BEEN SHOPPING FOR QUILTING GOODIES

Eureka!  Ever since I saw Alex Anderson and Ricky Timms use something similar to this, I finally found an iron with a solid soleplate.  No holes for steam.  Why am I so excited you ask?  Because I wanted the soleplate of an iron to be solid to equally heat the entire surface of the fabric with no “holes” in the heat which increase the ironing work.






I’ve been looking for one for over a year and finally tracked one down at Home Depot for order through the Internet with delivery to my local Home Depot store (with NO shipping charges) for me to pick up.  I live only a couple of miles from Home Depot so it was an easy, convenient trip. You can see the information about this iron HERE.  {I am not affiliated with Home Depot in any way.  Just a satisfied customer.)

There is no automatic shut off so I’ll have to train myself to watch out for that.  This iron is pretty heavy which should help mash those seams down on the blocks as it is distributing heat. Hopefully, it won't fall and mash my fingers or feet!  I’ll give you a report later after I’ve used it for a couple of weeks.



Actually, this purchase is more attractive than the iron.  It is Betsy Chutchian’s latest book, Lizzie’s Legacy:  More Quilts From a Pioneer Woman’s Journal.  This book is a wonderful companion to Betsy’s previous one, Gone to Texas.



Click HERE to go to Pickledish.com to see photos of some of the quilts in the book.  My favorite quilt in this book is the one located on the left side of the cover, scrappy pinwheels that is called “A Quilt for the Help” and can be found on page 48.  This pattern would be a good way to use all the extra half square triangles I have stored in a box although I don’t know how many 2 1/2” HSTs I have.

Until next time, may all your bobbins stay full.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

SOMETHING SPECIAL FOR THE SEWING ROOM

My Sweetie is handy with a tape measure, saw, screwdriver and hammer.  I am on the other hand only slightly able to operate a tape measure or screwdriver but I definitely useless with a the saw and hammer part.  Anyway, I can think up projects but can’t execute them.  Sweetie can think them up AND make them.



My latest brainstorm included an old wooden rack from a previous project and the need for a peg board in my sewing room.  At first he kept finding things wrong with my idea – the rack is not square, don’t need a full sheet of peg board, have to figure a different way to hang it (etcetera,. etcetera, etcetera as the king from the "King and I" would say in the movies).
 
After I decided from his feedback that (1) he didn’t want to do the project or (2) it just wouldn’t work out or (3) both these options, he said yeah, I can do it.  I knew he could.  Here is the result.



It’s just the right size plus it’s handily placed between my cutting table and my ironing board.  It helps remove some of the clutter from my cutting table.  Now I only keep the medium size rotary cutter and the rulers I use the most – 6 1/2” square, 9 1/2” square and the 8” X 14” closer at hand in the ruler rack located on the cutting table.  I’m so happy!

While Sweetie was working on the peg board project out in our garage, Ranger was inside where it was cool doing what he does best, sleeping.

"What you doing flashing that camera in my face lady!"

Sleeping on a pile of quilts of course.  Let the crazy human work in the hot garage all morning.  This cat is one smart, comfy dude.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

IT’S BEEN A WEEK SINCE I BLOGGED

Where did the time go?  Guess I didn’t have much to say until now.  I’ve been doing a lot a reading lately – and I’ll fill you in on that later.  Today I want to show you the next batch of Just Takes 2 blocks that I’ve finished.



I’ve kitted the other blocks with fabric and paper-piecing parts.



Parts of the feathered star are made, and Steam-a-Seam 2 traced and cut for a couple of the applique projects.  It’s all in the works, slowly but surely.

In between all that stuff, I folded, organized, put away, and just plain cleaned up my sewing room so I could find what I needed when I needed it.  The ironing board is cleared off so I can actually press a piece of material instead of the little tiny space I had left for pressing pieces of blocks.

The cutting table has more cutting room now that I’ve moved some fabric back into the closet or fat-quarter cabinet where it belonged.

All the little strips, pieces and parts that aren’t big enough to fold are in a cardboard box ready to foundation piece string quilts at some point.

Life is sew good.

WHAT’S NEW YOU ASK (OR NOT)?

First of all, I was beginning to run low on the red star on cream background fabric I’m using in my Brackman Civil War Blocks so an Internet search for more of it ensued. 

 
You just can’t imagine how many different fabrics are out there with red and cream stars!  But never the right one!  I searched off and on for a week or so without any luck.  Fabric.com, Hancocks-Paducah.com, e-quilter.com, lonestarhouseofquilts.com, and many MANY more through Google search.  No luck.  In the meantime there was a thread running in the Small Quilt Talk Yahoo Group about good on-line sources for 19th century reproduction fabric.   Someone mentioned that Homestead Hearth had a wonderful selection of repro fabrics.  I had never ordered from them before but heard a lot of good things about them on another Yahoo group, so I hopped onto their web page and did a search.  VOILA!  They had what I needed and wanted, or at least it looked like it from the photo on their web page.  I ordered 3 yards (surely that will be enough) and it arrived today.  A perfect match.  It was the right one.  That’s a relief.  It’s been washed and dried so it’s ready to use when needed.
Working on three or four projects at a time causes chaos in the sewing room, especially with all the scrappy blocks I like to make.  This is what it looked like yesterday afternoon.




 

Every flat surface is covered up with stuff, but mostly fabric.  I can’t stand it anymore!  I’m working on it a little at a time all through the day so I don’t have to face all of it at once.  The cutting table is almost cleared off, but I need to get back in there to work on it some more.  Therefore, I leave you with this message:  “Sewing: A creative mess is better than tidy idleness.  ~ Author Unknown (although I’m tempted to claim it).
So signing off for now to clean – yuck!  Before I do, here is another vintage Valentine image from Graphics Fairy.