Husqvarna Viking Sapphire 870 Quilt sewing machine

New preowned addition to my sewing machine family.

This one was manufactured in Sweden approximately 2007.  

It uses the same size bobbins as the Husqvarna 500 series as well as the Pfaff QE 4, Creative 2.0 and Pfaff Creative Sensation.

The white table with acrylic insert was purchased new from the Brandon Sewing Centre on April 25, 2015.  The Sapphire is fun to sew with.  The large harp size will make maneuvering a king size quilt a breeze. Photo below back side of decorative stitches.

Yesterday I made a nursing cape with it, but I gave it away without taking any photos.

Free motion quilting stitch with an Inspira titanium 75 quilting needle and Superior 100% cotton quilting thread.

This pink scrap is four layers of poly cotton.  The spring free motion quilting are the heart shaped leaves and one feather with a couple of spirals.

 This is the backside.  

The jesters' hats, butterflies, stippling and spirals were stitched with the embroidery/darning R foot, the manual calls it float free motion.

backside

Sewing machine reviews at Pattern Review were not good. Complaints included tension issues, thread nests, thread cutter that won't cut, won't free motion quilt and top needle thread breaking.  So far knock wood..... no problems with this Sapphire.  Hopefully, I have a good one.


There is a sewing machine review and information on this fabulous stand at quiltsocial.com.

I had tension, thread cutter and top thread breakage issues with Pfaff Quilt Expression 4 which is the same vintage as the Sapphire.  Most of my Pfaff QE 4 issues were resolved with a new take up lever replaced under warranty, an adjustment to the cutter and learning to keep the bobbin area free of lint, dust and thread build up.  I traded up to get a Pfaff Creative 2.0 embroidery machine, which I later (August 2013) traded up again to get a Pfaff Creative Performance (purple princess).

Dear Readers:  Don't ya just love sewing machines?  Be creative... happy stitching.

Waterproof Cloth Diaper Covers and Soaker Inserts.

Well, cloth diapering has changed significantly from the rubber pants and safety pins of my mom's days and the velcro fitted diapers with rubber pants of my babies' days.  After discussing the pros and cons of cloth versus disposable my husband and I used only disposables.

Our granddaughter (born October 2014) is a green baby with cloth diapers and wipes.  There is nothing more fun that sewing for grandkids.

 Little monsters, monkeys with bananas, owls and elephants.

The PUL, polyurethane laminate that is waterproof and breathable.  It is soft, flexible and comes in lots of lovely colourful prints and solids.

These diapers were made with snap closures and FOE. The fold over elastic finishes the outside edges and is stretched to gather the PUL at the back and leg gussets.  

The pattern pieces were weighted rather than pinned to avoid pinholes in the fabric.

The front and back inside yokes are optional.  However, if using the snap closures the snap area needs to be reinforced with scraps of PUL instead of the yoke.

 Mark and attach the snaps.

 Outside front yoke

I used a 3 step zig zag stitch to attach the FOE (stretched) to the straight edge of the inside gusset.

This is the tricky part, most times when sewing it is rights together stitch and turn right side out.  With the  inside gusset it is wrong sides together and stitch 1/4 inch seam on right side.

 It needs to look like this.

Stitch FOE to outside edge starting one inch from gather mark on back left side.  Stretch FOE between gather marks on back and stitch. Do not stretch FOE on sides of diaper tabs and front of diaper. Stretch FOE between gather notches around crouch.

   All snapped up without soaker insert.

 Open 

 The two snaps on the back are to secure the diaper insert.

 Unfolded the soaker is 30 inches long.

 Four layers thick.

White polyester wicking fabric to wick moisture into absorbent cotton away from baby.

Terry towel, I cut up an old bath towel that has been washed many times.

And 2 layers of flannel printed fabric.

Tack all four layers, then quilt together.  I did jesters' hats on the elephant in glasses print.

 Heart-shaped leaves on the multi-coloured elephants print.

 Apply two snaps to attach to PUL cover.

 Serge around the raw edges to finish.

The flannel fabric was preshrunk before using.

Toss diaper covers into a hot clothes dryer for 20 minutes to reseal the needle holes from sewing.  Use polyester thread as cotton thread will wick moisture outside the cover.

Size small - fits 8 to 20 pounds.  

Happy stitching.