been a month since I’ve written a post — time really does fly sometimes. I returned home last night from a wonderful trip to the Houston Quilt Festival, which was celebrating its 40th anniversary. I know there are photos all over the web of the glorious quilts; I have to admit that I didn’t take any myself. I decided this year simply to enjoy the quilts, rather than trying to get good photos.
While I was there, I took a half-day class from Jenny Lyon, whose blog I’ve been enjoying. The class was very good, and Jenny herself is really upbeat and encouraging. The class was well worth attending. 🙂
My quilting buddy Phyl and I roomed together, ogled the quilts, and drooled in the vendors’ booths. What did I buy, you ask? The first thing was Philippa Naylor’s new book, Appliqué Mastery. Philippa is a phenomenal teacher, but she wasn’t offering anything I hadn’t already taken during the time I was there. The book, though, will serve to remind me of things I’d had in her appliqué class, as well as things I hadn’t known.
After that, a few of the things I was specifically looking for weren’t available or had sold out by the time I found where they’d been. However, I did “discover” a new-to-me booth, l’Atelier d’Isabelle, where I bought a wool felt kit to make an adorable flower pin cushion. Isn’t it cute? I also found some buttons that I may be able to use on a sweater I’m making. In other places I found some threads I needed, refill chalks for my Bohin pencils, and a couple of rulers designed for use in free-motion work on domestic machines. Fun!
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| My kit |
Yesterday, though, I ran across something I’d somehow missed before: a British stand selling a foot specifically made for ruler work on domestic machines, including the Bernina! Eureka! This will be so much easier than the #9 foot I modified with O-rings! The foot came as a “kit” with a slider mat and a ruler, but I already had the slider mat. The very nice vendor added another ruler to the kit instead, and took off a bit from the price. There’s a YouTube channel showing how some of the rulers work, too.
Above, you can see the foot, with its #75 shank licensed from Bernina, and the two rulers. The straight line one is included in the kit, and then I chose the curved one for making circles and clamshells. The foot actually fits right into those channels, and then you scoot the ruler along or swivel it around to continue on. On the left you can see how the foot looks on the machine.
I’ve just finished a tiny amount of “play” with the foot and a “normal” free-motion ruler, as well as with the special rulers that came with the foot, and I think I’m in love. LOL! The lines to the right are made with a normal FM ruler, and the ones to the left are done with the ruler included in the kit.
Now to catch up on the laundry! 😉
12 thoughts on “Back from Houston”
This is really interesting to hear about this foot! So do you think it could be fitted to a Bernina 440 QE ? I am hoping it might be available in Australia as I’d love to give it a try with rulers like these
I *know* it would fit a 440! The designer used a 440 to test the fit as he was making it, and the 440 and 630 use the same type of feet and accessories. 🙂 Good luck! Your best bet would be to email them, as the foot doesn’t yet show up on their web site.
Thanks so much – will do !
Best of luck! 🙂
I’ve emailed them and I can’t wait to hear more from them about this foot! Thanks for sharing your find.
I hope you hear soon, Amy! I really like the foot so far. 🙂
How cool are these rulers. Thank you for sharing & now I’m hooked. New to FMQ (real new too) and need ALL the HELP. Where can one purchase them or order them online. PLS share!!! I have the Bernina 780. Will the foot work on my Bernina? Thank you again for the intro. Lucy
Thanks for your comment, Lucy. 🙂 As for ordering online, all I can do is to point you at the link in my post. I’m so sorry that I don’t have other ordering information, but I bought directly from the manufacturer in their stand at the Houston show. They said they had versions of the foot for all models, so I’d guess they have one for the 780, too — unless the 780 uses the same sort of feet as my 630, in which case, I *know* they have it. 😉
would it work on 830Le
I would assume so, Ann, since they say they have versions for all models and brands of machines. Your 830 can use the same feet as my 630, I think (though of course some of your feet don’t work on my 630), so I’d write them via the link on their site to be sure. 🙂
I know it is quite late to be adding to this post, but I am wondering how the foot would work with other rulers not made by Parrs. I have a Bernina 440 QE, so I am thrilled to hear it would work on my machine, but I am a bit less thrilled with the prospect of having to buy a multitude of rulers and am interested in some of the more multi-use ones made by other companies. Any experience with that?
I’m also using this foot with other rulers than those that come with the foot, so I’d say it would be fine. 🙂 Good luck with your quilting!