Sewing Daily for 2015

[idaho]

Losing a mobile phone can be disasterous - we can keep so much info on them. As for your use of paint chips to help with colour matching, yes that is a great technique, if you are not used to carrying colour in your minds eye, and far better than trying to use a photo on a monitor to match to. I'm lucky I can carry colour, but I also have used paint chips in the past, and it is a method I have recommended to brides before now.

[idaho]

I took some pictures of the paint sample strips on the wall and carpet to help my friend in choosing the correct fabrics to match. I had never seen the condo until this weekend and we tried to pick from my stash for her future wall hanging. Her descriptions were not what was the actual colors. So instead of me telling her I thought that the color swatches from the paint samples would help her.





She has labeled each one for which room or what part of the rug and it slips right in her purse for future referance. I think they were really surprised when we went thru each room, bathroom, or rugs.

We made it home in time to get about 6 + inches of snow. I seem to have caught a cough..so today I spent most of the day in bed since I was up all night. I have been working on more of the hexagons since I can sit with my feet up and stay nice and warm with a blanket.

This next picture is of my sewing room floor. It is puzzle pieces foam that I got at Sam's, it was really easy to cut and stops the vibration from my embroidery machine making noises all the way downstairs on the first floor.


I can sweep up the floor quickly, it is not cold, and there is a cushion to walk on. We had to remove the carpet that was in bad shape, so instead of replacing it with carpet that I can't find pins in I have this instead.

Have a great day,
Robin

[loise98]

Get well soon. What a great idea for your floor. Can't wait to see the wall hanging.

[JudithA]

I bought the same floor mats at Sam's about 3 years ago. I am very pleased with mine. My sewing room has hard ceramic tile floors installed over cement in the basement. I use them in the space between my ironing board and my cutting table, where I do a lot of standing. After I got them I noticed that I could stand at the cutting table and ironing board a lot longer without knee and hip pain.

I could not get the link to work for some reason, so I copied the description here.

Norsk Util-A Mat Commercial Grade Reversible Floor Mat

Safety/anti-fatigue mats have multiple uses
Can be used indoors or outdoors
Lightweight, easy to assemble and easy to clean
Each pack covers 33.5 sq. ft.
Color(s): Gray and Multi-Color (reversible)
Description
Mat can be used indoors or outdoors. Lightweight construction is easy to transport, shock absorbent, easy to assemble and store, and cleans with soap and water. Mat is also waterproof to protect surfaces from damages.
Specifications
Safety/anti-fatigue mats have multiple uses
Can be used indoors or outdoors
Lightweight, easy to assemble and easy to clean
Color(s): Gray and Multi-Color (reversible)
Anti-slip texture on both sides
Material(s): Latex-free foam
Child Safe (ASTM 963-96a)
Flame Retardant (UL94 test - Rating HBF)
Use for construction traffic areas: daycares/preschools, laundry rooms, workshops, basements, etc.
Not rated for outdoor playground use

Judith

[JudithA]

Happy Wednesay everyone.
Yesterday I spent part of the day rearranging my sewing room. I am trying to get organized, but I sure make a mess in the process. I need to start sewing more of my larger blocks as well as working on a new Tiger Tile Scene on my embroidery machine. I have been fustrated with the fabric pulling and causing wrinkles when I am stitching something that is dense. So I heard from one of my yahoo groups that "Terial Magic" is suppose to do the trick. I have soaked the fabric already and it is all dry, so I will be pressing it today. I followed Anita Goodesign's instructions and then used temporary spray adhesive to make all the layers like one piece of cloth instead of three. I will take a picture of before and after on the same block to show how it works.

I got my books from Cheryl L See "Not Just Hexies" and I am a little dissappointed. She does not give you a template for the size of hexagons, triangles, 1/2 hexagon, or diamond. She uses the order number from another company that you can order your paper pieces from. I am going to continue to make the 1" hexagons and go ahead and order the other shapes so I can make some small projects with my hexagons I have been making. It is like getting a new toy and you can't play with it because there is no batteries! Since I have never made the hexagon's until I saw the show I feel that I have to order the paper pieces so I make sure that I have the right size.

This is the picture of the Terial Magic. I will try and post later today a picture of the embroidery that I did with it.


