The Husqvarna Viking H|Class 100Q
I’m so excited to be back and so excited to once again share the Husqvarna Viking H|Class 100Q with you.
Have a look at this previous post to see the features of the Husqvarna Viking H|Class 100Q.
Before I continue, I must tell you that I’m a bit of a sewing machine snob. For the last 16 years, I’ve sewn with a very nice sewing machine with all the bells and whistles. As a quilt instructor for the last 14 years, I’ve seen many many different sewing machines in my classes and secretly I told myself that I would never purchase an entry level sewing machine. Oh my goodness – did I actually say that? Yes I did as I felt the quality of work produced by some of those entry level machines was not up to my standard.
Let me say that I’m now the PROUD owner of a Husqvarna Viking H|Class 100Q. I was fortunate enough to take the machine to my sewing retreat for five days. I think I was very brave in that I took a lot of sewing projects and the only machine I took with me was the H|Class. I know – I can’t believe that I took that kind of chance, but I had sewn on the H|Class the previous week and I knew what its capabilities were. The retreat was going to be the test.
I put the H|Class through a challenge. The projects that I took were not the type of thing I normally work on when I go to a sewing retreat. I normally take basic piecing that is already cut. Then I can chat away, stop and start when I want and not worry about making any goofs. Well this certainly wasn’t a normal retreat. Have a look at what I worked on………………..
I finished 48 of these blocks – each with FOUR curved seams. Blocks are from Winner’s Bouquet pattern by Atkinson Designs
A friend had just finished making a bargello quilt and did not want the leftovers. I was going to put them in my stash – then thought they could be rejigged and make some neat little bags. So I made not one…………………
Not two……………………….
No – I made THREE bags with the leftovers from the bargello quilt. I tried different ways of inserting the zipper and the bags are nicely finished on the inside. Don’t worry – I’ll be showing you how to do that in a bit – but not this week.
I sewed through plastic to make this bag (which I am using to hold my extra zippers) (Pattern Source: Stitchin’ Sister – What’s In Your Bag?)
I pieced some scraps together and then tried out all the stitches on the machine. Had fun with that. This is a journal cover which I’ll share more details in a day or so.
Fabric journal cover with flower applique.
Next up was another journal cover. I hand drew these letters and decided that I wasn’t happy with raw edge applique so I used the blanket stitch and stitched around all these letters. I know – I get these crazy notions in my head. However, I am happy to report that the Husqvarna Viking H|Class 100Q had no problem stitching around that applique even though some of it was pretty teeny tiny.
I apologize for the quality of this photo. I was so excited about this book which I made as a gift – well I gave it away and did NOT take pictures. This was the best I could get from the new owner who was very pleased with the book.
Remember – if you are going to do any stitching – you should ALWAYS do a practice stitch out. This allows you to check the tension, the stitch width and length BEFORE you start on your piece.
Oh yes – I did get a bit of regular piecing done. I managed to get these two blocks together.
When border prints, make diagonal seams instead of vertical seams to join the pieces. The diagonal seams are much less noticeable.
While I did not do this bit of piecing at the retreat, I thought I would share it with you. I was putting the border on a quilt of mine. I was using a symmetrical border print and I was running out of fabric. I had to make four joins in this section. I used the H|Class and I had no problems getting it to perform to the same standard that I expect from my “big” machine at home.
I have always told my students that when you have to join strips of fabric together (for a border for instance) that it is much less noticeable to make the join on the diagonal. And I think this example is the proof of that. There are two straight joins and two diagonal joins. It is pretty easy to see the straight joins, but the diagonal ones are much harder to find.
There was not one moment when I regretted taking just the Husqvarna Viking H|Class 100Q to the five day long retreat. The H|Class 100Q sewed everything that I threw at it. It didn’t take much room in the car which was a good thing because by the time Mary and I got all our food, luggage and sewing projects (OK – so mostly sewing projects), there wasn’t much room left.
On that note – have an awesome day!
Ciao!
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