I Get Sidetracked - Do You?

Do you flit from one project to another like I do? I finished my program on fusible webs for my guild meeting on Thursday night then wondered what to do next. Since I had not made the block for the exchange at the meeting that was first on my list. It is the 12" Lady of the Lake block in the cream and red fabrics. It was pretty easy with all half square triangles so went together pretty quickly. Would be wonderful to win the drawing - no mater how many blocks I would win.

The little block on the upper right is the president's block that isn't due to be handed in until the May meeting but decided to just get it done now since I wasn't in the middle of any other project right now. (Whoops, guess that isn't entirely true as I have several projects started or nearly finished - just didn't want to work on them right then.) Each year the member that is the president of the guild selects a block she likes and all the members are to make a block for her. I would like to say that most members make the blocks but lately that just isn't true. It is almost embarrassing how few get made for the president. Not sure how we should change that or motivate everyone to make her a block.

The last block is a friendship star that will go to one of our members that retired from the postal service as a post master. Our guild can request blocks for any member they think needs a boost or congratulations, etc. I try to make all the blocks that are requested but again there is a problem with a lot of members not doing the blocks. I hate to have some of these projects abandoned because of members lack of motivation to get them done.

Feels good to have the blocks done and the program ready for Thursday. I still want to go over my notes and examples so I can make sure I am familiar with my material. I don't like rushing around doing last minute things - good thing I have everything done.

Happy Quilting,
Lynn

Melting Snow - One Day At A Time

Thought you might like to see the huge snow drift outside my sewing room melt and disappear. I certainly was glad to see it melting day by day to be sure. I started taking photos every few days so here is a story board of the "Wonderful Spring Melting of the Snow."

Jan. 7, 2010----------------------- Feb. 24, 2010

March 03, 2010

March 07, 2010------------------ March 08, 2010

March 09, 2010--------------------March 15, 2010

March 16, 2010

So glad the snow is almost gone but it did do some damage too. Either the weight of the snow or freezing/thawing did the damage, but what ever it was it caused one of the caps on the railing to shatter. The bowl of the cement bird bath is broken into 4 pieces as it too couldn't take the weight of the snow and broke.

The ground where the snow drift sat for so many months is pretty compacted and now is super saturated. The melting snow soaked in and soaked in. I am hoping it will dry out before too long as my garden plot back behind the house was also under this drift and is very, very wet.

On the south side of our house I have tulips and jonquils up about 5". I still have last year's flower debris in the flower beds so will have to carefully get them cleaned when it dries out some. I just hope they don't get frozen as it is still getting cold at night and some snow is predicted for later in the week.

This last photo was taken just a few moments ago. Notice how blue the sky is? We had sun for the first time in weeks so it was wonderful to see the sun and blue sky, even though there were a few clouds out there. We weren't too far from the clouds though - notice the cloud line part way up the skyline. We were lucky to be in the sunshiny part of the state I guess.

As you can see all those snow piles along the driveway are gone now - YAY! All those drifts over the split rail fence are gone - YAY!

Until Later,
Lynn

Fusible Web Comparison

I am finishing up the program I will be doing for my guild next week on fusible web products. I purchased 10 products and did the same things to all of them so the guild members could have a side by side comparison. It turned out great and I love my samples.

I made two identical samples of each product and one was washed and the other stayed unwashed. On each sample I have two applique shapes. One is in green and the other in pink - the green applique has the fusible web under the entire applique and the pink applique had the center cut out of the fusible to make a window like piece of fusible that got pressed to the back of the fabric. I tried to keep the "window" fusible about 1/4" wide in all the samples.

Another thing I did with each sample was to stitch around 1/2 of each sample with a blanket stitch by machine. I wanted to see how the fusible web would hold with no stitching when washed.

Besides these samples I have made an Excel document listing the products, mfg., web address of company, where purchased or could purchase plus all the observations about the product that I found before, during and after samples were washed. I called all the area quilt shops and found out what products they sold and list those for each product too so guild members would know where to buy them. Also included information on removing it from your iron, tips for using fusible webs, product instructions, etc.

This project has taken a lot of work but I feel I have learned a lot from it. I know which products I would not use and which ones I like the best. My favorites are Pellon Wonder Under the lighterweight one #805, and Steam A Seam 2 Lite. I know you would ask so am telling you now to save you the trouble of asking.

I did like Misty Fuse too as it is so light you can hardly tell it is there, especially after washing. I did learn a slick trick to mark the applique designs on it that worked really well. You take a piece of parchment paper, draw the applique design onto it with a pencil then iron it to the back of the applique fabric that has the fusible on it. The pencil marks come right off onto the fusible and are ready to cut out. You don't have to reverse your patterns either as when you iron it to the back it gets reversed - neat trick right?

I really liked Soft Fuse by Shades too but it is just too expensive and I can't buy it locally. It is probably as soft as Misty Fuse but has paper on the back of it.

I did not like Heat N Bond lite as it was too stiff and heavy. It is more like the regular Steam A Seam 2. It did hold well but is really stiff.

One thing you might have noticed about the photo is the unwashed sample looks wrinkled. It is wrinkled, your eyes are not fooling you. I washed the samples in a mesh bag in my washer then patted them flat to dry. I did not put them in the dryer. I ironed around the outside of the appliques but did not want to iron the appliques as that would have re-attached the fusible if it had come off the backing. I want the samples to be just the way they were after laundering.

Think I am almost done with preparing this program so I can get back to quilting. I have my split 9 patch all basted and it keeps calling my name but I just have not had time to even start on it.

Purse Zipper Pull

Ever have a zipper tab stick out from a purse or bag and really annoy you? The zipper I put on the side of the bag I just finished was doing that so here is my solution. I took a pair of pliers and bent and twisted until the tab came off and replaced it with my frog charm.

I knew I didn't want to use a regular jump ring as it could pull apart and come off too easy so found a ring called a split ring to use instead. It is kind of like a little spring in that it coils around a second time thus securing what ever is attached to it. I attached a jewelery spring clasp (found out they are called Lobster Clasps) to the ring then my frog charm. Notice how nice it all hangs down next to the purse.

Here is a close up of the two pieces.

The only tense moment came after I took the original zipper pull off ....is this going to work or did I ruin the zipper after all the work of getting the purse finished? In hind sight I should have tried it on a zipper that was not in something already finished. Sure glad it worked out.

Trying to rain this morning but will take that over the snow that is falling in eastern Nebraska and central and western Nebraska. Just hope it avoids us all together.

Lynn