Exciting news…I have a new baby! Well, more like a new machine baby.

Back in November I went to my very first local quilt show and found myself walking out with a receipt for a new sewing machine. I couldn’t help myself! I knew I wanted a second sewing machine and was overwhelmed with all the sample machines I was allowed to try out. Now don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my Janome Memory Craft 6700p. It does everything I need and always works, including free motion quilting. However, I needed a second machine for straight stitching when my Janome is busy doing all the other things I need done. So let me introduce my beautiful Juki TL-15 that is my new favorite piecing machine! I still can’t believe how fast it is and it sews like butter.

Now let’s get into Sewcialites! For those of you sewing along, you can probably tell that I’m a bit behind. That’s okay though! The most important thing about sew alongs is that you keep going and have fun with it.

Week 4 – Flirty Block

When I saw the pattern for this block, I noticed it had a lot of background space that would be perfect for directional fabric. I decided to use this low volume cursive text fabric for the background, giving the block a little more interest and texture to it’s look.

Week 5 – Empower Block

Wow, this block has so many half square triangles to it and they are tiny! I think these are the tiniest ones I have ever made so far. I realized with all the many seams that are necessary to make this block, I needed to press open to keep this block as flat as possible for quilting later.

By pressing open, I also insured that the block would be exactly 6.5′” when it was finished. This was definitely a little more advanced piecing. I had to pay close attention to my points matching up where they should and not accidentally cutting them off while sewing.

Week 6 – Always Star Block

With this block, I decided to give it a much softer look with the color choices I made. You’ll also notice I chose a combination of pressing open and pressing to the side which is actually how I press most blocks these days.

Week 7 – Butterfly Garden Block

Let’s finish this post with my favorite block from Sewcialites so far! Sometimes when I am having a hard time picking out colors and fabrics, I find that laying out the fabric pieces before sewing anything really helps me make a decision. Once I had organized all these fabric pieces to make a draft of what the butterfly would look like, I instantly loved it.

I am also absolutely obsessed with the black polkadot fabric in this block! It just looks so cute.

And just in case you are wondering how I pressed this block, I’ll show you a picture of the back too.

So much fun! Let me know in the comments below which block is your favorite. Did I mention I did all of these with my new Juki machine? Let me know which sewing machines you love using at home! See you next time for another blog post. Happy Quilting!

– Leslee