The slow progress is partly due to this Quilt In a Day ruler. It works great but man is it slick.
Most of my rulers have been plastered with Nexcare transparent tape. The tape has a texture that grips fabric pretty good. This 6.5" ruler is my most used ruler and has many pieces of the grippy tape. Seems like overkill but it works. Maybe it works so well on the 6.5" ruler because it's small and easier to control the slipping.
The Nexcare tape has a minimal effect on the highly polished Quilt In a Day ruler.
It's time to try something different in order to speed up the trimming process. These True Grips are made by The Grace Quilting Company. I won them back in early December during their 12 Days of Christmas online event. Believe it or not, I just received my winnings Jan.15. That's a story for another day.
To say the least I was skeptical about the True Grips. I've used similar products in the past and they were not so great. That's how Nexcare tape became my go-to for slippery rulers. When I opened these my first thought was "Wow! that's a huge instruction sheet for stickers." But this is an advertisement pamphlet. No instructions included anywhere on the packaging but I think that's because we all know how stickers work, or at least I hope we do.
Right out of the package they feel different than the ones I used years ago. The True Grips are thicker and feel a little like rubber.
Two little grips were strategically placed on the ruler, right about where I place my hand when using the ruler.
Success! Not one little slip during the trimming of about 20 HST's! Amazing!
Since these were free to me I had to check out the price. Between $5 to $7 for 30 grips per package, 15 large and 15 small. I used 2 large for this ruler. The small grips are the center that is cut out of the larger circle.
I placed the remaining grips back on the pamphlet to keep them like new until I need them. Funny how they stick to the glossy paper but they aren't sticky to the touch. My guess would be these are made from the same stuff as static stickers, but that's purely a guess. All that matters to me is they work like a charm and I will never use Nexcare on my rulers again. And that's big deal because I can be a little thrifty/cheap. These are worth every penny!
Thanks for stopping by my little spot in Podunk!
Until next time...
I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!
For about a year now I've been eyeing this new gadget called Applipops. They seem to be all the rage in the applique world. Since I do a little applique from time to time I was eager to try them out but wanted to wait to see what others were saying about them. Well I couldn't wait any longer. A couple of weeks ago I finally click on BUY.
What kept me from clicking BUY was the price. It seemed a little steep. After much arguing with me, myself and I, we decided to get the best deal and order 2 double sets. In the image below the two sets on the left are the same and the two on the right are the same.
One set is one of set of circles on one clip for $24.99 + $5.00 shipping.
One of each size is two sets of circles on 2 clips for $39.99, free shipping.
Two sets with the 2 different sizes on 4 clips is $59.99, free shipping
....and I had a promo code for 10% off. So it made sense to me to buy the biggest set.
I made every size circle in the sets and was not impressed. I had trouble getting the circles to nest without pushing them all the way through. So I took a break from them for a day or two. Then came back and made a few more. And like magic they were working great. What was difference? It took me a few more circles to figure out that there is a dull side and a shiny side to the Applipops. They seem to nest better when I used dull side up.
With the problem solved I started making oodles of circles. Before I show you how to use them I wanted to share with you my Applique kit. Notice the little flower made of circles on the front.
Inside the kit is several different glues that I use when making applique, any applique templates I may be using for the current project, paint brush and bowl for starch and water paint pens for starch, fabric scraps, and a ziplock bag for current shapes being made.
I also pulled out my bin of small scraps for making smaller circles. I knew this bin of itsy bitsy scraps would come in handy some day!
To test out the Applipops I pulled out a water color paint pen, and a paint brush and a bowl for the starch. Of course an iron, scissors, fabric and the Applipops.
So lets make a circle.
Place the larger of two nesting circles shiny side down on the pressing surface.
Lay the fabric right side down on top of the larger circle.
Pop the smaller circle into the center, being careful not to push it all the way through. I found it harder to push the circle through with the dull sides up,
It should look like this on the other side. You don't want the center circle sticking out passed the larger circle. This will make your applique thicker.
Next cut around the circle leaving a 1/8 " to 1/4" seam.
I let my scissors ride on the outside of the larger circle to make the cut.
The water color paint pen was filled with starch to make applying the starch a little easier.
But the paint brush works just as well if that's what you have on hand. And in a pinch a Q-Tip works too.
After applying the starch around the edge, push up the fabric to make it easier to press the seam inward.
Because my iron is about 40 or 50 years old it is a little hotter than the newer irons so I've turned the heat down to wool to prevent scorching of my circles and pressing mat. It's a steam setting but I never use water in my iron.
Press all the way around the circle until the seam is dry or close to dry. I used a pair of tweezers to help me rotate the circle while pressing. Those metal templates get super hot! Be careful!
Of course you can use any thing to help. I tried out using a pencil with an eraser and it worked great.
Give it one last press.
After allowing the template to cool remove the circle template. While waiting for it to cool you can make another circle with the other set of circles. Or if you are like me use the tweezers to pull out the hot circle template. I'm so impatient...HAHA!