Have a happy sewing day,
Robin

[anne1]

Hi Robin, I don't know if this website will have the hexies you want https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2MpICRS1jdvR2xqeGNPcDZXU1U/edit?pli=1
It has all sizes of hexies that you can print off.
Hope this helps
Anne

[anne1]

Robin, here's another one
http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/
Anne

[Reetzbobeetz]

Very useful links Anne thanks for that. Robin, I would not go buying any more things just to make hexagons. You can print the sheets that Anne provided the link for directly onto fusible appliqué sheets and away you go. Very disappointing not to get even one template with the book. :huh:

[Reetzbobeetz]

Anne,
Thank you for the links. I do have the hexagons but to make the thimble holder necklace I need the triangle, half hex, and diamond. I have been searching on the internet. Which I will continue to do. If I can get it in a jpeg I can send to my cameo silhouette and it will cut out for me. It was just so dissappointing not to even have the choice to print my own or purchase. Usually you get the pieces to make the pattern. Oh well, I think I will send her an email and let her know I was shocked by this. She does not even state how she measures the Hexagon, diamonds, and others. I have seen them measured across the top edge, across the middle from point to point. I am assuming hers is across the top since the website she sends you to has theirs measured this way.
Robin

[Reetzbobeetz]

Just thought this may help with the hexies.
www.oocities.org/quiltfrenzy_archives/hsdrafthexagon.html

[Reetzbobeetz]

Thank you Terrie, I liked the way they came up with the hexie by marking the circle. It also explained that the triangle inside the hexagon is the size of triangle I need. This is a really big helper. Thanks for posting this link.

Robin

[Reetzbobeetz]

I haven't finished the tiger tile today. I hope to have the right corner done tomorrow. Here is the picture of all of the hexagons that I have gotten done, 63 of them. I am using different color ways to make it look kind of scrappy. I have finally gotten the templates all printed. I am going to send it the cameo to cut them out on card stock for me. I really wanted something to make that is small. Thanks to all of your help I was able to find out if I am working with a 1" sided hexagon, then the diamond, triangle, and square are all 1" as well. I feel more confident about the size of making the necklace thimble keeper. There are also some little jewelry boxes that I thought I could make my friend so guest can put their jewelery in it and not forget it or not know where it is.




Have a good night.
Robin

[Renata]

Love your hexies, Robin. Well done! Enjoy reading your progress reports too.

[AuntJo]

Robin great hexies

[AuntJo]

Good Morning it is Saturday,
The last few days have been a little harder to keep up doing something sewing every day. I had a persistant cough since returning from Branson so I finally had to get to the doctors on Thursday, I have bronchitis. So now I have my meds and I am better able to manage the coughing fits.

I did the upper left of the tiger tile scene done. The first picture is of a starched, adhsive back stabalizer, and a cut away stabalizer that I used temporary adhisive spray on to make it like one piece of fabric. I was upset that I saw quite a bit of pull on the fabric as it was being stitched. The second one of the same left corner has the Terial Magic spray. I soaked the entire piece of fabric and then wrung out the excess and then let it dry before I ironed it I still used the same two bottom layers. I still see a bit of gathering but it is not near as bad as the first one. You will notice I also did not trim the applique part of the tiger and tree as close, since this will be in the seam allowance I did not feel the need to trim it as close.
I have been going thru my new quilting magazines since I was not feeling quite up to par. I have started practicing on making 1/2" hexagons. They are a little harder for my larger fingers but I am still getting a nice crisp edge to them.
We had ice last night along with a light dusting of snow by this morning so a 6D embroidery software class that I am taking was cancelled. It is rescheduled for Sunday. We are appliqueing owls to a tea towel, after we go into our software and tell it what stitches to do for us. We have a really great store that has tones of classes for all levels of skill as well as the 6D embroidery software classes that help us to use the software in a project.
When in Branson this weekend I was shocked when we went to a quilt shop and saw a block of a month quilt hanging on a wall..none of the points were matching or cut off, the flying geese did not match in the corner as they were suppose to. I turned to my friend and told her she should not take a class from here as it will be making her go backwards with her skills. I could not believe that they were using this as a sample. I guess I have become a little fussy with points and corners matching as they should.



Since it is so cold outside it makes it perfect day to stay in the nice warm house and do some sewing.
Happy Sewing,
Robin