Playing with the Qzoid

When i knew my Quiltazoid was being delivered i pulled out a 2 yard piece of hand dyed fabric and drew in some blocks and a border. i wanted to be ready to play as soon as my new toy got here. it only took a little time to set it up so i was playing the same day i received it. here is what i did yesterday.

First i just made some circles. very smooth..ended right where they started. no problem.

I used this diamond template

To make this

I used the feather template

To make this feather wreath. i wasn't sure how the feathers worked each time i turned the template so i went up the feather and then stitched back down the same way. it didn't stitch exactly over the first stitching but i found i like the double stitching. i think i should have picked up my needle when i moved the template and i didn't do that. then i put the larger flower circle around the feather wreath and it kind of went outside my 12" block. i had checked it on a dry run at the corners...but not at the middle....so that was a 'duh' moment. lesson learned.

Then i made this fern thing. you can see in the middle where i screwed up. i did the first one and then moved the template the wrong way and stitched over the opening in the middle of the fern. so then the second one was screwed up, too. but by then i figured out what i was supposed to be doing and got the last 2 to join properly. i shall quilt something in the middle to cover up the boo-boo. LOL

I used this template .... the part i am pointing to.  it looked like a ribbon to me. see how many MORE designs are on this one template?

With that template i made this ribbon wreath.  i got a bit wobbly on the very tips. i have to learn to kind of stay at the side when coming to the corners to get my points to flow properly.

Then i put the spiro thingy on the base plate and tried that. there are pages of designs in the instruction manual that show you what the design will look like and tell you the size of it and what gear to use and whether or not to use the reducer.

You put the gear in that you are using and attach a handle and turn the handle around and around to make your spiro design. This one did not turn out at all like the picture. the idea is to turn the handle around as many times as it takes to get back to where you started. i turned that handle about 20 times before it ever came back close to where it was supposed to. i finally figured out (later) that i believe that i forgot to turn the knobs that tighten down the stylus before i started....so we just wiggled all over the place. LOL

Here is the design that didn't work as planned.

So, ok, let's try that again. picked another design and another gear....read the directions once more from the beginning. (that's when i decided i think i didn't tighten down the stylus the first time). here's the spiro thingy in action.

 And this is what i created. much better.

 
That was my play for the day. and i think for my first time it all turned out good. i am pleased. today i am going to be embellishing those blocks with things i learned in Irena Bluhm's class in MQS. stay tuned for the next chapter.