Owner: The Wandering Quilter URL:http://www.wanderngquilter.com Join Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2006 07:36:40 -0500 Rating:1 Site Description: CJ Tinkle fulltimes in an RV with her husband, and spends her time quilting, sewing, and embroidering, among many other hobbies. Site statistics:Click here
Back from Missouri 2006-10-21 15:20:40 ***I’ve uploaded the new Mastery workbooks for the Bernina Embroidery Software Version 5, Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3, as well as the older workbook for Version 4, so make sure you get all of them. They’re in the Downloads section, don’t forget you have to be logged in to access them.*** Oh and if you run into any trouble downloading them, please let me know, the system has been glitchy in the past with downloads, but I’ve hopefully fixed that.
Missouri
is sporting one of the most spectacular Fall leaves display I think I’ve ever seen, it was a treat to be back home and see it! And the aroma of wood smoke in the air, Fall is just fabulous!
I had to leave my 730 and it’s embroidery module with my dealer, and it will likely be a week or two before I can pick it up again. My wonderful technician was able to find the problem I experience so randomly, and I have a defective embroidery module… the one thing I never suspected! I’m so tickled
Pear Apples! 2006-10-19 12:18:35 Why do we refer to ourselves with these horribly unflattering comparisons to fruit? I keep reading references to “I’m shaped like a pear!” or “I’m a perfect apple!” and I’ve decided if I have to be a fruit, I want the waistline of a pear and the legs of an apple!
I’m up in Missouri until tomorrow, and it’s COLD! I drove up yesterday afternoon, in Harrison AR I drove under a beautiful blue cloudless sky, with the temperature at 83 degrees, within 10 minutes north of there the sky was completely clouded over and the temperature had dipped to 59 degrees, and there I was in a tshirt and sandals. Brrr! Good thing I brought my flannel PJ’s along to show my mom, I’ll need them to stay warm!
This morning I’m taking my 730 up to my dealer so the technician can take a peek at it again, although I’m about 90% convinced that my mega hoop woes are definately power related, and have nothing to do with the machine, but Read more:Apples
Scissor overload 2006-10-14 12:16:23 Yesterday I decided to brave my sewing drawers and re-organize them. What a mess! I have 3 of those RubberMaid stacking drawers in the RV, filled to the brim with books, patterns and gadgets. They were to the point where I couldn’t find anything, and are now nicely sorted out again! I have SIX pairs of scissors! That’s a little overkill, I’m not sure where they all came from. I’ll try not to run with them all at once!
When I finished that, I headed to Hancock’s to pick up 2 more PJ patterns, a nightgown for my mom, and a PJ set for my hubby, who shook and shivered like a sad little puppy the night before last, when the temperature dipped down to 30 degrees and I forgot to bring in the space heaters… and the furnace needs cleaning before I run it. They didn’t have a very good selection of flannel, so I’m not thrilled with the fabrics I ended up with, but they’ll do. Now if the PJ’s were for ME… they had some darl Read more:Scissor
, overload
We're one of Ten Best Sewing Blogs! 2006-10-09 12:47:59 Guess what? The Wandering Quilter has been named one of the Ten Best SewingBlogs
: Learn to Sew and Sew like a Pro or for Fun written by Slate Stone and published on Associated Content, the People’s Media Company. How exciting! There’s power in numbers, and knowledge to be shared, so the more of us who gather here, the more we can learn from each other.
I discovered this morning I have no batting the right size for my charm square quilt, so a trip to town is in order, I’d like to finish the quilt up and start on another. I might look for more flannel for PJ’s… but save it in case I get that serger anytime soon… like next week maybe?
Spectacular Super Saturday sale 2006-10-04 19:49:20 In case you didn’t recieve a mailing, Bernina is having a ONE DAY ONLY sale this Saturday
the 7th on all machines priced over $2k, no interest for 18 months. If you’ve been considering a new machine, here’s your chance!
