The day got off to a rather good start.  When ordering my breakfast in the Pret A Manger just down the road, the barista didn’t respond immediately to my arrival at the counter.  The manager happened to be watching and “rewarded my patience” (I had to wait all of ten seconds) with a latte on the house.  What’s not to like?

 

 

Hannah was ready to start when I got there and we were soon reviewing the small triumphs of yesterday – buttonholes, buttons and the magical tapering facility which I had not even known about.  OK, so some of my samples needed a little more care and attention, but hey, I got that square almost right!

 

 

Today was all about embroidering and using the machine’s inbuilt software to design and modify stitches.  I’d played around with the stitch regulator yesterday to create this little bit of free motion quilting – that clearly needs more practice too.  So, until I can manage that process reliably, I’ll need to learn how to program the machine to do it for me.

 

 

Well, ok, it’s no masterpiece, but the facility of being able to scribble on the screen of the machine, to press “go” and then to sit back and watch the scribble turn into a stitch is a great trick to have at my disposal.  Still, I’d have preferred those scribbled curves to have been smooth and not jaggy, just as in my drawing.  I searched for a means of making the stitches smaller but although I could reduce the size of the whole pattern, there wasn’t an obvious way to increase the stitch count.  Hmmm.  Well perhaps my super duper machine does have its limitations after all!

 

 

After lunch, I explored the ways in which embroidery designs can be modified without returning to the software and how the most basic of stitches can be turned into interesting (and sometimes messy) patterns.  Throughout the day, I’d had so many opportunities to have all my questions answered, to find out more about some of the accessories and see first hand what can be achieved with them and best of all, to establish contact with and learn from the real expert. I’m looking forward to setting aside a few days to work through the pages of notes I took and to spending time reinforcing what I’ve learned here.

 

 

With my head buzzing I stepped out along Goswell Road, admiring the colours in the leaves which were blowing around my feet.  In amongst the many was the one…

 

 

Lovely!

 

 

A few minutes later, my vehicle of choice was approaching and I was on my way back.  Not home, but to collect my luggage for the next stage on the adventure!