Too Practical? Maybe

Okay so now here’s an idea for those of you who use a sewing machine. Remember I warned you that some of my tips may be out there. This one may be going a little too practical.

You know it’s recommended that when you go to change your thread that you snip the thread up by the spool and then pull the loose thread out through the needle. If you pull the thread back through the machine thread lint gets into the machine. Not good. Now if you rarely change your thread like only when the spool is empty or nearly so – no problem. But if you change colors a lot like I was doing recently it seems like a waste of thread to do it the correct way. Do I just throw it away? Chop it up for the birds? Wad it up and store it somewhere – say in a baggie – until an art piece comes along where I can use it? All good ideas but then another one hit me.

I make a lot of yoyo’s, sew on buttons, and hand stitch stuffed things closed, etc. I looked at the length of thread snipped off when changing threads and realized that it’s about the length I use for hand sewing. What if I kept a few empty hand sewing needles near my machine? I could thread them with my snipped off thread and I would be ready to go next time I needed to do some hand sewing.

Thread Saver and Needle Safe

I double the thread and knot it with a single knot at the very end. If I want to sew with a single thread I just cut off the knot and re-knot one end.

Storage for me wasn’t a problem as I keep a needle safe loaded and ready for yoyo making. But I didn’t want to clutter up my sewing area any more than it already is, so I added a piece of felt around an empty spool and stuck my needles there. When I get several threaded I’ll add them to the needle safe and reload my felt with empty needles.

You could also put the felt around an empty medicine container and that way the inside of the container could hold broken, damaged, used needles and pins.

Felt and Empty Medicine Container with Needles

Enjoy stitching!

Rose

Finish It Friday Is Back!

Well technically Finish It Friday is to be something I finish on Friday. This kinda is since it is Stitch Meditations for Week One 2019-

I'm actually planning on posting these every seven days so I am a little late with the first seven for 2019.

So here they are:

One

Fabric samples from long ago plus some old variegated threads

Two

Background fabric hand marbled by my son 30 years ago, dk pink scrap left after cutting out petal for an applique rose design. Looked like a footprint to me!

Three

Scraps of fabric and a couple of buttons.

Four

Background fabric was cut from a piece of Sharpie/rubbing alcohol treated fabric gifted to me. My son mentioned a fan I had when he was a kid and this piece turned into a fan with a little stitching and some lace.

Five

Scraps of random fabric stitched together, some more of the Sharpie/rubbing alcohol fabric plus two commercial fabrics. This is one of my most favorite works so far. So much so that I scooped up what little fabric I had of these and stored them away for a future small art quilt I want to make.

Six

Just some scraps of fabric, a yoyo someone else made and a button tied together with some sweet light pink thread.

Seven

Scraps of fabric and two buttons. Love the slightly bohemian look of this one.

Enjoy!

Rose

Just Bobbing Along

Homemade Bobbin Holder 

A long, long time ago I asked my husband to make me something to keep my sewing bobbins on. I had a lot of them and they were always getting tangled up because I kept them in a drawer or on my sewing table. I had purchased one of those blue bobbin keepers but I had way more bobbins than it could hold. So he put his creative head to the task and made me a holder for many, many bobbins. More bobbins than I had and then he bought me more bobbins. I used to do a lot of sewing with different colored threads so they came in handy.

Then a long time ago I found out I was using the wrong bobbin in my sewing machine so I bought some more bobbins of the correct size. But I had all of these already filled bobbins and couldn’t bring myself to waste them or the thread that was wound on them. So I carried them from home to home.

Bobbin Holder Hanging on Pegboard

When we put up pegboards in my sewing room in Texas I hung my thread racks and then figured out a way to hang the bobbin rack my husband had made for me.

Recently I was packing up a “to go” project (in this case it was making fabric yoyos or Suffolk puffs). I was adding thread spools to my small carry case and thought there should be a better way because the spools took up a lot of room. Then I spied my incorrect bobbins with thread on them. Perfect I thought I’ll start using that thread up. 

Bobbins with little thread, poorly wound thread, and wrong size

Then I realized I had some correct bobbins that only had a little bit of thread left on them. Now you know if you use those in your machine sure enough you will run out of thread before you finish sewing the seam. Ok I can use those up too! And then there is the few where the bobbin didn’t wind properly. Add those to the mix.

But I didn’t want to just put the bobbins in with the yoyos because the thread would just get all tangled up. What to do? Remember that blue bobbin keep I mentioned earlier? Perfect.

Blue bobbin keeper with threads

Now I’m making use of the bobbins and thread and the blue bobbin keeper.