I still haven’t done any quilting lately, but I did knock out (HA! It was a painstaking grueling effort!) a pair of PJ’s for myself, I’m getting ready for cold weather in the RV… it’s always a bit chillier in here come winter than in a house. I posted them in the Gallery… speaking of which, why aren’t the rest of you sharing your wonderful projects? I could use the inspiration! Read more:Spectacular
, Super
Are you gearing up? 2006-09-18 15:50:34 ***News Flash! The Cisco Aironet 350 PCM wireless card DOES work with the 200/730 machines for wireless access to the Portal, in replacement of the original Cisco Aironet 350 LCM model. The only difference is the antenna. These should be available on EBay quite cheaply. I can’t swear that this more expensive product (StitchLink II) will work, but it should.***
A new Yahoo Group for the Bernina 430/440, 630/640 and 730 machines has been formed.
The rebate coupon for the V5 software is located in the Downloads section, log in to access it.
I’ve added a “For Sale” section to the Bernina Forums, for Bernina related machines and accessories, so if you have a machine or related item for sale, feel free to post it there.
The Isacord thread charts for the V5 software don’t display correctly, the downloadable patch to correct this is here.
There are also some tech tips posted for the V5 software here.
We had quite a storm here last night, the wind was gust Read more:gearing
Runs with scissors… 2006-09-17 14:37:35 ***Cindy G. kindly provided me with a new link this morning for the V5 Rebate Coupon. Thanks Cindy! It’s posted in the Downloads section, so log in to access it.
I’ve added a “For Sale” section to the Bernina Forums, for Bernina related machines and accessories, so if you have a machine for sale, feel free to post it there.
Also, it appears that the Isacord thread charts for the V5 software don’t display correctly, and there is a downloadable patch for this here. There are also some tech tips posted for V5 here as well. ***
Today is rant day. I don’t normally do this, but I had an experience this morning that just flat ticked me off. We all know I belong to all the Bernina email groups. Today I’ve removed myself from one, over the issue of my signature that’s in all my emails. The rules of this email group are stated publicly:
“This is a friendly informative group for all Bernina Artista 630/640/730 machine owners. This gr Read more:scissors
Patch for V5 software available 2006-09-14 16:05:00 ***I’ve removed the coupon link as Bernina has removed it from their website. Boy they weren’t kidding when they said limited time offer! I didn’t actually get one printed off for myself. Also, it appears that the Isacord thread charts for the V5 software don’t display correctly, and there is a downloadable patch for this here. There are also some tech tips posted for V5 here as well.***
Read more:Patch
, available
Workbooks… 2006-10-23 03:04:25 As you all know, this site was built for all my fellow Bernina users to be able to help each other out, share techniques and discuss our wonderful Bernina machines. I’ve tried to keep the Mastery Workbooks available to users because many of you have a difficult time getting them from your dealers.
Apparantly this is upsetting some of the dealers, but I honestly can’t see why. I figure offering them here (free) saves dealers not only the trouble, but the cost of burning them to a CD. Most likely I will be asked to remove all the Mastery workbooks, which is fine, but I hope if that proves to be the case that Dealers please consider the fact that your customers shouldn’t have to look elsewhere for these workbooks.
My only purpose in running this website is to promote a fun and friendly environment where fellow Bernina users around the globe can learn and play together. This is not a business, it’s not for profit, it’s purely a hobby.
–CJ
Update on Workbooks 2006-10-24 21:18:34 Folks, I’m sorry to report I’ve had to temporarily disable the Downloads section of this site. Bernina discussed this and decided that for me to be in compliance with copyright the Mastery workbooks can not be offered here. However, they are working to change that and will let me know when that takes place, so that I may once again offer them here, easily accessible to everyone.
I’m am very pleased to know that Bernina indeed did take notice and is now aware that many of you cannot get your hands on these workbooks in the manner preferred, through your dealer. And even more pleased that they were so gracious about asking me to remove them Read more:Update
Eep! The wonky eejit 2006-10-25 14:35:15 Do you ever find yourself “stuck” on a word or 2… or 3 in my case. Lately it seems like every 3rd word out of my mouth is either Eep! Eejit! Or Wonky! I’ll sit down to sew, and 2 seconds later… “Eep! What an Eejit I am! This is just being Wonky on me”! Change a presser foot and forget to latch it in place (Eep! What an Eejit)… get out a spool of metallic thread that somebody forgot to put away neatly and have it be all snarly and Wonky on you…
I’ve always said I don’t do a much embroidery. I mentioned over dinner last night that I really missed my 730 and embroidery unit, which suprised me because I didn’t think I embroidered very often, and Jim just laughed. I guess not very often is relative. I don’t by any means need the Happy machine (which is up on the Bernina website now, in case you haven’t seen this new wonder) but it would seem (according to my husband) that I embroider enough to req
Yummy books! 2006-10-28 14:25:30 ***Bernina has posted a new survey for us to fill out. Please take the time, now is the chance to voice your opinion of your dealer, it’s one of the choices on the survey. Mine of course, got a AAA+++ review .***
P.S. If you are looking for the Mastery workbooks, please read this post:
There are new instructional PDF’s for the Bernina Embroidery software version 5 available for download on the Bernina website.
