I”m excited to be teaching again. Covid 2020 really put a dent in my life style which included being around other artists and crafters. Holly Dee Quilts is offering my Tuffet Class again and April 10 is the first Session.
There is some homework and here is the Session 1 list of stuff to bring to class and stuff to get done class. We’ve got four hours and a lot to do. If you haven’t cut your strips yet… please do it tonight!
I was getting frustrated with trying to control a very long binding I was putting on a king size quilt. I tried throwing it over my shoulder. I tried putting it on a paper towel cardboard tube. I tried draping it over my sewing machine. Finally, I tried my trusty cone holder! Success!
My niece and I decided to do a project. She wanted to make a Wallet that would hold her phone. So we decided to just wing it. We needed pockets on the inside to hold money and IDs. And we wanted it large enough to hold her smart phone.
This is what we came up with pockets on the inside…
Swiveling wrist straps…
And our finished product…
I like a challenge. One of my friends told me that I spend too much money on “Sewing Stuff”. So I set out to find alternatives to things I can buy in a quilt shop. This is the first in a series I plan to write about those alternatives. I decided to start with something that would make her eyes pop.
I like to free motion quilt with metallic thread. My machine handles it really well if I use the correct needle, turn the tension down a bit, and lubricate the thread.
Bernina’s Thread Lubricator Guide is fantastic. The guide comes with a tiny vial of silicone lubricant. You put a single drop of silicone lube on the felt pad, stick your thread in the groove and thread your machine like normal. The wee itty bitty bit of lube really makes a huge difference. However… the Bernina and thus its included guide fall into the spending money category. I had to find an el cheapo alternative for ‘any’ machine. Someone suggested mineral oil.. but hey that stuff smells, I’m not sure I want that around my fabric.
Before I got the fancy schmancy thread guide for my Bernina, I would buy Sewer’s Aid thread lubricant and put a thin stripe on my spool of metallic thread. This stuff is between 6-9 bucks for a little half ounce bottle. And, it’s made of liquid silicone. I also know for a fact that the Bernina lube is silicone. So here is where does the “sex” comes in.
Well… I couldn’t find that little bottle of Sewer’s Aid and it was 8 bucks so I really didn’t want to buy more of it being that I was on the “Cheap Challenge”. What did I have around that was silicone and liquid and cheap? 
A teensy dab of ID Millennium lube on my spool of thread and wa-la! It works!
I also found out a couple of drops of ID Millennium silicone lube is a great substitute for a Supreme Slider. Two drops of sex lube on a piece of batting, rub it around on my sewing surface and wow… It lasted a long time too. It isn’t icky, slimy, smelly, or any of those things. I priced a 12 ml tube (just under half ounce) and it’s about two bucks. At the one or two drop at a time rate I’ll use it, it will last practically forever.
Now about that tryst… I’m still holding out for a hot tub.
My friend, or cohort in quilting crime, Carol, accompanied me to Valli and Kim a really awesome Texas Quilt shop. We saw nearby a store called Cowgirls and Lace. A friend of mine talked about how wonderful a place it was for decorating fabrics and all kinds of things. So of course, we just had to go in.
Cowgirls and lace had upholstery samples for just a dollar. Beautiful stuff!
I asked Carol to pick out three and I also picked out a few. Today, I decided to do “something” with them. I decided to make a useful gift for Carol.
She liked a brown plush fabric with modern colored striped circles on it.
I saw a free pattern on studio Kat Designs that looked really useful. I didn’t use the dimensions as I chose to use the sample fabric without cutting it up. But I did use the instructions. And, I added a few treats for Carol. Which I received as a giveaway from a new shop in Lytle, Texas, named Pyron’s
Did you know regular old yellow number two school pencils are 1/4 inch in diameter? I always have them laying around to mark things.
What a quickie tool to grab to measure a seam allowance!
Did you know you can tape two yellow pencils together and then the center of their leads will be 1/4 inch apart?
What a quickie way to draw a line 1/4 inch away from another line!
What a quickie way to draw two lines 1/4 inch apart!
I used to, well I still do, keep scores of thread cones in baskets. I love thread almost as much as I love fabric. I always had a problem keeping tack of all the threads currently being used on the three or four projects that I seem to jump between. Until now –drum roll please–I have found the most awesome cone thread holder in the world. Yep! I think I have.
I use those 3000 meter spools from Isacord, Aurifil, Superior, Sulky, Floriani, and a few others, so the run of the mill thread holders for those dinky spools just wouldn’t do. ROM Woodworking of Modesto, California, is making some of the nicest oak thread holders I’ve ever seen and now am using. I bought the Ultimate Felicia Thread Holder. It is both free standing or wall hanging. So it is easily moved around your workspace Or put away on the wall. It can also hold your basic larger rulers and cutting matt in slots on the back of it. And, it holds 96 spools of thread. The thread holder rods are thicker than the ones on those mass produced things you buy in the crafty stores. It is made of furniture grade solid oak. The edges are all routed and finished. It’s sturdy without being ugly. It is simply fantastic.
A-plus! Thank you ROM.
By the way, in addition to thread holders, they make ruler holders, spinning notions holders, and all kinds of sizes too. They even make floor standing spinners that would be great for a longarmer or professional embroiderer. This is definitely something that anyone sewing would be interested in.
Hey, I’m not being paid to endorse these products… I just really like them and wanted to give a shout out about it.
I’m drinking home-made cabernet sauvignon wine and thinking…
Funny thing happened today in my store. A nice lady came in and brought her daughter. I knew the nice lady was a potter and after much chatting I had the opportunity to ask the daughter what she did. She said she had a studio. She told me she was a textile mixed media artist. I thought that was a cool way to say “I like to make things and I don’t limit myself to just one kind of thing”. I do too. My computer geekazoid cum sewing room with surround sound and an easy chair with shakers mounted on it serves as my World of Warcraft throne.
The wine has made me mellow and reflective. Three months ago, I got a new sewing machine. “The Husband” says I bought a new car and it looks like a sewing machine. Probably cause I bought the best. Best doesn’t come cheap you know! But what is a 40 something, no kids, good income, compulsive multitasker personality supposed to do? Why give some to charity and also give some to myself of course! I gave myself a Bernina 830 LE with all the bells and whistles to go with it.
I’ve been playing with all the cool gidgets and features. I took a class to get to know my new baby inside and out. Then I made two hawaiian shirts for me and my husband. I made a couple of little passport size purses for quickie outings where you don’t want a big heavy purse (like going to the bars or dancing).
The Bernina “car” embroiders, so I embroidered the employees names onto their Saturday shirts. I made photo frames for a baby shower coming up. I made a present for the bride for a wedding coming up (won’t post the pics of those until I give them away). I started a quilt.
And, I bought a LOT of fabric for a lot of things I want to make along with sewing accessories, patterns, notions and frew-de-fraws.
A “frew-de-fraw” is what my grandmother called the neat interesting stuff that you don’t really need but you want cause you just know you will be able to use it somehow and so it fills the draws.. and lo and behold you sometimes really use it. Once in a blue moon.
But my total justification for having bought this fine useful peice of high tech equipment for my tech toy geek room is… practical! useful! and need I say beautiful! I fixed, nay made, a hamper. I’m so dang proud of myself.
This was a fun useful project. The old store bought hamper liner blew out (literally clothing went pffft and popped out the side when the side seam blew out). Instead of making a boring old muslin replacement. I decided to dress this up a bit. Upholstery fabric in a great jacobean pattern fit the pattern. Now I won’t mind leaving this out when company drops in unexpectedly.
Free Form Quilts 