What will happen though to all the empty spindles on the tool my husband made me? Well as you can see by my photos small spools of thread fit on them nicely.

Happy Bobbing Along!

Rose 

Why I Keep Blue Painters Tape in my Sewing Room

 Aha you thought I forgot about my blog!

Not so. I check it every now and then and think “you know I really need to start posting more often”. Well here I go again and since it is Monday and that means hints and tips here goes.

I started making a project that required layering the top fabric, batting, and a piece of muslin. Does that sound like a quilt? Well not exactly. The pieces were only 18 inches square but they did need to be quilted. But the quilting needed was only 4 inches apart. I really didn’t want to mark my lines with anything other than my trusty Jergens soap sliver. Won’t go into all the reasons why here but I didn’t want to wash the square before I completed the project and washing it after was possible but not likely to happen. Only problem was I couldn’t find my soap sliver. Ok now what. I have a quilting guide that might help if only I could find it. Does that sound like someone needs to do some serious cleaning and organizing? Not going to happen right now I want this project done. Well I did find the guide but it wasn’t going to give me the 4 inch spacing the pattern called for. Now what to do? And then I spied my handy roll of blue painter’s tape.

Using blue painters tape to mark stitching lines

That will work just lay it down straight and stitch along the edge. Worked like a charm. Just watch which side of the tape to stitch along to get the desired spacing. I was done in no time.

And I won’t waste the tape. It won’t be thrown out until I’ve filled it up with stray threads. Yup it does double duty as a thread catcher. You can also write notes on it. I have a piece stuck to my machine right now to remind me what settings I need on my machine to do my ¼ seams.

Okay I’m planning to come back on Wednesday with some photos etc. of what I’ve been working on lately including this project (which is now finished).

Happy Crafting!

Rose 

Fabric Bowls are Done!

Well I didn't get back in here yesterday but the Microwaveable Fabric Bowls did get finished! But not the doll or the cleaning. No surprise there.

Fabric Bowls

What I like about these bowls especially the smallest one is that they work for cold food too. Think a bowl of ice cream without getting cold fingers!

I'm still experimenting with the making of these and I'll share some tips and tricks later on one of my Monday posts.

Done is a good four letter word!

Rose

It’s Friday Again! Let’s Move It Forward and Finish It.

Today I will be watching my granddaughter Samantha so some of my progress will depend on how much she sleeps today. When she’s awake she has my full attention!

For today I’ve decided to try and finish something I started just before Christmas. Microwaveable Fabric Bowls.

Small Microwavable Fabric Bowl

I made a few to test the process and see if I liked them and then I started another set to give as a gift. The project got waylaid and so now I’m back working on it. I’m trying to streamline the process and make it a little easier but so far I haven’t really done much. I did decide to do a little more quilting on these. The test ones I made just had stitching from corner to opposite corner. The pattern said that was all that was really needed but after I washed them I felt that more quilting would be better. The finished blue one had quilting in both directions and it has been washed. The rest are just having diagonal quilting as I want to see the difference, trying to decide how much quilting is needed. You could also free motion quilt and I might try that on another set. That would be a good way to practice the technique.

Bowls in process

The other thing I would like to try and work on today is my rag doll. Either her hair or some clothes to wear.

Rag Doll waiting for hair and clothes

Hope to be back later with a photo or two.

Oh yes and I have to pick an area to order, clean, and organize. That just might be my cutting table as I need it to work on my Saturday projects.

Until then,

Happy Moving Forward and Finishing!

Rose

WWW Where Do I Start?

Should I just do a recap of what I’ve been up to since October 15, 2014? What? October 2014! Ok so I’ve posted some things in my FIF posts so I won’t bore you with those again but I have done some things during the holiday season that I will share with you.

First I worked at getting the bookmark for our 2015 quilt guild meetings designed and printed. I’m happy with the results. 

Me taking photos

I also took photos of the donation quilt that will be for the guild’s 2015 season. I needed photos for the postcard I create for the quilt guild’s annual festival of quilts show. When I get those I will post a picture of the front and back.

Besides working on those I crocheted 20 drink cozies for the “Meet Samantha” party. I thought I took a photo of them being used but I can’t find it so I will have to do with this shot.

Pink, Grey, White Drink Cozies

This was in addition to the 24 mini crochet dresses I showed in an earlier post. And then I put together some bunting/pennants/banners things for the party. These will be used to decorate Samantha’s room.

Flags getting ready to string together

 Oh that reminds me I made a cloud and hearts mobile for her room too (well that’s not completely finished but close!). And again, no photo.

In addition to all of that I managed to get the final blocks for the 2014 block exchange at our guild finished.