Yesterday I was up in Missouri at my dealer’s and they were showing me these really cool fabric bowls, and the book they used to make them. I was in thread mode at the time and so didn’t buy the book, but the more I think about it I’m really tempted, these are really cute!
The book includes both baskets and purses. I don’t carry a purse, but the larger one would be great as a yarn bag. And baskets… who can have enough of those! That’s a hobby I’d like to take up some day, basket weaving. I just need another 10 hours i Read more:Yummy
Are we USERS lemons too? 2006-10-26 14:44:02 ***Bernina has posted a new survey for us to fill out. Please take the time, now is the chance to voice your opinion of your dealer, it’s one of the choices on the survey. Mine of course, got a AAA+++ review .***
P.S. If you are looking for the Mastery workbooks, please read this post:
There are new instructional PDF’s for the Bernina Embroidery software version 5 available for download on the Bernina website. Also, there’s a pattern up for making a cute quilted sewing machine cover, I think I might give this one a try and see how it fits my serger!
These posts pop up all over the Internet on various email groups and web boards, but lately the complaints on machine performance (on any brand!) have been sticking with me for some reason. I’m curious, when someone is experiencing difficulties with their machine, doesn’t it ever occur to them that there most likely isn’t a problem with the machine at all, but poor technique on their part? I was g
Fabric hunting? 2006-10-30 11:23:06 Have you run across the Quilt Shops.com website before? Quiltshops.com is a group of over 150 independent quilt shops. Their search engine allows you to search all 150+ shops at once for any item, with or without thumbnails. You can search for quilt fabric, 100% cotton fabric, flannel fabric, and you can even search for fabric by color or manufacturer and ask it to “exclude” any word, such as flannel. This would give you all cotton fabric in your color or manufacturer choice.
How cool is that? Let your dealer or favorite Quilt store know about this so they can add themselves to the directory!
Yesterday I became completely oblivious to the world as I got caught up in making my first rag quilt. I can’t believe I’ve never tried this, it’s like quilting on steroids! I’m so excited about this method, it’s amazingly fast and easy! Although I will say my hands are feeling the after effects of clipping all those seams this morning. I’ve b Read more:Fabric
, hunting
The most horrible alarm! 2006-10-31 21:55:31 ***If you are looking for the Mastery workbooks, please read this post***
I have to share my “eejit” moment with everyone . Most of you know I have always experienced some problems embroidering when using the Mega Hoop. Of course the problem has been solved, and my embroidery module has all new insides. However, I confess to holding my breath while stitching some very dense embroidery work (no way I was ripping THAT out!) on a quilt I’m making my niece for Christmas. The first end of the quilt stitched out beautifully, and the 2nd end was nearing completion when I hear the machine stop (yes, I was playing on the computer, bad bad girl!) and this horrible alarm
I’d NEVER heard from my machine went off!
My heart sunk to my toes and I got up to check on my waiting disaster, filled with dread.
The machine had stopped because it was time to change colors. The alarm was my timer going off to remind me I had salmon on the smoker.
Yippppeeeee!!!!! My Mega H
Jelly Rolls! 2006-11-06 12:47:50 ***If you are looking for the Mastery workbooks, please read this post***
I’ve accomplished no sewing this past week. Here in Arkansas we’ve been having torrential rain fall, thunderstorms and high winds. Right now we have to leap three feet out the RV door to clear the lake that’s built beneath us. And we spent the only nice day this week hiking an 80 acre property in Jasper, AR, a charming town of 450 people nestled in the heart of the Boston Mountain range, very poor but with a lot of tourist traffic due to it’s scenic beauty, that I keep wondering if it would support a quilt shop. Hmm…
I discovered a great blog called “FreshcutTM” by Heather Bailey, a new fabric designer that I thought you might enjoy, and of course a Bernina user!