This is the part that concerned me the most...the thickness. Look how thick the circle is after removing the template. This isn't good for applique. The applique edge needs to be fairly thin. Leaving like this would not be good.
Will pressing it cause the circle to go wonky, more like an oval or egg?
Pressing it flattened it pretty nicely!
Look how much flatter it is now. I've stacked one pressed circle on top of one that has not been pressed after removing the template.
They turned out great. I can honestly say I'm very pleased with the Applipops. They really do make perfect circles every time.
1. Cost
$59 - They are a little high priced but I think worth the money to make perfectly round circles quickly. I don't regret my purchase and would buy it again should I lose them or think I need more.
EDITED 5/5/21
I just saw on Facebook an ad for Applipops. Use code SPRING at checkout on their website for 10% off. It does not say when it expires.
2. Ease of Use
Yes, very easy to use once you get the hang of using them. Purchasing more than one set allows you to assembly line make circles without burning your fingers. One can cool while you make another.
3.Efficiency
The Applipops definitely speed up the process of making turned edge applique circles. And they are perfect every time.
You might be able to find a discount code for them on the Applipops Instagram or Facebook. I found a code for 10% off on Facebook.
I also made a video review for YouTube. As usual it's corny and I ramble on and on but that's me, corny and I talk way to much all the time.
For more Nifty Notions Reviews Click on the image below or in the sidebar of this blog. This will take you to all reviews in order from oldest to newest.
As always, Thanks for stopping by my little spot in Podunk!
One day a few weeks ago I was visiting my most loved online quilt shops looking for new to me notions. As you know I have reviewed several Purple Hobbies products in the last year. So I decided to pop over to the website to see if there was anything new. And look what I found. Isn't it the cutest little Ferris Wheel ever? Without hesitation it was in my cart and on it's way to Podunk.
Before the review I want to let you know I don't get paid in anyway to review the Purple Hobbies products. I don't receive money for you clicking on links. This is an honest review.
Heather of Purple Hobbies has given me a discount code to share with you and that's all I get and really that's not for me it's for you. You will find the code near the end of this post under Review Results.
Waiting to use this was so hard but I needed a quilt to put binding on so I had to wait. Sure I played with it, in and out of the box. Spinning it, looking at the construction of it. I even put some odd scrap pieces of binding on it a time or two. But I didn't cheat. You will get to see it in use at the sewing machine for the first in todays post and video at the bottom of this post.
Finally the day has arrived.
My first try loading the Binding Wheel was not successful. My binding was in a big pile an it caused the binding to pull on the wheel and not flow freely. So I decided to see if fan folding the binding would help make the loading a little easier.
Attaching the binding to the wheel is easy after fan folding. Loading the wheel is easy, just slide it through the slot in the center.
Notice the binding under the brace at the bottom of the wheel. This helps to guide the binding as you spin.
I should mention I cut my binding 1 3/4" wide then folded it in half. This is pretty small. Most bindings are 2.25" or 2.5". As you can see there's plenty of room for a wider binding. The instructions state the wheel can hold enough binding for a king size quilt.
And then all I need to do was start spinning. Using my left and to spin the wheel and my right to guide the binding.
TADA! That was fast! 378 inches of binding in less than a minute!
The suggested way to use the Binding Wheel is to set it on the floor. But I'm going to get a little wild and crazy. Let's try setting on the table beside the machine.
It stayed right there the entire time. When I came to the corners of the quilt I would pull out about an extra 18 inches just to be safe. The wheel never even offered to slide off the table while doing all the shifting and turning of he quilt.
The wheel spins so freely the slightest little tug and ZOOM, there's more binding ready to be stitched down. It worked so well I never even tried it on the floor. But if your tabletop has limited space put it on the floor as suggested.
1. Cost
$25 - I don't regret my purchase and would buy it again should it somehow break.
If you use the code PodunkPretties at checkout on the Purple Hobbies website you will receive 20% off your entire cart. The code expires 12/31/21. Use it now and/or use it again later in the year.
2. Ease of Use
Yes, very easy to use. I was shocked how smoothly the wheel turns. It made spinning the binding onto the wheel very quick and easy. I was also pretty amazed that it did not even offer to fall off my sewing table.
3.Efficiency
It took more time to prepare my binding to be put on the quilt. BUT it made the process of sewing the binding to the quilt much quicker. No more stepping on the binding or rolling over it with my chair. No readjusting the binding out of the way.
Here's a video tutorial for using the Binding Wheel. As usual, pardon the mishaps and video editing errors. I'm a one man band and learning. The video is made for YouTube so there's some information at the being of the video to let new comers get to know me a little.
If you would like to see more of my product reviews click on the Nifty Notions image below or here. Or in the sidebar of my blog. This will take you to all the Nifty Notions Reviews starting with the first one to the most current.