Christmas block

Civil War Reproduction Block

 Then my son asked me to make some finger-less gloves for the homeless they planned to feed on Christmas day. Well he asked for knitted ones like I had made as a gift for him last year but when I started I discovered it would take too long (this was a last minute request). Plus my right hand is not taking too great of a liking to my marathon knitting or crocheting. In the meantime my son and friends felt led to do a much larger scale meal for a low income housing unit. So he really needed more than 10. I got the bright idea to use fleece and so I made 40 sets of fingerless gloves for him to give away.

Some of the fleece finger-less gloves

 And let’s not forget there is the doll I’ve been working on. I have another one of those ready to embroidery the face and I’ve been playing with hair on the original one.

One other thing I started was some fabric microwave bowls. The test ones are okay but when I washed them they didn’t look as great as they did when they were first sewn. I’m still experimenting with the size for these. I did make one that is great to hold my small bowl of ice cream so I don’t freeze my fingers off. So they are good for other things than just the microwave. I’ll share more about those on another day.

Reindeer hats being worked on

Oh yes and I made some of these hats but I will share more about those on one of my Monday tips post.

Okay that’s enough I think to show I really have been working.

Happy Stitching (on Wednesday and every other day)!

Rose

FIF and Catch-up

Stitched and waiting for inspiration

I did finish the stitching on this as hoped but I was sitting in the hospital that weekend with my husband (he’s ok) so I didn’t get it soaked in water until later. But it did work and it has been dried and then damp stretched. Great! Now the embroidery is on my design wall waiting for inspiration. I’m thinking I may want to fill in some of the areas with free-form stitching. I’m also considering making it the center of a quilt that will feature my scribbling stitching.

Speaking of scribbling, my use of scribbles for embroidery is somewhat humorous and not very “artsy” to me. I started scribbling as “art” work when I was a child. I picked it up again when I reached 60+ (is that called becoming like a child again?). Then this last time I was at the local hospital I walked a corridor and glanced at the art work on the wall. To my surprise I saw scribbles incorporated in collages. Suddenly I don’t feel silly using scribbles as a basis for my embroidery work anymore.

Hospital Collage Art Work using Scribbles

Now for some catching up, I’ve been busy making things for my new granddaughter Samantha! First while I was still at the hospital I started making a cupcake hat for her (she hadn’t arrived yet). 

Crochet Cupcake Hats

I started using a pattern I found on Repeat After Me and used it as a guide for the top part. For the bottom (the brown section) I decided to do my own style using a crochet ribbing stitch. And I eliminated the earflaps also. If I make another one I think I will make some more modifications. I finished three tops while at the hospital (since that was all I had with me to work with). Later the bottom was added to one. 

Then after she was born I made a receiving blanket using a method a quilting friend had shown me (I also watched a Youtube video  by Missouri Quilt Company that my friend recommended. Actually I watched it several times and the only thing I can say is the video says it will only take about 10 minutes and my feeling is that may be true after you have made a dozen or so. 

Cupcake Receiving Blanket

So since the fabric was cupcakes and I had already made the cupcake hat of course I had to continue the theme.

Cupcake Sleeping Beauty

Yes that is my sweet Miss Samantha!

And then I moved onto roses.

And then she needed some mittens to keep from scratching her face.

And of course a sweet little yoyo and button band for her head can next.

Some sweet stitching for Samantha

Plenty more ideas of things to make but for my finish it Friday I think I will try and complete the other two or three cupcake hats I started while sitting in the hospital.

Happy Catching Up and Finishing Friday!

Rose

A Trip Down Memory Lane

Rose 

Well hello there! That’s me back in 1956. Age 10. Occasion – the first dress I made by myself. It won the district Singer Sewing contest and went to regional. We couldn’t afford the trip to regional so I had to have a photo of me wearing the dress accompany it to St. Paul/Minneapolis.

My mother who was an excellent seamstress decided it would be better to have someone else start me on my sewing journey. I made little fashion doll (fore-runner to the Barbies of today) clothes on my working toy sewing machine but now I was going to learn to use a real honest to goodness sewing machine. So she enrolled me at the local Singer Sewing center. I was allowed to pick out my fabric and my pattern. It was not the easiest pattern but my mother never discouraged me she just let me forge ahead. Typical of my mother really, she decided to learn to knit in her 70’s and when she picked out the pattern she wanted to do her senior center instructor tried to discourage her. But she was determined and she succeeded much to the instructor’s amazement! That’s just the way she rolled.

