• OT, but not totally: another Amazon gift certificate for giving blood.

    From Brian Christiansen@21:1/5 to All on Thu Sep 14 23:31:16 2017
    Recently, I got another Amazon gift certificate for giving blood, and I
    am pondering what to do with it.

    I recently have looked at several videos on YouTube and elsewhere about
    machine quilting with a singer Featherweight.

    The videos and blogs that I looked at said 4 basic things: since the featherweight has such a small harp, it just isn't possible to quilt
    anything much bigger than a crib quilt; the feed dogs have to be covered
    since the featherweight does not have the ability to drop the feed dogs,
    the motor should be allowed to cool between quilting an area that is
    perhaps at most 1ft(.3 meters) x 1ft, and of course that you need a darning/free motion presser foot.

    One video put a little doodad (I looked at the featherweight shop to see
    if I could figure out the name of the little doodad, but I could not
    seem to find it) over the feed dogs, and a person in another video used
    a Teflon press cloth with a hole cut for the needle to do this. I am
    not sure if Amazon sells the feed dog covering doodad, but they do sell
    Teflon press cloths. I also got to wondering if something I already
    have might work, such as aluminum foil, parchment paper, or freezer paper.

    Well, any way looking at the prices on Amazon, I think these things (the presser foot and the press cloth) would be at most $10 (at least before shipping), and would be something I could use the gift certificate for.

    Another possibility would be a pump for my bicycle. An electric pump
    that you actually plug into a regular wall outlet is just too expensive, costing at least $30, however, a foot powered pump can be purchased for
    less than $15.

    Another thing I was wondering was what book to read next. This relates
    to the above because it might involve buying a Kindle (or a "real" paper
    and ink) book from Amazon.

    Currently, the "escapist literature" book I am reading is "The Wheel of
    Time" series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, and I am about 70%
    through the last book, with about 7 hours of reading time left (or at
    least that is what my Kindle says).

    For my next book, I have 3 ideas:

    1. Reread "The Lord of the Rings Series." I think I read this in 8th
    grade or so and if I have reread it at some point between then and now,
    I just don't remember. For this I would either get a physical paper and
    ink book from Amazon (the Kindle edition of this series is $40, but a
    used paperback of the series, in "good" condition is less than $10) or
    the used bookstore that is about a mile from my apartment.

    2. I was messing around with putting and epub reader on my Kindle, and
    of course, to actually test the apps I found, I had to get a book in
    that format, so I went to project Gutenberg, and downloaded the book
    "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," so I could make that book and perhaps
    another download, "Moby Dick," the next novels that I read.

    3. The third possibility is that I have an app on my kindle that lists
    books from Amazon (or whole series) that are free or "on sale" for
    perhaps 99 cents or so. Many are various kinds of self-help or
    cookbooks, but there are also quite a bit of fiction books as well. I
    could look through this list, look at the reviews, and take a chance on
    one of these books.

    --
    My Yonkoma: https://www.flickr.com/photos/brian0908/albums/72157680223526176

    The E-mail associated with the account is a "spamcatcher" account that I
    got to every couple of months to empty out, and anything sent to it will
    not be seen for probably several months, if it is seen at all.
    Brian Christiansen

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  • From Bobbie Sews More@21:1/5 to All on Fri Sep 15 07:43:14 2017
    Why not quilt by just using a longer stitch as if sewing a stem on a flower,
    in a curve motion?
    No, I don't mean to sound silly, but it would be pretty.
    Barbara in SC

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  • From Kay Lancaster@21:1/5 to Brian Christiansen on Fri Sep 15 21:42:04 2017
    On Thu, 14 Sep 2017 23:31:16 -0700, Brian Christiansen <brian_christians@hotmail.com> wrote:
    Recently, I got another Amazon gift certificate for giving blood, and I
    am pondering what to do with it.

    I recently have looked at several videos on YouTube and elsewhere about machine quilting with a singer Featherweight.

    The videos and blogs that I looked at said 4 basic things: since the featherweight has such a small harp, it just isn't possible to quilt
    anything much bigger than a crib quilt; the feed dogs have to be covered since the featherweight does not have the ability to drop the feed dogs,
    the motor should be allowed to cool between quilting an area that is perhaps at most 1ft(.3 meters) x 1ft, and of course that you need a darning/free motion presser foot.

