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Karen McTavish Inspired


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This is getting better and better...

I think I have had an Ah-ha moment. I think I get you extend-a-base thing. Duh. It took me putting mine on my machine and using it to understand how bigger is better ;)

My list is growing....

plexiglass

ceramic fishing pole eye things

rice

really tough glue

that little dohicky eye that goes in front

pvc pipe

and if I don\'t get my wheels adjusted by MQS I have devised a plan to kidnap Mark or someone from the APQS booth and I\'m bringing them home to fix my wheels.....I might even feed them dinner while they are here.

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HEADS UP LADIES:"

If you are going to get plexiglass and have it cut for the Big A** base,, measure your machines. The Lenni can only take a 9"wide strip, and probably other machines between Lenni and Milli would have different size requirements, too.

With the 10 foot table, I\'m going to have my extender piece cut 9 by 18"\'.

I also tried the foam and for me it just doesn\'t work. It puts too much strain on the quilt and suddenly releases and I go shooting across a couple inches. Also without the power advance, it\'s hard to try to tuck a long piece of foam in, and turn and secure the knobs without areas or most often one end or the other sticking out.

I also weighed the Minute Rice I had, only 1 2/3 cup and it weighed 6.5 oz. 1 2/3 cups of Basmatti weighs 11.6 oz.. and the one pound bag of Navy beans didn\'t even get to a pound, came in at 15.6 ozs. Dept of Weights and measures would frown on that.

Hubby said to make long skinny bags for the beans and when the bag gets dirty, we could wash the beans and cook them up! ROFL.. I think they will go from a dirty bag into a clean bag.. they will last longer that way, too.

Gotta Run.. Rita R

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Heidi,

Thanks so much for posting pictures of both your quilt and the base! I haven\'t jumped into the "heirloom quilting" ring yet, and it made me almost drool. I still don\'t understand how you could have so much control as to not use rulers, but I learn so much from reading all that you gals are so willing to share. I appreciate it all!

You are all the best!

Susie B

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That is one beauty of a quilt Heidi! You mentioned Karen McT\'s Whitework Quilting book....I was snooping around on Ebay and came across a copy which is for sale (and could be yours?) with an opening bid of a mere $750.00; that\'s not a typo either. No bids yet though. You can find the listing by typing her name into Ebay\'s search engine. By the way, what kind of fabric, thread and batting did you use? They all worked together beautifully.

Cathie

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Cathie,

Oh I\'ve been to the ebay site...love her books but I wouldn\'t pay that much! I keep hoping somebody will want to get one at a reasonable price.

I used quilter\'s dream wool batting and SoFine thread. This was my first wool and I will use it again! The white backing and 2nd layer are just a high quality white muslin. The batiste is a poly but it worked fine. It is very hard to find a wider 100% cotton batiste!

Heidi

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What an unbelievable awesome quilt! This is all so intriguing. I want to know more about the modifications. I\'ve just watched Sharon Schamber\'s videos. She talks about all kinds of modifications: extra thread guides, thread trees, different feet, different needles. I would love a new foot and am wondering, has anyone replaced the foot on an apqs? Also, Heidi, what is the purpose of the big a** base expander? I thought the base expander is for ruler work. No?

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Cathey,

Thank you so much. I didn\'t use any rulers to do this quilt! I know it is shocking but really I didn\'t. I marked the quilt with the pattern and just followed the lines. The Big A** base is to give you a table to put the rice bags on that Sharon recommends. I used bags of beans because that was all I had. I\'m making rice bags now and I\'ll make a 1 lb bag, 2 lb bag & 3 lb bag which should be all I need. I dind\'t use more than 3 lbs and that was only for the diagonal cross-hatching. I have since bought the additional thread guides and I will be putting those on. I have always used Sharon\'s Side leaders, which just work so well! A more open foot would be nice to have. I could see fine until I got to the back side of the quilt...of course I want to use as much space as possible before I roll! I use a saddle stool so I sit for most of it. I did have to stand a couple of times so that I could see what I was doing at the back. I think I\'ll buy one of those magnifiers to put on the front so that I can see the detail better.

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Cathey,

I had all kinds of questions after seeing this quitl too!! What a beauty, I can only dream of being this good some day! Anyway, I posted questions under APQS Help because I wanted to make sure the modifications would not hurt my stitch quality, etc. Since in the manual it states that you need to thread the machine properly to make sure everything runs correctly. I didn\'t want to stir the pot so I posted questions, and you can read all about it at the thread below....

http://www.apqs.com/quiltboard/viewthread.php?tid=9435

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Thank you, Mary Beth and Heidi and Sherrie and everyone else for contributing to this and the two other related threads. This info has changed my entire understanding of how to gain control of my Beast in the Basement™! I\'ve watched Sharon\'s videos several times now, and each time I comprehend a little more. I\'ve ordered the needles and ceramic thread guides from Raichert.com. Haven\'t found a source for the foam yet. I bought half a dozen Bed Buddies, each weighs 1lb 11 oz. and costs $8.95 (http://www.activeforever.com/p-1510-bed-buddy-hot-cold-pack.aspx). Steve has retired so he\'ll make me a BigA$$ extended base (love that!). Now, about the teflon sheet. Is that the same as our applique ironing sheets? Or the Supreme-Slider? And should it cover the entire base plate or just the area over the machine bed? The teflon sheet is not making much sense to me yet. Can anyone enlighten me?

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Cathey,

Yes the teflon is the same as the supreme slider. I don\'t have one on my base and I don\'t know that I\'ll add one. I don\'t find that I\'m having any drag that I need to worry about. Never say never though...I might just find a fabric that will cause a problem! I think Sharon\'s covered the additional base her hubby added to her machine. I also haven\'t used any of the foam.

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Hi All I just had to pass this along. I had emailed Martha Pullen who is the creater of the Sew Beautiful magazine to thank her for such a beautiful embroidery design. I also sent her a picture of my finished quilt. Well to my surprise I got her newsletter this week and there is my quilt! I was once published in her magazine because I won a contest for designing doll clothing and I did a doll size Christening Gown and won 1st place for original smocking & original lace shaping. That was a huge thrill! It all is pretty exciting. Now I just need to get this quilt in a few shows!

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