So off I went to the class. The ladies teaching were knowledgeable but when I started to cut out the pieces they decided to have a gossip feast in the corner of the room. Well when they finally checked on me they were horrified to see I was cutting off the hem. I was following the fold line rather than the bottom, an honest mistake for a 10 year old I think. Well there wasn’t enough room to scoot the piece over so they just had me use a bias binding to turn the hem up. They had a bit of explaining to do when it came to the judging part. But at least they owned up to it!

Sleeve detail with trim and covered button

I still have the dress, and I am always amazed at the detail in it, from covered buttons on the sleeves, to handmade binding trim around the sleeve and the sleeve tabs, to turned under seam edges (we didn’t have sergers back then!), it looks like a lot of work.

Seam edge turned under and sewn

Even the gathering was protected from raveling 

Sweet little button detail echoing the fabric design

I still have the handwritten critique that I received and the prize which was a zippered case with three Singer scissors. The case is a bit ratty and I’m not sure I have all three scissors but it’s still a treasure to me.

What prompted this trip down memory lane?

Well I was watching Karen in one of her Simply Stitch videos and she had made a printed copy of some of her fabric work and was incorporating it in her paperwork cutouts. I had my little pin pricked fashion illustration dress in mind and the light bulb went on. I could do something like that with my first dress and so now I have another idea to work on to put in my ledger. Oh the ideas just keep coming!

Close Up of the Fabric

Be back soon!

Happy stitching

Rose 

Three weeks and counting:

Oh my, it’s the end of January and I feel like I am behind already. I should have at least thee things completed and a start on finishing my fourth. OK here’s my second item. From the before photo you might be wondering what’s to finish since they are already packaged but if you look at the one in the middle you’ll see the difference.

Needle Nabbers Photo

I have these little flowers for sale in my online shop and also at a local quilt store, Kilauea Kreations, that is popular with the tourists. Well the owner of the store mentioned to me that people were finding them to be a little on the tipsy side. Now we don’t want that to happen, do we! She showed me how she had glued a piece of round cardboard to my sample and it was stabilized.

Completed needle nabbers photo

Well I couldn’t settle for a piece of raw cardboard so I had to put my thinking cap on. I found some wood circles, painted them to match the flowerpot but that still wasn’t good enough for me. So I decided to crochet some little doilies to top the wood circles. That solved the stability problem. Now however I ran out of the paint I was using and found that none of the local stores were going to carry that brand of spray paint so I was back to thinking again. I did find some of the paint while on vacation in Texas on clearance so I purchased what the store had left and stored it with my son. I knew I wasn’t suppose to carry it on the plane back home. So I still needed a temporary solution. I considered sending the wood circles to my son, have him paint them and then send them back to me. But I really didn’t want to wait and they were earmark as a need to complete project. So then I decided to try painting them to match the doilies and flower colors. That worked! So these are ready and will be going out as gifts soon.

Unfinished white button bracelet photo

Finished white button bracelet photo

Next I decided to finish one of my crocheted cuffs with buttons. That went quick although I did have to “scrounge” through my buttons to find some more creamy white ones that would work. Going through my buttons is always a tempting process that often gets me sidetracked onto another project. I resisted this time though and was able to finish the cuff.

Now on to my next project. I received a phone call from the same quilt store requesting that I send them some more of my Needle Candies as they had sold out of them and all they had left was the sample. Wow! Then I realized that I had some already started from 2010 so they would work in perfectly. However as I was working on them (I need to make a dozen) I attempted to make a change to the little holders that I made from fabric. The stiffener I used dulled the fabric somewhat and I wanted to try and brighten them up a bit. I also wanted to add a little protection to them so I brushed them with some gloss medium and shellac. But I put too much on and they became cloudy instead of bright and shiny. So now I had to make some more from scratch. This time I’ll use a smaller brush and just do one as a test. Yes, I did all twelve the first time! I’m still working on these but hope to have them finished and in the mail to the store by Tuesday at the latest.

Needle Candies started photo

You’ll notice I’ve added a slide show to show some of the UFO projects I’ve located while trying to clean and organize my crafting space. Not up to 52 yet but getting close. And actually I could list some that are now grouped together as individual projects. I decided to group some of them because I was stumped on how to do the next step so as I work on those I’ll let you know what had me stumped and hopefully how I solved the problem and moved on.

Happy stitching!

