Well, I am not a scrap quilty kinda woman. However, I have amassed quite a lot of scraps over my 7.5 years of quilting. So, I am off to the scraps. I am going to put aside at least one hour a week to press, and square up all of my scraps. Those that can be made into noodles will stay that way, all others will be cut down to the most efficient usage size square. So, I have a small pile of 2", 2.5", 3", 4", 5" and even a few 6" squares. Ok, so, I just couldn't let those 1.5" stay in the trash pile. So yes, I even have a pile of 1.5" squares. What can you do with those?
I have plans to make a scrap quilt out of these, yes. But, I will need only the 2" and 5" squares for that.
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Saturday, September 22, 2007
The Big Board
Inspired to take action after reading about Wilma's new big board on the QP forum, I got the supplies to make one of my own today. Since I don't believe in rewriting history, I will just post my forum posting here:
Wilma made it look sooo easy... that I had to make my own big board. I opted for 1/2" thick birch plywood instead of the poplar. I bought some insulbrite from Hobby Lobby (only cause I was close to it) but it was only 22.5" wide. I opted for the cheaper muslin as opposed to the duck. They had a very heavy weight muslin, almost like canvas. It was only 2.99/yard compared to 5.99/yard for the duck. When I got home, I remembered that I already had some insulbrite, and luckily, it was wider so I used it instead.
Wilma made it look sooo easy... that I had to make my own big board. I opted for 1/2" thick birch plywood instead of the poplar. I bought some insulbrite from Hobby Lobby (only cause I was close to it) but it was only 22.5" wide. I opted for the cheaper muslin as opposed to the duck. They had a very heavy weight muslin, almost like canvas. It was only 2.99/yard compared to 5.99/yard for the duck. When I got home, I remembered that I already had some insulbrite, and luckily, it was wider so I used it instead.
All was going well, just had two problems. First, I stapled the batting/fabric on before laying out the board, and ended up having to undo it and cut some more off to make the lapover less wide so that I wouldn't have to put the stay blocks through the fabric. (See the excess on the right in this picture:
Then, BIG mistake. Kimberly apparently does not know how to use her drill! I have a very good drill that I paid 200$ for last year. (A DeWalt) which should have been powerful enough to go through the block and the board. But, wouldn't work. I then tried pre-drilling holes, still not. Well, long story short, I ended up going through the block, the plywood, and it (the drill bit) got caught up in the insulbrite. Fortunately, it didn't cut through the fabric. But it bunched and contorted the batting. So, I had to unstaple the fabric, cut out the messed up piece of batting, and put in another piece to replace it. There is a tiny ridge where they meet, but I think that will ease over time. I tried to capture it in picture below. It looks like there is a point in the fabric, but that ironed out.
In any event, I finally got the drill working right, and finished attaching the blocks. I decided not to glue them down for now. There is one more big problem. [ grin ] I am so short, with such short arms, that I actually have trouble reaching the back. So, I am thinking I should have gone only 18" wide instead of 24". Also, the fabric clings a bit to the muslin. So, I will likely replace it with duck soon. Or maybe the ironing board stuff (which I have somewhere around here.)
Also, when I replace the fabric, I am going to take the extra time and seam up the fabric, and apply velcro to hold it in place so that it will be easily removable and washable. Be sure to measure your board. Mine barely made it, apparently, unbeknown to me, was about 48" long, not counting the iron holder. SO, it worked out just about perfectly.
The finished big board:
How I spent my Saturday...
It all started out innocently enough. I wanted some flannel for the backing of Bill's baby quilt. Since I know he and his wife will cherish it, I wanted something good quality. I went to my normal Duluth shop, but the selection was weak, and nothing screamed at me. So, I drove like 40 minutes (it seemed) to the shop on Sugarloaf. Their selection was even worse. So, I thought I could figure out how to get to the Dekalb shop. I ended up driving for at least one hour, all the way to Stone Mountain, and never quite got there.
Finally, I just headed back up north. I thought, I'll just go to Marietta. Took the wrong exit off of 75N and wasted at least another 45 minutes. Finally, made it to Tiny Stitches. 45 minutes of shopping later, and I found a great flannel, as well as the Autumny colors for the Nickel Swap. Then, I headed home to go to Home Depot for supplies for the Big Board, and Hobby Lobby. Then Boston Market for dinner.
Number of hours sewing: 0
Finally, I just headed back up north. I thought, I'll just go to Marietta. Took the wrong exit off of 75N and wasted at least another 45 minutes. Finally, made it to Tiny Stitches. 45 minutes of shopping later, and I found a great flannel, as well as the Autumny colors for the Nickel Swap. Then, I headed home to go to Home Depot for supplies for the Big Board, and Hobby Lobby. Then Boston Market for dinner.
Number of hours sewing: 0
A New Start
Ok, so I signed up for this quilt blog two years ago, but never use it. I tend to just update my website. But, this is a growing trend, so I will give, and start posting here as well. Now I just hope that I remember my username in the future. :-)
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