Making do

I’ve bought my share of useless gadgets over the years, but I don’t have much in the way of sewing/quilting gadgets. I’d rather spend my money on fabric, I guess. Even then, I look for sales and great deals. Every once in a while, I think I could really use a tailor’s ham to help me press those really awkward seams in bags – because I like my seams to be flat! And sometimes I just can’t get at them with the iron. Drives me buggy.

A week or two ago when I was putting together the last bag, I found this little 2x2 sitting next to my ironing board – the hazards of having a partner who likes to work with wood. There are usually bits and pieces lying around. Like my fabric. I was fretting over the fact that I wouldn’t be able to press the seams right into the corner when the light bulb came on. With just a little bit of co-ordination among the 2x2, the bag and the iron, I was able to get right into the corners and iron those suckers flat!

For some time now, I’ve been keeping my scrap pieces of batting and sewing them together for small projects like mug rugs or other small projects. Any scrap piece over 2 inches wide will do. I used to zig-zag them, but that always pulled the two sides together and made them pucker. Then my neighbour, Judy, suggested that I use a joining stitch. On my Horizon, the #75 stitch works great. I can sew my bits and pieces together and use them on other projects, and you’d never know by looking at them or feeling them that it’s not one solid piece of batting inside. It satisfies the frugal part of me.

After a few pep talks and a sip of beer (no wine in the house!), I hoisted Plan B onto my sewing machine. She’s a heavy sucker. Flannelette backing. I planned to start with a little stitch in the ditch around the featured areas and was going to use a walking foot until I looked at it and realized how much turning that was going to involve. The weight and bulk of this queen-sized quilt just made that impossible. I’ve never tried freemotion SID before, but following along with FMQ lessons from SewCalGal and Leah Day this past year has helped me immensely – if not to improve, to at least get over my fear of trying. But I think I`ve improved, too. I also decided to place single motifs around the quilt at certain points, which I never would have done if it had not been for Free Motion Quilt Challenge lessons. Like math when you`re a kid, you never think you`re going to use it, but…

Until next time,