Rosie's Tidbits

Well I woke up early (about 3 AM) last Tuesday morning and realized that I had forgotten to post my Monday Night Tidbit. Almost did it again too! But here goes with two sweet short ones:

Had this bright idea the other day while I was trying to put elastic through a tube. What if I added a safety pin across the elastic to keep it from coming through the tube? It worked! No more worrying that I will pull the elastic too far inside the tube.
Happy Stitching! Rose ♥

And here's one for those of you who use a scanner or may use a scanner some day. I like to scan odd objects now and then and worried about scratching the glass on my scanner until now. Now I just place a blank unused transparency sheet on the bed. It doesn't interfer with with scan and my glass bed is protected from scratches. Try it I'm sure you'll be happy you did!

Happy Scanning! Rose ♥

Rosie's Monday Night Tidbits

Things I like in my sewing room:

Sticky Notes

When I’m working on a project that requires adjustments to my sewing machine, stitch length, stitch type, feed dogs, etc. I make a note of what I’ve done on a sticky back notepad. That way if I’m interrupted and have to turn my machine off (or if I’ll be using it over the course of days) I can stick the notes to my machine and I’ll have all the settings I need to continue. No more trying to remember what I did the last time!

Index Cards

If you have something that you do frequently but not every day, jot the steps down on an index card. Punch a hole in the corner of the card. Slide it unto a binder (book) ring and hang it near your work area. That way the next time you go to do it you have the steps to follow.
Happy Stitching! Rose ♥

Rosie's Monday Night Tidbits

I have always had pinking shears in my supplies but I never used them much until now.
I started using them recently to pink around some round shapes. Now I discovered they are better then cutting the corners of new fabric before washing. It helps to keep the fabric from fraying so much. I pink the whole cut edge before washing. Now if I could only find my pinking rotary blade! Better yet if we could get fabric stores to use the pinking blade!
And yes I prewash my fabrics because they contain chemicals that could be harmful to your body.
I also have been using my pinking shears to eliminate bulk in my seams. This has been great for a crazy patch quilt I am working on.

Tips I learned this month

I was having trouble with my pinking shears not cutting good and they were very stiff so I did some searching on the internet. Here’s what I found from two different sources:
When not in use oil the cutting edges with regular sewing machine oil do not use cooking oil. After a few cuts on waste material there will be no harm done to the fabric. To prevent rust regularly wipe the blades with an oily cloth, preferably of natural fiber. A spot of oil placed on the screw will help to keep an even tension of the scissor. Irreparable damage at the pivot can occur if not oiled.
Remove the scissor from the original plastic packaging and replace with either a leather cover or one made from natural fiber such as calico. This will prevent any condensation forming from the plastic. Gently wipe off the blades with a soft fabric scrap after each use to prevent lint and tiny particles from building up on the blades and clogging the screw-assembly pivot area. Scissors can be washed with soap and water if they're thoroughly dried and oiled.
A drop of oil makes a big difference. Several times a year place a drop of sewing machine oil at the screw assembly between the blades. This reduces friction so cutting feels smoother. After oiling, wipe off the blades and make a few cuts on scrap fabric to remove any excess oil.
Keep scissors in a safe, cool and dry place. In high humidity areas, regularly wipe the blades with a light coating of oil to prevent rust or corrosion.

Happy Stitching! Rose ♥

Rosie's Monday Night Tidbits

Okay so I've been meaning to start this for some time now. Why I chose Monday nights I'm not sure but it seems like I always forgot it was Monday night when Monday night rolled around. I'd wake up Tuesday morning and remember what I had planned to do the night before. And it is still Monday night here in Hawaii! So here goes the first one!

I've decided to add a post to my blog to hold my sewing, crafting hints, tips, and tricks. Welcome to the first of many (hopefully!). Please plan to check back weekly to get the latest.

A little known trick has to do with emery powder used to sharpen needles. You know the little strawberry thing attach to the tomato pincushion. Yes it's full of emery powder and it's use is to sharpen your needles. Nowadays people are coming up with all sorts of cute ways to get your needles sharpened. To get the emery powder (or sand) to work it's best magic just squeeze it between your fingers and push your needle through several times. This creates enough friction or pressure to really do the job. Kinda like how you use an emery board to file your nails. And did you know that you can sharpen your sewing machine needles too? Just don't push it in past the start of the shank or you will make a large hole in the fabric and some powder may come out. Sand works much the same way as emery powder. A coarse sand will actually help remove corrosion/rust that you get in a humid place like Hawaii. I use a mixture of emery powder and sand in my needle candies. Yes candy for your needles, they'll love you for it and sew much better! Check them out in my Etsy shop.

Tune in next week for amother one of Rosie's Monday Night Tidbits!

P.S. I have a cute little owl coming to my shop soon whose ears have a secret! I'm going to post a picture of them on my facebook page soon so look for me there and become a fan of Big Island Rose Designs!