Tips and Laughs

I'll just say it straight up: February has been one h*ll of a month. And since I'm behind on almost everything, including quilting, just thought I'd post a few stray tips that weren't included in some previous posts. (Also, I needed a laugh, and the last tip provided it.)

Warning: The first few tips are quilting/sewing related; the rest are not.

Tip 1:

Your ironing board can be used to support your quilt from the left side. Just adjust it a hair lower than your sewing table. Your quilt won't slide on the ironing board cover, so put a couple of sewing rulers on top of it, right sides up, so your surface will be level with the sewing table and your quilt will slide all you want.







Tip 2:

Actually this one has been posted before, but it's worth repeating. Save all those lettuce and mixed-greens containers to categorize quilt strips into groups of color and size. Then stack them, one inside the other (without lids), to save storage space.











Tip 3:

If you're using a sewing table and therefore do not need your machine's extension table, you can rig the extension table to keep your quilt from falling off the back end of your sewing table. I do have a very short wall back there. The extension table is turned up on its side on top of some storage containers, and is propped securely between the wall and the table edge. But even if I had no wall at all, there would be some way to make this work.




Tip 4:

Maybe don't wash your purchased pre-cuts. I'm a pre-washer, and this is the first time I ever bought pre-cuts, so I insisted on washing them in net laundry bags, and...well, you know what they say about a picture being worth a thousand words....

(The two stacks in the foreground are already unraveled and pressed. And pressed, and pressed and pressed. If you have ever washed pre-cuts and had them turn out looking anything like they did before washing, I would love to hear from you.)


The next tip is mildly quilting-related.

Tip 5:

 Now and then, when your house is fairly clean and the lighting is nice, take a photo. This will give you something to aspire to (and to reassure you) when you are behind on everything and you think your house will never, ever look like something you'd want to live in again.

(High-contrast photos are great, by the way, because dust doesn't show.)











The last two tips are not quilting related.

Tip 6:

If someone tries to tell you that the newspaper used to be much larger and the headlines were just as alarming as they are these days, don't argue. You will lose.

(Yes, husband, I'm talking about you.  :)









Tip 7:

Yes, that's really our porch. (And I may have posted this before.)

If you put a fresh pumpkin on your porch for fall decoration, you get everything you deserve. Or at least the squirrel does.

I want my seeds back.












Looking forward to spring,
Linda

Slowly but Surely

"Slow and steady wins the race," according to Aesop in his famous fable, The Tortoise and the Hare.

Well it's a darned good thing, because that's pretty much all I can say about progress on the stripey-aster quilt. (No, I did not say stripey-a*s quilt, although it's tempting.)

Here's where it stands (or lies) for the moment...

...and if I knew how many knots I've buried at this point, I'd probably shoot myself. So much for making things easier on my shoulders by switching to feed dogs up and the dual feed system. The number of times thread had to be broken and knots had to be buried...well, like I said, it's better not counted.

There was one project completed just before that, made from the beautiful supplies that came in the December Quilty Box selection, chosen by Leah Day.

It was a relief to work on these blocks (small pieces, yay!). If I had this to do over, though, the bright green joining strips would be dark purple instead. Ah, well. I still like it, and it sure does brighten up our basement hallway!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Linda