What's this?

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Do you know what this is? I found it in the trash at a convenient store a couple of years ago. I don't know for sure why I picked it up at the time but I did find a good use for it.


Here is what it is. A cigarette lighter display case.


This is what I use it for after bringing it home.


The bobbins for my Bernina machine fit perfectly in it. I could have spent money on one of those plastic kind at a fabric store. Why spend money when this works just as well. It also fits perfectly in a small plastic drawer unit I keep by my machine.


As you can see, I keep several bobbins wound and ready to use. I have some in neutrals but I also wind bobbins when a cone for the quilting machine is very nearly empty. Not enough to do another quilt but plenty for keeping bobbins filled and ready for charity quilt piecing.

By the way, did you know you can wind a bobbin with the domestic machine at the same time you are sewing? I figured if my quilting machine could do that, why not my Bernina? If you take another look at your own domestic machine you may find a way to wind bobbins and sew at the same time too.

Now if only.....I could find four or five of these lighter cases that would fit my quilting machine M size bobbins.

Started another blog

Here is today's finished quilt. I used the circle lord swirls template.


A close up of the quilting.


I spent a great deal of time on my computer yesterday. It had been running extremely slow. I found out my recycle bin was very, very full. I clicked on empty recycle bin and it took a little over an hour for everything to automatically delete out. That's a lot of trash!

I did create a second blog yesterday. I hope to eventually make it more click able and user friendly. How is it different than this blog? Well this one is about my daily activities. I try to keep it short and interesting for visitors.

The other blog is for really long posts full of pictures and many details about how I do things. Yup, I couldn't wait until my traditional January 1 date for starting to reorganize. The urge to start making changes around here was just too strong. So if you get a chance, go to my sidebar and click on the organizing 2008 link to check it out.

Use the scrap batting

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Have you ever wondered what to do with this? Does your batting scraps tend to pile up when you aren't looking? (These are the trimmings from individual battings used for customer quilts.) The batting is too good and too expensive to just fill up a land fill area somewhere.


Have you ever had a customer bring you pieced together batting that was zig-zag stitched like this? Is that how you would do it?


Here is a better way. First, take out some of your light weight iron on interfacing. You know, the stuff you stabilize fabric with before constructing a garment or t-shirt quilt. Cut some 2 inch strips. These could be larger or smaller, depending on your own preference. I just happen to like the 2 inch size. Try this size until you get comfortable with the technique.


Next, find two pieces of batting that are close to the same length, mine are usually about 92 inches because that's what is used for the customer quilts. The width varies from about 4 inches to about 12 inches. The length or width really doesn't matter but to save time I try to match the length. Bigger is nice but I like to use up all the pieces of batting, even the smaller pieces.

Now layer your batting with two pieces overlapping an inch or two like this. I'm working one small section at a time as I move along the length of the batting.. It's important to have the batting on an ironing surface so you can do the next step.


Now go searching for that vintage fabric cutter. (Like the one in this photo below.) If you don't remember how to use those things....the thumb goes in the smaller handle with the fingers in the other handle. You work them by opening and closing your hand. Keep trying, you'll figure it out.

No, you really can't use a rotary cutter on an ironing board safely. It would cut the ironing board fabric to shreds. Ok now.....start cutting a wavy line down the over lapped batting making sure you cut both layers together. Don't make your curves real sharp.....just a gentle curve will do. Why do we use curves instead of straight line cutting? Hmm....it's to hide the break in the batting from the outside of the quilt. A straight line tends to cause a crease in the top while a curved line doesn't.


Remove the tiny cut pieces and lay the interfacing over the curved cut edges. Press the interfacing to the batting with the warm iron. Make sure it's hot enough to fuse but not hot enough to melt the batting. Be sure there isn't even the tiniest gap between the pieces of batting before pressing the interfacing to it. These tiny gaps have a way of looking hugh in a finished quilt.


After ironing it will look like this. It will be very sturdy yet it won't leave a hard line like zig zag stitching does. And...you won't have to fight with the batting to sew it with your domestic machine.


Once that section has been stabilized, move on to the next section and repeat the process.


This is how your batting should look from the other side after the fusing is done.


It's important to fuse like types and weights of batting together for the best use. If you start mixing up types and weights you won't get a nice looking quilt. Fusing batting together this way will save you a few dollars here and there as you create your charity quilts. Once quilted the batting will stay together as long as the quilt stays together.

I keep the tiniest scraps to use in a variety of crafts. I'll describe some of those later.

Rejection letter

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I got my rejection letter from Form Not Function yesterday. It was only a week late. I had entered these two and another one I don't have a photo of right now.




I do believe that will be my last attempt at entering any juried show. Getting into a juried show is simply not worth the expense. I create quilts because I enjoy making them.

I originally entered that contest because I wanted to see what my work would look like hanging in a gallery next to artists. At the time I entered; I believed this to be important. But you know what? That isn't really all that important anymore.

The best gallery in the world is the wall of my grand children's bedroom. Or that of a homeless man walking down the street with a quilt bedroll hanging from his shoulder. Or seeing a quilt I donate raise money to benefit a charity in some small way.

So I will continue to make quilts. I will make them because the urge to create comes upon me...not with the intention of getting into a juried show.

My quilts will be appreciated much more by those who receive them than those who run a quilt show. My quilts will get love from the homeless families, the elderly lonely, the very sick, the children, the charities who need an auction item, the animal charities, and family members.

So with that said....I'm headed off to the studio to create today.

I didn't get much quilt work done yesterday. It was a rainy, cloudy, dark day. My overhead lights wouldn't come on so the studio was very dark all day. I have trouble with the lights every time it rains. The electrician can't be here until next week to replace the lights and check out the wiring.

I started the piecing on a custom t-shirt quilt.


I got tired of working in the dark so I tried to figure out what is wrong with my computer. This takes up hours of time! I still haven't figured out why it tells me I'm out of memory when I try to update the adobe reader and real time player. I ran virus scans, I deleted unused things, I deleted a ton of photos, I searched for overly large files.....I still can't figure it out.

Every once in a while I get this 'ding, ding' sound for no apparent reason. It's the sound I usually get when I turn on the printer or turn it off. I won't be able to take the computer to the puter doc for a few more days. In the meantime I use it the best I can...slow and all. I suspect a part of the computer problem may be the same problem I'm having with the overhead lights. I'll ask the electrician to check the outlet my computer is plugged into to see if it is bad.

Well, I can't quilt right now because of the lights so I think I will start cleaning in a part of the house where I do have lights. At least I can get something done.