~ Home Again and Playing ~

Howdy Sweet Quilting Friends!  Today I'm doing what I do best, making a HUGE fun mess.  Pulling fabric is the best part of quilting, don't you think?  I'm digging deep into the stash to find my most loved pieces of out of print Lakehouse Drygoods fabrics.  Some of these I forgot I owned.  My original plan for this quilt was to work only from the scrap bins.  But there just isn't enough variety of prints and scale of prints.  I'll use what I can from the scrap bins then supplement with the larger pieces.  In the picture below all but the solid yellow is Lakehouse Drygoods.  The solid will be the background fabric, well at least that's the plan as of right now.

The pattern I'm using is called Home Again by Erin Russek.  It's a free block of the month.  You can read more about on Erin's blog One Piece At a Time here and here.

Not all the fabrics in the scrap bins are Lakehouse prints.  There's a little of everything from Moda to Walmart fabrics.  

The birds are giving me a little trouble.  I can't decide on the perfect combination of prints.  A little more digging might be in order.  Before you know it I'll have every fabric out of the cabinet.  This is how most quilters work fabric magic.  For those of you who struggle to match fabric here's the secret...Play with your fabric a lot.  And then pull more fabric and play a little more.  Then if needed go shopping for more!

Maybe the fabrics in my little test bird is a better option for color?  Well I'm going to be here for a little while longer.

After I make a plan for the center Medallion block I can move onto the smaller blocks. Aren't they just the cutest!   See you in a few days with the results!

Just a little reminder that you can still gt 20% off you entire purchase at The Purple Hobbies website using the code PodunkPrettiesJan20  

Offer ends February 29, 2020.   Make sure when adding the code to your shopping cart that you click APPLY.  You can see my review of the BladeSaver Thread cutter here.  And the Third hand Binding Folder Clip here.

50% OFF Sweet Sixteen PDF pattern 

expires 2-15-2020

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~ Nifty Notions #3 ~ Magnetic Pin Cups and Bobbin Clips ~

This week for Nifty Notions I'm review 2 products from Purple Hobbies. Both of these products were sent to me by the Purple Hobbies after I purchased and reviewed their Blade Saver Thread Cutter and their Binding Folder Clip.  I am not getting paid for this review other than receiving them for review.  This will be an honest review of good, bad or indifferent.  While I love that you trust and value my opinion I encourage each you to seek out more opinions and reviews on any products in the Nifty Notions reviews.

Bobbin Clips

Okay onto the first Nifty Notion, the Purple Hobbies Bobbin Clips.  These clips come in several different colors.  You can purchase as many as you need.  Each clip is sold separately.  My clips are for 15 class bobbins.  These will fit many different brands of machines as long as your machine takes a 15 class plastic or metal bobbin.  Brother, Ever Sewn and BabyLock to name a few.  They also come in a larger size to fit Bernina 7 and new 5 series sewing machines.

At first I didn't see the raised portion of the inside of the clips.  This raised part holds the loose end of the thread in place so it doesn't come unwound.  Genius idea!  I can't tell you how many bobbin storage devices I've owned over the years that simply did not work and would become a huge mess of tangled threads.

Now the next cool feature is something I figured out on my own.  The raised portion doesn't work on the bobbins with a small amount of thread on them.  The thread could work loose and become a tangled mess but not with these bobbin clips.

The snug fit of the bobbin in the clip makes it easy to secure the thread by pulling it in between the bobbin and the clip.

Trimming off the tails will keep them out of the way so they won't work loose.

This is the notion drawer for my Brother sewing machine packed full.  All of the clips fit in there perfectly with room to spare.  I've added some of my older metal bobbins for my advanced testing of this product.  After adding a few more notions, I closed the lid and gave her a good shaking and tossing around to see how well the bobbins stayed in place.

Then I dumped them out on the table.  Not one bobbin or thread came loose!

  

Lets take a closer look.  Yep, they are all still nice and tidy.  

I don't use my machine for storage but I thought some of you might so I wanted to let you see how they worked in the small space.  My bobbins are tucked away in the top drawer of my sewing table.  This is much better than my previous bobbin storage method.   

REVIEW RESULTS

1.Cost

 At $1 per bobbin clip they are a bargain.

2. Ease of use

These are easy to use.

 3. Efficiency

They definitely help keep my bobbins organized and tidy.

Magnetic Pin Cups

The second review is the for the Purple Hobbies Magnetic Pin Cups.  They are sold separately and in many colors.  These are designed with the retreat quilter in mind.

Within a couple of seconds I had both of them extended to full size.  This is the size they will be when traveling.

I use many different sized pins while assembling a quilt.  The larger flower head pins I use on my frame quilter.  The smaller ones in the blue pin cup are super fine pins used for assembling the quilt top.  So I filled both pin cups with a few pins.

The little cups easily collapse exposing the pins.  How neat is this?

The lids will never get lost because they screw onto the bottom of the cups!  Very well thought out design.  

Should you knock this onto the floor and the pins go flying out, no worries.  The magnet in the bottom of the pin cup not only helps to keep the pins in the cup it will help pick them up off the floor.

REVIEW RESULTS

1. Cost

Small pin cup $16, Large Pin Cup $20.  This may seem a little high for a storing pins but I think it's worth every penny.  But you can get 20% off with a code at the bottom of this post.

2. Ease of Use

Yes they are easy to assemble and disassemble.