    Um... I used to quilt on a 301, same harp size. Roll up the quilt and do
    it in sections. Twin bed sized quilts are pretty easy, doubles can be done.
    Or look into "quilt as you go" methods. The old fashioned spring bicycle
    clips that keep your pants hems from being eaten are useful for holding a rolled quilt for quilting.


    One video put a little doodad (I looked at the featherweight shop to see
    if I could figure out the name of the little doodad, but I could not
    seem to find it) over the feed dogs, and a person in another video used
    a Teflon press cloth with a hole cut for the needle to do this. I am
    not sure if Amazon sells the feed dog covering doodad, but they do sell Teflon press cloths. I also got to wondering if something I already
    have might work, such as aluminum foil, parchment paper, or freezer paper.

    I've used a 3x5 card or a piece of file folder for a feed dog cover. Punch a hole
    for the needle, tape down the outside edges. Set the stitch length to 0 and you're in business.

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  • From sandydollar2015@gmail.com@21:1/5 to All on Sun Sep 17 08:34:12 2017
    Hello Brian,
    Can't advise on the quilting part because I quilted by hand on a small frame.

    I buy used books from Amazon.com, any where from $.01 to $2 with $3.99 shipping so you might try some these.
    Sandy$

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Julia in MN@21:1/5 to Brian Christiansen on Sun Sep 17 17:08:54 2017
    I seldom drop the feed dogs on my machine (not a featherweight) for
    free-motion quilting, so I think you should be okay not covering them,
    but you do need the darning/free motion foot.

    Check bookbub.com for lots of inexpensive e-books. You can subscribe to
    their emails to get a daily list of specials based on preferences you
    specify.

    Julia in MN
    On 9/15/2017 1:31 AM, Brian Christiansen wrote:
    Recently, I got another Amazon gift certificate for giving blood, and I
    am pondering what to do with it.

    I recently have looked at several videos on YouTube and elsewhere about machine quilting with a singer Featherweight.

    The videos and blogs that I looked at said 4 basic things:  since the featherweight has such a small harp, it just isn't possible to quilt
    anything much bigger than a crib quilt; the feed dogs have to be covered since the featherweight does not have the ability to drop the feed dogs,
     the motor should be allowed to cool between quilting an area that is perhaps at most 1ft(.3 meters) x 1ft, and of course that you need a darning/free motion presser foot.

    One video put a little doodad (I looked at the featherweight shop to see
    if I could figure out the name of the little doodad, but I could not
    seem to find it) over the feed dogs, and  a person in another video used
    a Teflon press cloth with a hole cut for the needle to do this.  I am
    not sure if Amazon sells the feed dog covering doodad, but they do sell Teflon press cloths.  I also got to wondering if something I already
    have might work, such as aluminum foil, parchment paper, or freezer paper.

    Well, any way looking at the prices on Amazon, I think these things (the presser foot and the press cloth) would be at most $10 (at least before shipping), and would be something I could use the gift certificate for.

    Another possibility would be a pump for my bicycle.  An electric pump
    that you actually plug into a regular wall outlet is just too expensive, costing at least $30, however, a foot powered pump can be purchased for
    less than $15.

    Another thing I was wondering was what book to read next.  This relates
    to the above because it might involve buying a Kindle (or a "real" paper
    and ink) book from Amazon.

    Currently, the "escapist literature" book I am reading is "The Wheel of
    Time" series by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, and I am about 70% through the last book, with about 7 hours of reading time left (or at
    least that is what my Kindle says).

    For my next book, I have 3 ideas:

    1.  Reread "The Lord of the Rings Series."  I think I read this in 8th grade or so and if I have reread it at some point between then and now,
    I just don't remember.  For this I would either get a physical paper and
    ink book from Amazon (the Kindle edition of this series is $40, but a
    used paperback of the series, in "good" condition is less than $10) or
    the used bookstore that is about a mile from my apartment.

    2.  I was messing around with putting and epub reader on my Kindle, and
    of course, to actually test the apps I found, I had to get a book in
    that format, so I went to project Gutenberg, and downloaded the book
    "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," so I could make that book and perhaps
    another download, "Moby Dick," the next novels that I read.

    3.  The third possibility is that I have an app on my kindle that lists books from Amazon (or whole series) that are free or "on sale" for
    perhaps 99 cents or so. Many are various kinds of self-help or
    cookbooks, but there are also quite a bit of fiction books as well.  I
    could look through this list, look at the reviews, and take a chance on
    one of these books.


    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)