Bobbin Busting Day

Ahhhh - Bobbin Busting - it feels so good!!! You know how good you feel when you whittle away the excess accumulation of coins from your wallet - - - well it can feel that rewarding to pare down your bobbin collection.

All the machine quilting I've been doing lately has given me the perfect opportunity to use up those almost empty bobbins I've been neglecting . Look at these five bobbins in my collection, each containing a little more than a smitch of thread - too much thread to discard, but just enough to expel them from the machine when you're turbo quilting and don't want to run out of bobbin thread mid-motif. But five brown, almost empty, bobbins - what was I thinking???

I keep all of my bobbins in this cute little box - upcycled from it's original use as stationary packaging. Look at the collection of mis-matched bobbins - - - it's time for a spring cleaning - - - that being said, it's time for spring, period!

It was a successful bobbin busting day - - - look at all of the bobbins I set free - - - and this doesn't include the five brown bobbins above which today stand empty and ready to receive their next assignment.


Quick Reminder for Local Readers: Tonight is the opening of the quilt show at Jenkins Arboretum in Wayne, PA - Celebrating Nature's Beauty in Stitches. I had the opportunity to juror this show - first time ever as a juror, an interesting experience. The show includes works from 3 feature quilt artists and numerous works from other local quilt artists as well. Word of advise - parking is quite limited at the arboretum! The show runs through February 28th, and the arboretum is open daily 9AM - 4 PM. There is a lovely show catalog available for a $5 donation, otherwise, the show is free to all.

Bamboozled!

I've been bamboozled - - - again - - - twice - - - and I don't like it at all!!!

The culprit - bamboo batting - that "go green" alternative to cotton - - - but wait - am I going "batty" - - - isn't cotton green too??? Why do I need bamboo to be green???

Details on the culprit: batting that consists of a blend of 50% bamboo rayon and 50% organic cotton - - - makes me feel green all over - - - saving the planet with every stitch I take - right?

The scenario - When I quilt I pull all my threads to the top of the quilt and leave them there until I'm finished - - then, when I'm good and ready, and have American Idol to distract me from the boredom - I sit quietly and bury those threads into the batting.

Here are the leftovers from last night's burial - look at all of that batting in the threads - it was a mess!!! This was King Tut thread - a good quality thread that has never pulled the batting of 100% cotton batting.

Before I could thread my burying needle I had to strip the thread strands of accumulated batting - - - a big mess!!!
And, yes, I said "again - - - twice". Here's quilt # two where I was battered by bamboo batting. I was planning on adding chicken scratch quilting using a fine cross stitch needle and a 3 strand silk thread for the chicken scratch - I've used this same thread many times with complete success with cotton batting. I even conditioned the thread with Thread Magic to make it super smooth. Look what happened - - - the thread emerged from the fabric pulling with it that darn bamboo - - - that's what's called "bearding".
When I tried to pull the bamboo batting it just kept coming out - - - I could have spun a thread of bamboo fiber.
Kermit the Frog should have said "it's not complicated being green" - - - stick with cotton, don't get bamboozled into thinking you have to change to be greener - - - cotton batting is cheaper and it won't ruin your quilt with bearding.

Show Time!

Sneak peek- - - Celebrating Nature's Beauty in Stitches is opening at the Jenkin's Arboretum Friday evening - - - here's a great collage created by the staff at the Arboretum for their Facebook page featuring a glimpse of some of the amazing quilts in the show - - - it's going to be a great show!
Yes, Mother Nature threw the set up crew a curve ball yesterday by blanketing the grounds of the arboretum with ice - - but the show must go on!
The room was stripped bare and ready to receive the quilts - sure it was nasty outside, but beautiful all the same.
The fantastic staff at the Arboretum, Steve and Carla, climbed up and down the ladders hanging all of the beautiful quilts in the show - - - the piece of a show you as a visitor never have the chance to appreciate - - - setting up a quilt show is hard work!!! Many thanks to the two of them for all of their dedication to creating a beautiful show for us to enjoy.
The show opens this Friday and will run through February 27, 2011. The Arboretum is open daily 9 AM - 4 PM, and entrance to the arboretum is free. Many of the quilts are available for purchase.

"Safety" Pin - Seriously???

How??? What??? Seriously!?!?! I don't see anything "safe" about this situation.

I was quilting at warp speed today - in that hypnotic trance where you, the quilt and the sewing machine are moving as one - then that "safety" pin jumped out right in front of me and - - - POW - - - it became impaled on the machine's needle. Never did this before!!!
I'll blame the pin stabbing on my poor aching back, shoulders and hands - - - all the shoveling and snow blowing have taken a toll on my quilting form. Perhaps you haven't heard about the storm - - - the one that dumped 18 inches of the white stuff yesterday - - - it's beautiful, if all you have to do is look at it.
Oh - - - more snow tomorrow - just when I thought we had enough!
Enough, seriously!

Getting My Feathers Ruffled

Arghhhh!!!

I am busy with a quilting project - and, yes, I'm attempting feathers again - - - arghhhh!!!

I'm doing as much plucking as sewing!!!

It's a Wrap!

I found this new notion earlier this week at Hinkletown Sewing - Wrap and Fuse Piping by Clover. I've been toying with adding piping to a current project so I thought why not give it a try. If you're curious, I paid $5.25 for 2 meters.

It's simply piping encased in fusible.
What could go wrong - - - I'll tell you what could go wrong - - - fusible and my brand, new iron - - - yikes!!! I like living on the edge! I buy cheap irons - they never last for me - this is a Classic from Black and Decker.
The instructions called for using a strip of bias cut fabric - I read that after I used a non-bias cut and was determined to plow forward despite my inability to follow instructions as written. All you do is wrap the fabric strip around the fusible, pin, pin the wrapped piping to your ironing board, and iron the flat edge, avoiding the piping.
Perfect, and no goo on my new iron - even more perfect! This is what you end up with - a perfectly wrapped piping. And it worked fine with the non-bias cut fabric strip!
I sewed it into place using my zipper foot - keep in mind - this is just a sample. The zipper foot worked just fine.
And, presto! It works beautifully! I am very impressed with this product - I actually hope they make a few different sizes - this gives a 3/16'' piping. It certainly gets the thread from the edge seal of approval!

I'll tell you what else gets my seal of approval - the menu from last night's meal plan - - - Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts - - - it was delicious!!! I made a few changes to cut the calories a smitch without sacrificing any flavor - - - I roasted the hazelnuts in the oven without any butter, and was able to decrease the fat by half. I also only used half the cheese they suggested - it was more than enough cheese and really shaved off excess calories. I served it with a simple salad - delicious and filling, and so quick and easy!

Tag - You're It!

I'm giving all the credit to Kit Lang from Diva Quilts for this link - she posted it at her blog today and after being completely mesmerized by the site I knew I had to share it too.

The site is called Tag Galaxy- it is such a fun way to wander through the virtual world in photos - you will love it. When you get to the site it will ask you for your first tag search - type in "quilt" - when your galaxy appears, click on the center orb for random photos of quilts, or click on one of the rotating planets to explore other aspects of quilting.

Following the menu plan for the week - I'm giving a thumbs down to last night's dinner - the Chicken Fried Rice with Leeks and Cranberries - sorry - just not good - too many cranberries and not enough chicken. Tonight's dinner - Roasted Root Vegetable Hash with Parsley Pesto and Poached Eggs was delicious - two thumbs way up!