My dealer just came back from Quilt Market this year and was raving about Moda’s new JellyRolls
! Having discovered Charm Packs, I’m just in hog heaven! I love to quilt, but I so dread cuttin
Bernina presents… 2006-11-07 15:36:55 ***If you are looking for the Mastery workbooks, please read this post***
The Quilt Show with Ricky Tims, a new Internet-based TV show for quilters! Read all about it here!
We are getting so spoiled in this age of technology aren’t we? I’m looking forward to watching this.
For the next week, I will be in Missouri and probably paying very little attentions to emails and this site, so please be patient if you contact me. My sister is flying home and I haven’t seen her in 6 years, so we have some catching up to do
Holidays 2006-11-26 11:35:32 Happy Holidays
everyone, I hope this time of year finds you busy sewing and quilting your hearts out.
Upcoming Changes 2006-12-28 15:40:32 Hi Folks,I wanted to let everyone know that I’m going to close down this site. It doesn’t get used nearly as much as I thought it would. While the site recieves tons of visitors (and even people that sign up), there’s just not been enough activity in the forums for me to continue with it. It would seem that unless I blog on here daily, folks stop visiting. I wanted the site to basically to work off of the forums, so people could share ideas and get help, but it hasn’t worked out that way www.tinkletimes.com) which is also currently being moved, and service will be intermittent. My personal blog has always been daily life, RV life (we’re fulltime RV’ers) and quilting and sewing… basically whatever I feel like chit chatting about. You’re welcome to visit!
I will keep the Yahoo email group running, so if you aren’t on it, please join us!
Read more:Upcoming
Happy New Year! 2007-01-01 13:04:26 Another year… where are they all going? My life is zipping by far faster than I can do all the things I still want to get done, go see, or experience. The thought that I can’t possibly do it all is a bit overwhelming, or perhaps I’m just too greedy in wanting to see, touch, taste and smell everything. Maybe I should just try and pick one thing each year that I really, really want to try and make a point of doing it.I’ve been telling Jim for the last month, I can’t shake the feeling that our life is about to change direction again in some dramatic way. It’s always dramatic with us . But I’ve no idea how, when or why. We seem to go from one extreme to another, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I’m one of those weird people who absolutely thrive on change, and Jim is my favorite chameleon who can blend in anywhere, so it works out quite well.So what do I really want to do this year? Hmmm… how to choose! I think I’ll hav Read more:Happy
, Happy New Year
Santa stood me up 2006-12-31 12:30:52 Sniffle… the UPS man left me hanging. No camera showed up last night, and of course the fact that today is both Sunday and New Year’s Eve finally dawned on me, so I guess it’s going to be Tuesday before our 5D arrives. Darn!Everyone’s heard me gripe and whine about cooking in an RV. I so love to cook, and it’s so limiting in here. There’s many dishes that I favor that I don’t even bother with, like Coq au Vin and Beef Bourguignon, because of the cooking time. Who wants to use up all that propane, and add all that moisture to the RV?Well yesterday I decided I would try the Coq au Vin in the new Nissan Thermal cooker. If you’ve ever tried it in a crockpot, you’ll know what I mean when I think of it and shudder. Success! It was terrific! Meat in the thermal cooker does not take on the tender but cardboard texture and flavor of meat cooked in a crockpot (GAG)!Now all I need is a hearthstone oven…Jim and I went to the local hardwar Read more:Santa
Santa arrives late 2006-12-30 12:26:54 It’s been pouring for hours. If this keeps up I guess we’ll be able to see how much good all the new gravel the campground owner put down on our RV pad while we were gone. He brought in 2 loads to raise our site up, plus he widened it to accommodate our size, which was really super of him. Before the gravel was just wide enough for our tires to set on, now it extends out past the slide, and we can enter the RV without walking on the grass… or in the case of heavy rain, wading through mud.I hope the rain washes some of the dirt off of us. The truck and RV are absolutely filthy from the road, ugh.But now for the exciting news… out of the blue, Jim finally agreed it was time to replace our antiquated camera, which is a 4 year old Canon EOS 10D, with the EOS 5D that came out last year. It’s a full frame, 12.8 megapixel dream, and I’ve been drooling over it for the past year. Since new models are due to be released early this Spring, the price has dropped Read more:Santa
The elusive RV 2006-12-29 12:48:22 Jim and I are back in Arkansas. I’ve never run so much in my life! We are both totally exhausted, and spent most of yesterday in a stupor. We haven’t even finished unloading the truck, but we are set up and have internet access again, yippee!We ended up very cautiously unhooking “Tiny” from the RV, and had him towed to the Kenworth dealer in Columbia. These guys were absolutely the best, they went above and beyond the call of duty for us, and had “Tiny” back on the road the following morning. The starter had gone out and so they replaced it. We also had the air system rebuilt, replaced the batteries, and replaced a seal on the transmission. We wrote a check for $2 with numerous zero’s trailing after it… I opted to take the batteries for my Christmas present, and Jim got the starter. Our satellite receiver, which has to be close to 10 years old finally bit the dust. Our choices are a bit limited here, as we only want to tote one dish aroun
Full circle 2006-12-28 13:49:43 I’ve come back to Squarespace. I began using it originally because I no longer wanted the hassle of dealing with my own website, from hosting it to building it, but mostly to maintaining it. After a year of using Squarespace, I decided I wanted that control back. Now, after messing with it for 6 months, I’ve decided I really miss Squarespace, and so here we are again. Both sites may be intermittent for the next few days, along with our email as I swap services again.
