Tag Archives: juki

Aussie MQG Zipper Pouch Swap

Lots of firsts in this pouch for the #AussieMQGZipperPouchSwap. This was a direct partner swap to encourage us to get to know an MQG member from another guild, my allocated partner was Amy from Badskirt who I’m lucky to already know a little, enough to know that I had to make something especially awesome. If you’ve seen any of Amy’s work you’ll understand the weight I felt on my shoulders.

Below is the sneak peek I shared before posting her pouch.

Aussie MQG Zipper Pouch Swap

It was my first time sewing with leather, just like sewing through butter on my Juki! I did learn that the thicker leather would probably be better with rounded corners.

These little geese measure 1″ across by 1/2″ tall, I made my own paper piecing pattern for these which will definitely get a workout again soon.

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I had to come up with something equally cool for the back so I had a go at some itty bitty quilting to create more mini geese, lucky for me it worked out pretty well (or I would have had to make another panel and think of something else!). May have been a little better with darker thread but I still like it.

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I pieced the panels, then layered each one with batting and a cotton back so that I could quilt 1/2″ straight lines and the FMQ geese. I then added on the leather bottom piece and from there followed my favourite zipper pouch pattern by Toni at Make It Perfect. I added a little pocket on the inside for a card or keys or coins but otherwise it’s just a basic quilted zipper pouch.

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It was a labour of love but I’m really happy with how this little pouch turned out.

Here’s the awesome pouch and goodies I received from Amy. The pouch is perfect for holding my C+S hexies and because… cats, especially grey cats.

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Lucky it passed inspection!

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This swap came about from a group of Aussie MQG Leaders talking about ways that we could build community and get to know one another from guilds around the country. We plan to run more Aussie MQG swaps in future as a way of giving our members more benefits and a greater sense of connection with each other, the first swap seems to have been a big hit!

Only a fortunate few of us can make it to QuiltCon and it’s luck of the draw with MQG Fabric Challenges, we hope that through these swaps every Aussie MQG member feels that they have the opportunity to participate in an event beyond their local guild and that over time more connections will be formed to build a strong Aussie Modern Quilting community.

Juki Update

Almost two years on and I’m still completely in love with my girl Suki, a Juki TL-98P. Seems I’m not the only one either, my previous post from when I first got this machine has been the most popular post on my blog ever since.

Juki TL-98P drop in table

She gets plenty of attention when we go out to, every sew day there’s someone who wanders over… “Oh, so this is the Juki!” and I tell them all about how awesome she is. She’s not light to carry around but now that I’m used to sewing with her it’s worth the effort. At home she sits in my “proof of concept” aka hacked together drop in table, more on that and my new sewing space in an upcoming post!

I’m now lost without my knee lift when I jump on another machine (though I kind of wish it was a little bit further to the right, and maybe not so low). I’ve also mastered the knack of the needle threader, yeay! All in all, she’s awesome and we really understand each other now.

Juki TL-98P drop in table

As a follow up I contacted Juki to ask if there was any update on the possibility of an equivalent to the TL-2010 Q (available in the US) being released for those of us on a 240V power supply, but unfortunately there are no plans for one (I’m getting better with pedal control but would still love the speed limiter).

That’s ok, the TL-98P is still a great machine and I’d buy a new one in a heart beat, hopefully when I do Suki can go to someone else who wants to try the Juki without committing to the full purchase price of a new machine, and they’ll fall in love with her to.

The rep from Juki Singapore (a Juki subsidiary and regional HQ covering Oceania and Asia Pacific) was really helpful and also let me know they would be at the AQC Show in Melbourne this year, April 16-19 2015. They’ll have the Juki TL-98P there to see, and will be introducing the TL-2200QVP (a long arm quilting machine), along with their other machines. If you’ll be there go check them out.

If you can’t make it to the show, the official dealers in Australia are:

I have it on good authority that Capron Carter in Sydney also sell them and I’m in the process of contacting some other stores to find out where else you can get a Juki TL-98P, the most common thing I hear is that no one has ever seen them in a store. It’s true they’re not readily available but it’s worth the extra effort to find one.

If you have a Juki, I’d love for you to get in touch, leave a comment or shoot me an email. If you have questions about the Juki TL-98P, just pop them below and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Edit: I’m so happy to hear that Juki now have an Aussie Brand Ambassador, my friend Molli Sparkles, who’ll be down at AQC to help demonstrate the TL-98P and all their wonderful machines!

Introducing Suki: My Juki TL-98P

I love my new(ish) Juki! Her name is Suki, I bought her second hand about a month ago after debating for some time about upgrading my current machine, a Brother NS50. She’s now my main machine and gets to sit out on the dining table all the time. It’s a long story but with a happy ending, if you’re keen to find out more about the Juki and my experience, you might want to grab a cup of tea and get comfy.

