Recently I purchased a Sew Steady table for my BERNINA 780.  I had walked by their booth a couple of times at Market and was intrigued.  Their tables enlarge your elevated sewing space quite a bit, making for easier piecing and quilting, and they are portable.  Of course, in an ideal situation we would all have a full size cabinet-sized table with a sunken place to put our machines but – well, I don’t know about you – personally I work in the middle of everything.  My workspace is constantly changing; I may have the sewing machine out one day and a graphics tablet the next.  It is one of the things that I love about my job, but, in a limited space shared with family it can be a challenge.

When you order a Sew Steady table you need to specify the machine you work with.  I vacillated between ordering one for my BERNINA 580 and my BERNINA 780, but in the end I chose the 780 because I quilt on it more regularly.

The Sew Steady table mounted on the BERNINA 780

When the table arrived I assembled it and mounted it on the machine.  At first the left side of the table, near the needle, was a little too elevated and the right side near the neck of the machine, was a little too low, but I called Sew Steady and this was easily remedied with a slightly shorter set of legs.

The table has a grid, which you install on the backside of the plastic.  It has special markings for 1/4″ seams.

I was really excited when I got to try the table for the first time this weekend.  I knew it would make quilting larger quilts a bit easier, but I was surprised how much easier it made smaller pieces, like pillows or table toppers.  Virtually the entire piece fit on the table so there was no drag.  Of course, if you were quilting larger pieces you would still want to make sure you had plenty of space behind and the the left of the machine to take the weight of the quilt, but the table does make things easier.  Verdict:  If you are someone who always dragging your machine around the house with you like a security blanket like me (haha) Sew Steady’s extended (but still portable) space might be something you would want to consider.

Quilting a design using the Sew Steady table and the BERNINA Stitch Regulator

Oh, I almost forgot, for you organized sewers out there there is a drawer underneath the table to hold scissors and pins etc.  I need to train myself to use this because I’m a train wreck when I sew and have always have to pick up my mess at the end of the day.

Happy sewing!
Amanda

And the winners are of the giveaways, according to the random number generator, are Theresa here who likes Everbloom in Ivory and Light Blue and Wendy Christian over on Instagram!  Congratulations! Ladies, please send me your snail mail addresses.

Hi everyone,

Today is my day to post my project for the Hugs and Kisses Blog Hop going on at Sew We Quilt.  We were asked to sew 1, 2, or 3 Valentine’s-themed paper-pieced blocks designed by Soma from Whims and Fancies.  Proceeds for these patterns go to charity and you can find out more about where to get them at Sew We Quilt.

Of course I had to use Topiary!   I decided to use the heart block since it was my favorite.  I wanted to use the X and O blocks too but in the border.  Since I was shrinking the size of these blocks I appliquéd them, rather than paper-pieced them.

I decided to quilt swirls in the background to contrast with the straight quilting in the heart.

And I free motioned petals in white border blocks.

I debated about the corners and almost did them in the dark pink fabric, but in the end I decided to fussy cut the “Arbor Walk” print to showcase the smaller topiaries.

And now for the giveaway!  I’ll be giving away a copy of my block-of-the-month Under the Veranda, (which is pictured in Topiary on the cover), three patterns from my line, and a fat quarter of the “Gazebo” fabric in all three colors.

The giveaway prize…

To enter, hop on over to the Topiary page at Blend Fabrics and leave a comment below telling me what is your favorite Topiary print.  One comment per person please and let me know how to reach you if you are an anonymous.   For an additional chance to win go follow me on Instagram (AMANDAMURPHYDESIGN) and mark my picture of this project over there as a “favorite”.  So there will be an Instagram winner and a blog winner, okay?  Deadline is today, Tuesday the 18th, at midnight.

And be sure to check out all the other sites on the hop today!

I’m guest blogging over at Blend Fabrics blog today with a free pattern just in time for spring!

Topiary Table Topper

When Blend asked me to create a special design for this line I was sure I wanted to do something garden-related and a Dresden-style garden gate design fit the bill.  

You can find the pattern here.
If you are a shop ordering Topiary  please be sure to contact me so I can add you to the list of those stocking the line on my blog!

Happy sewing!
Amanda