Hive 3 July blocks

Here are my July blocks for Martina! I was really unhappy with the way they were looking while I was actually putting them together, but now I rather like them, so I hope she does too. Thanks for the chance to get rid of some of my scrap strips!

Martina asked about our sewing machine. I sew on a Bernina Aurora 430. I really love it, although since it was an upgrade from the 4-stitch Kenmore I'd had since the age of 10 or so, I guess that was a low bar to meet. In no particular order, the features that I have at one time or another proclaimed to justify the cost of the machine all on their own:

-Needle stop down
-Lowerable feed dogs
-Automatic buttonhole feature
-Presser foot knee lift
-Semi-automatic needle threader

When I was a kid, I was desperately jealous of the fact that my mother's sewing machine had a ducky decorative stitch. She told me that she never used it, but I didn't believe her. When I bought my machine, I was happy to see that it had a lot of decorative stitches, too, although not a ducky, and it turns out I hardly ever use any of them, just like my mother said I wouldn't.

I bought it before I was too much into quilting, so if I were to buy another machine, I'd probably look for a larger harp space. Some of the industrial straight stitch machines that people use for quilting (Jukis maybe?) look pretty nice. I'd settle for a longarm, though, if only I could figure out where to put it. :)

~Sylvia