Yesterday was the first time in a month that I’ve needed to zig zag stitch, I’d taken in a top and wanted to tidy up the seams, and wanted to experiement with making frankenbatting (which was awesome by the way) so I had the two out together, below you can see them side by side.

Juki TL-98P (right) and Brother NS50 (left)

The Brother NS50 is a great machine, it was simple enough to get started on with a few fun features for me to grow into from when I first began sewing. It does all the utility things I might need (button holes, overcast, zigzag, fancy stitches, has a free arm) so I’ll be holding on to it for some time still. I should probably name him to…

After quilting my first lap sized quilt and getting a really sore wrist while doing it I thought there’s no way I’m going to get anything bigger under here or have enough space to be able to free-motion quilt comfortably. I’m not saying it wasn’t possible, it just wasn’t easy. I want to be able to enjoy quilting and I know that sewing and quilting are going to be something I’ll do for a long time so about 2 years after I started on the Brother I was ready to invest in a machine that would make things a bit easier for me.

I’ll admit, I’d been sucked into the hype about Bernina’s and started investigating those after trying out a 440 during a free motion quilting class. It was as if the quilt was floating over the surface. I knew they would be expensive but I was prepared to make an investment so I started looking around. Turns out, the larger machines that would meet my number one request of more throat/harp space were beyond what I was ready to invest, and I didn’t see it as good value, I didn’t need more stitches and all the other nice-to-have features that were only a bit of an improvement on what my Brother could already do.

That lead me to put together the wishlist below of the things I really wanted/needed to make a new machine worthwhile.

  1. More throat space for machine quilting
  2. Needle down on stopping
  3. Knee lift for the presser foot, so I could keep my hands on what I was sewing
  4. Nice straight stitch
  5. Walking foot, 1/4″ foot and free motion feet included would be a bonus
  6. Extension table would be nice to have while I sort out my furniture situation (I hope to eventually have a drop in table, but don’t think I’ll be cutting a hole in my dining table any time soon).

Juki TL-98P

I’ve been seeing and hearing so many good things about the Juki TL98 machines, and the newer TL2010 machines, mostly from my favourite bloggers and while reading reviews. It’s pretty hard to find someone who doesn’t love their Juki or who has had issues with it.

It ticked all the boxes, and then some. It has a thread cutter with a button on the foot pedal, I didn’t think I needed that but now I’ve used it a bit it sure does come in handy. It’s got a reverse lever and feed dog up/down switch on the front where it’s easy to access. Foot and thread tensions will take some getting used to but surely can only improve my stitches. It also came with a knee lift, extension table and quilting related feet as standard. While it has all these great, relevant, features, it’s a really simple machine, it doesn’t have all the bells and whistles that I didn’t need or want, another huge plus for me.

It wasn’t long before I was convinced this was the machine I wanted, and I didn’t look any further. It’s a mechanical, semi-industrial machine (Juki make a lot of industrial sewing machines) it also goes really, really fast. I would have liked a speed limiter, I use that a bit on my Brother, but that was only introduced on the 2010 model which is not available here, so I’ll just have to learn to control my foot pressure, not a bad skill to develop.

My biggest issue is they’re not easy to find here in Australia. Over here we only have the TL-98P (Perfection), which I believe is the equivalent to the TL-98Q feature wise, but it’s built for 240v power supplies, used here and also in Europe. There aren’t any local dealers, when I contacted Juki there were only 2 authorised sellers listed and they were in different states. I have since found a couple places in Sydney that stock Juki and I didn’t get around to arranging a trip up to test drive any when I came across the listing for mine.

I ended up purchasing Suki from Sewing Machine Warehouse via eBay. She was a trade in from another customer who had a frame setup for quilting, tried it out for a little while and then decided to upgrade to a table top mid arm machine instead. I have to say, I was hesitant about buying a machine, particularly a second hand one, online without getting to try it out first, not even a new one of the same model. I asked questions about the machines history and saw a lot of good reviews for the seller, being a physical store as well gave some reassurance and ultimately the price was too good to pass up. They were easy to deal with and took extra care when packing the machine for delivery.

I bought my current machine new from my local sewing machine shop Vera’s Machine Center and couldn’t have been happier with the help I received in choosing a machine, learning to use it, and when taking it in for servicing. I’d absolutely recommend finding a good local dealer and buying from them if you can. In this case I couldn’t find the machine I wanted locally, but I’m hoping I can get my machine serviced through them and hope to continue that relationship.

So far, I’m really happy with my Juki. I’m still figuring out a few things and looking at a few additional accessories, extra bobbins etc and hope to share more as I get to know her better. If you have any questions about the Juki TL-98P ask away and I’ll try to answer them as best I can. It wasn’t easy to find a lot of information about the machine and how to purchase one in Australia so I’m happy to share what I know and hope it will help someone else.