Bad, bad Tiny 2006-12-21 12:28:35 I find having no internet access extremely limiting. Simple things we take for granted, like pulling up the weather, or searching for a recipe as we’ve no cookbooks in the RV, aren’t available. It used to be that when we were traveling and between destinations, I could download my email via the cell phone, but I seem to receive more email these days than our meager cell phone connection can handle. I’ve taken my laptop into town once this week to “borrow” a wifi connection, and will need to do so again today so that my emails don’t start bouncing.In the meantime, our vacation has gone along the wayside. Jim spent yesterday replacing the muffler on “Tiny”, we thought it sounded awfully loud on the trip up here, and it had indeed broken. However, upon starting “Tiny” we discovered that the air system is not functioning, leaving us stuck as without the air system, the brakes can’t be released. We can’t get towed becau
Paintball anyone? 2006-12-18 12:25:39 Yesterday morning Jim and I got up, walked the dogs, came back to the RV while I cooked up some bacon and French toast, and as the sun came up while we were eating, we looked at each other and started laughing like crazy as we were finally able to see exactly where we were parked. There’s black mesh netting strung along the trees leading into the woods. Just inside the netting are various “hideouts”. The trees surrounding us are peppered with paint. Yep, only the Tinkles could manage to land right smack in the middle of a paintball zone. We got to laughing so hard, slamming windows shut as we envisioned a paintball flying through the screen splattering all over us.Never say life is not an adventure! When we drove out of here yesterday in the pickup, we got to see the road out in the daylight, and let’s just say it could prove to be interesting. Does anyone have a chainsaw in the basement of their RV? I’m thinking when we’re at my folks next week we b
Home is still home 2006-12-17 12:22:36 It never ceases to amaze me, and probably never will, when we travel to a new destination, that when we wake up in the morning, we’re still “home” with all the same comforts, and everything in it’s place. I know exactly where my slippers are, and my coffee cup. My coffee is always perfect, and our bed is always comfortable. The only thing that changes is the view.We had an uneventful trip up here, “Tiny” towed like a dream as he always does. Although being in the chase vehicle, on the alert for anything potential problems, can be a bit unnerving. Our entire setup is on an air system, both “Tiny”, the hitch, and the RV itself all ride on air bags, which makes it appear to “float” versus jerking around. When your driving behind it, it’s like a cartoon, with the RV swaying and tipping, and of course I chew off all my nails wondering how the TV is possibly going to stay in place, how many glass dishes are going to fly out an
We've Moved! 2006-08-31 18:06:51 ***This site has been abandoned and will no longer be updated!*** For the past year and a half, the Tinkletimes has been redirected to here, (www.cjtinkle.squarespace.com) and running under a blogging service. It’s once again hosted on it’s own domain (www.tinkletimes.com) and all updates will be there from now on.I am rebuilding the site, so it’s not all there right now, just mainly the blog. It may undergo a number of changes while I’m building it, because if you’re a loyal reader, you already know what a flake I am and that in my world, nothing is ever consistent! ***Visit The TinkleTimes!***
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