Fix a Little, Quilt a Lot!

What a lovely Saturday it was!

Total relaxation, zoning into the project at hand, and this sweet girl by my side.

Gee, I wish dogs and cats came with visible thought bubbles over their heads.  I would surely like to know what they are thinking.

Here Sadie seems to be saying “Enough of this quilt – it’s time to walk me, give me a treat, tickle my belly, step AWAY from the machine!

It’s hard to not give into this kind of behavior.  I mean, just LOOK at this face.  Could you resist?

The job at hand was to complete the inner borders so that the outer border would fit.

And to do it quickly and easily, I had some help:

Creative Grids Stripology Ruler by Gudrun Erla!

Gudrun and I have been friends for years.  The kind of friends whose paths rarely cross in the same place at the same time, but we had a blast during Quilt-Market and she sent me two of her stripology rulers for my birthday this past week. (The birthday month is still in full swing!  In fact we have 3 days left! HA!)

I had tried the June Tailor ones before, but found the slats pretty wobbly.  These, however, in true Creative Grids fashion have the non-slip dots on the back and your fabric does NOT MOVE beneath the weight of the ruler.

I love my Accuquilt Studio.  I do.  It’s still great for big jobs where I am cutting a gazillion strips in the sizes I have dies for.  But I needed some sizes yesterday that I do NOT have dies for.  I doni’t have dies for strips wider than 3 1/2”. 

I folded my fabric, placed the Stripology ruler on top and instantly the the lightbulb went off.  As a right-handed cutter I don’t have to trim up on the right, and flip the clean cut edge of my fabric to my left to start cutting strips.  I just put the line on the ruler at the bottom fold of the fabric, with the ‘0’ line a smidge in from the left edge and did my clean cut on my left!  From there it was easy to cut the widths I needed for my borders, and I didn’t stop there.  I finished off the fabric by cutting the remainder into 2 1/2”, 2” and 1 1/2” strips that went straight in to the Scrap User’s System without having to move the ruler at all.  TOTAL fabric management right there.  I’m sold.

Cue the Monkees.  “I’m a believer!”

Other things to like: This is so very easily portable for retreats, etc.  Taking the Accuquilt Studio?  Not so much.  I think I will be using this a lot in the future, especially when cutting widths that I don’t have dies for, or if I am doing small amounts of cutting that don’t require the whole process of using the Accuquilt.

Thanks, Gudrun!

All THREE inner borders are on – and I’m now on to working on that blue/red string pieced border.

I decided to switch things up a bit, and give myself a sewing break while I did something that has been on the to-do list for a while:

Singer 500a Rocketeer in the card table!

This is my second 500a.  I found it at the antique mall in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina.  I actually only wanted the case and the base that you see the machine sitting in.  the problem with finding a case and base?  It usually has a machine as well.  The machine was missing a foot pedal and cord, and a presser foot.  It barely moved when I turned the hand-wheel.  I don’t think this has been sewn on in 30 years.  This machine is as old as I am.  It’s a 1961 to 1962 manufacture date.

Do you remember when I found this table Craigslist advertised as a “long bed 301” table?  Well, the long bed 301 really doesn’t fit the opening well.  It’s a bit tippy, and you have to prop the edge of the extension table on the left edge of the cut-out to hold it steady.  This opening is also WIDER than the long-bed and leaves a gap.  No, this table is NOT for a long bed, but what is it for then??

When I saw the machine in the base at the antique mall I knew.  the shape of the base FITS that curvy cut-out area at the far left.  This HAD to be it.

Giving her a whirl!

I have a replacement foot pedal.  I have a presser foot.  I cleaned, I oiled, I lubricated the gears.  I got deep down inside to find that this machine was SUPER CLEAN underneath.  Dry, but clean.  I don’t think this machine was sewn on much at all.

I inserted a new needle.  I threaded her up and wound some bobbins.  And as the motor ran to wind those bobbins she got quieter and quieter and faster and faster.  And oh, I was excited!

The plan was to set her up in view of the TV so I could string piece while watching in the evening.  Just a change of scenery.  And she is QUIET!

And so, on the fly, I did an unannounced and very impromptu Quilt-Cam Quickie via Facebook Live and introduced her to everyone.

Check it out:

It was only a short 8 1/2 minutes, but fun to just pop in and say hello.

I’m also linking this post under the Quilt-Cam tab so you can find this little Rocketeer short clip later if you want to view it again.

All 84 are now pieced!

There will be a bunch of squaring u p, slicing and de-papering happening today. 

I’ll also be using the Stripology Ruler to cut my red strips quickly into the length I need for inserting them between the string pieced border triangles.

One more night here and I believe I’ll be heading home tomorrow because there are a couple of patterns that need to be ready for digital release on February 1st!

Quiltville Quote of the Day!

Vintage Dresden plate quilt found in North Carolina.

Oh, the things a quilt can teach us! Have a wonderful Sunday, everyone!

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