3. Efficiency 

I've never gone to a retreat but I do occasionally sew with a quilty friend or two.  I can't wait to share these new little pin cups with the girls.  They will be easy to pack up and bring with me.

Just a little reminder that you can still get 20% off you entire purchase at The Purple Hobbies website using the code PodunkPretties  

Code is good for the entire 2021 year.   Make sure when adding the code to your shopping cart that you click APPLY.  You can see my review of the BladeSaver Thread cutter here.  And the Third hand Binding Folder Clip here.

50% OFF Sweet Sixteen PDF pattern

expires 2-15-2020

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~ Testing, Testing, Testing ~

Hello sweet quilting friends!  There's been a lot of testing going on here in the studio as I whip up this yummy little gingerbread man quilt.  The first test was trying to sew the mini buttons on by machine.  It only took about 30 seconds to realize it wasn't going to work.  So all I could do was change the plan and stitch them down by hand.  I considered adding them after the quilt had been quilted but it seemed easier to do it now and quilt around them.

Much to my surprise hand stitching the buttons in place didn't take as long as I thought.  Finally something is going as planned.  Well sorta.  The plan was to have this done about a month ago.  Plan A failed as did plan B, C, and D.  

Now let's talk about Plan E, the stitching down of the embellishments.  The plan for the ric-rac-ish trim was to tack them in place and stop the fraying on the ends with glue then zigzag them into place.  As you can see it didn't work.  Plan F was to use a straight stitch.  Well fiddlesticks I don't like this plan either.  That's okay, as quilters we have so many options. Even though I felt both of these options were failures I left them in the quilt.  A couple tiny issues no one will notice unless I point them out.  We'll just keep it between you and me. 😉  So let's move onto Plan G.

Plan G is to use more glue.  The ric-rac-ish trim was removed from the remaining 11 gingerbread men and more glue was added to hold it in place permanently.   It worked like a charm!  Yah!  

Oh but the testing isn't over yet.  A few days ago, in this blog post, I mentioned a product I use to stop fraying.  Sew Secure has been my go to for fray prevent for years.  Well it's no longer being made.  This saddened and disappointed a few of you.  So I decided to find a replacement.  It wasn't easy.  Fray Check was the go to for everyone and they all had warnings of stiffness when dried. That's a no-no in my quilting world.  I need a product that can be used for hand stitching as well as machine stitching.  Don't you agree?  I'm all about getting the most for my money.  

A pot of coffee was in order as I dug deep into the dark abyss of the internet searching for the perfect fray prevention.  It took hours to find one quilter who recommended something other than the stiff Fray Check.  Her was posted many years ago so I thought the chances of it being off the market was pretty darn good.  But much to my surprise it's still being made.  I felt today was my lucky day.  First I over estimated my hand stitching time and now I've found a product that is still being made.  If it wasn't so far into town I would have bought a lottery ticket.   So just because I love you all so much I purchased a bottle of Aleene's OK to Wash glue on Amazon.  I'll be doing a little test project to see how well it performs.  Buy if you like but honestly I would wait until you get the skinny on this product.  It'll be a few days to a couple of weeks because you know me and how under estimating the time it takes to do ANYTHING.  

Just a little reminder that you can still gt 20% off you entire purchase at The Purple Hobbies website using the code PodunkPrettiesJan20  

Offer ends February 29, 2020.   Make sure when adding the code to your shopping cart that you click APPLY.  You can see my review of the BladeSaver Thread cutter here.  And the Third hand Binding Folder Clip here.

50% OFF Sweet Sixteen PDF pattern

expires 2-15-2020

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~ Canning Day ~

This is the result of dusting the Studio this morning.  It's the story of my life.  I take a notion to do one thing and then end up WAY off course.  I'm sure some of you can relate or a least I hope so. 

When I pulled the jar down off the top of one of my stash cabinets to dust it I thought "I should sort these scraps someday....Why not do it now?"  

It shouldn't take long, maybe 30 minutes tops.  BAHAHA!  I always under estimate how long it will take to do anything.  Something as routine as taking a shower.  I've been doing it for 50 yrs, you would think I'd have it down like clockwork.  Nope.  So 30 minutes to sort scraps turned into 2 hours.

At first I sorted by color. But I noticed there was a lot of triangles.  I could use those triangles for leaders and enders.  All I need to do is cut some white triangles from the solid white scrap pile I keep on my cutting table.   Then pair up each these cuties with a white triangle for more HST's to add to my HST's scrap bags.

Tada! They have a new home in this cute tin.  Now to make room for it beside the sewing machine. 

The largest pile was the bits and pieces cut from string quilts.  They look unusable but I can't toss them in the trash.  They might come in handy some day for small applique shapes.  Yes it's an obsession.  No fabric left behind!  Save it all!

I tried, I really did but I just couldn't bare to let them go.  So I grabbed a couple more canning jars.

Needless to say I'm not going to finish dusting today.  There's quilts to make, the dusting can wait!  So can the dishes, laundry and vacuuming.  Mr. Podunk might want to pick up a pizza on the way home this evening.  

Just a little reminder that you can still gt 20% off you entire purchase at The Purple Hobbies website using the code PodunkPrettiesJan20  

Offer ends February 29, 2020.   Make sure when adding the code to your shopping cart that you click APPLY.  You can see my review of the BladeSaver Thread cutter here.  And the Third hand Binding Folder Clip here.

50% OFF Sweet Sixteen PDF pattern

click image below to purchase

Expires 2-15-2020

#sortingquiltfabric #organizingquiltfabric #purplehobbies

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