Duck, Duck, Tin

I bought this little paper mache duck box about 34 years ago at a gift shop in California. I use it to store my hand sewing tools.

Inside are a couple of different thimbles, some tiny sharp scissors, a small container of pins, a few needle threaders (my favorite is the bug shaped one that has a light), a seam ripper and my hand sewing needles. I wish I could tell you what kind and what size I use, but I don't know. I like them fine and sharp.

I call this box the Mending Duck because there are a few buttons in there too. I've long forgotten where the buttons go, but I find them charming, so there they live. 

The Mending Duck normally rests on my bureau in my bedroom along with my collection of small interesting boxes. It moves to wherever I want to do some hand sewing. Because it is rather handsome, it looks nice wherever it is, and because it is so unique, it's easy to find if I forget where I put it.

The Mending Duck clearly isn't for traveling. I have a small tin that I have converted to a "portable duck."

As you can see, it was originally a chocolate tin. You can find these anywhere. I found one at the Getty Center last summer (not this one.)

I put one of those sticky magnet things on the cover to hold my steel pins and a needle. As you can see I also have scissors, needle threader, seam ripper and a bit of thread. It's small, light and works like a charm. If I lost it, or anything in it, it's easy enough to replace. I probably wouldn't get this through airport security, but if this was traveling with me, it would be inside my checked luggage.

At any rate, this is part of the binding tutorial, which has moved to the editing stages.

In Pieces and On The Couch

This is the quilt in five big chunks.

 Here it is after I have sewn the big chunks together and completed the top. It's going to  be a really pretty quilt.



Just a reminder that my diamond quilts are inspired by Pam Goecke Dinndorf's Harlequin Quilt. She sells a pattern for it here.

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By the way, I got irked at the guy at the big box store because he did NOT listen to what I asked. I told him I wanted a work light to illuminate a wall six feet wide by eight feet tall from a distance of about between 10 and 12 feet. Then I showed him a picture of my design wall.

"Is this inside or outside? Is this a dining room?"

"It's inside, and it isn't a dining room. Why does it matter what kind of room it is? It's a work room. It's a studio. I don't need to install it permanently and I only need to use it when I take photographs."

He held up his hands, "I'm not trying to offend you."

"Well you're doing a pretty crappy job. I described exactly what I needed and you didn't listen to me."

He sighed. "OK, let's look at lights..."

When I had the little box in my hand, I looked at him. "Men do this all the time. They minimize what women do. And most women just take it. I make quilts, and I make money at it. My tools are important. I know a lot of quilters who don't have good tools or good lighting who work on a rickety ironing board and bend over a dining room table that's too low. Yet the men have every power tool known to man, table saws and riding lawn mowers. When I come to a hardware store to buy tools, the men try to sell me cheap crap. It's really aggravating."

"If that light doesn't work, bring it back," he told me.

Well, it works, so I won't have to bring it back. In fact, I went back later and bought a second one for my travel kit. The guy wasn't there, or I would have told him just how great the little light really is.          

Pissed Off

Last night I decided to hang the flannel for the design wall. I got out all my tools and materials and got to work.

This was as far as I got. The electric stapler kept skipping staples, then wouldn't fire at all.  After repeated attempts to get it to work, I noticed the spring that kept the staples in line was not connected at one end. Nothing I did got it to work.  Frustrated, I took it apart.

I almost got it back together, but then something came apart and before I could notice how it went together properly. I can't get those two little pieces where they belong. So there it sits.

It's not an expensive stapler, and a quick look at Amazon and Home Depot tells me it has terrible reviews. Oh well, I've had it over 7 years so I guess I can't complain. I'll have to get another one.

Argh. And to think I could have been sewing instead!

Tools 2 - Tables

I am very fortunate to have a room devoted to my sewing. I took over my son's room when he moved out after college. He still calls it his room.

Every quilter needs a work surface and a place to iron fabric. My work surface is a drafting table, 37" x 50". I keep it at a slight angle so it is easier for me when I use the rotary cutter to cut strips. An angled table makes it easier to see an entire project, easier to reach everything, and much easier on my back, particularly when cutting strips with the rotary cutter. Not as much leaning over. I just have to remember not to set my scissors down on this table, because they will slide off. There's a little "cat hammock" underneath the table for Millie.

I have always felt traditional ironing boards were pretty useless for quilters, so my sister and I built this one about a year ago. The top is 24" x 48", and the base is 2" x 3" and some assorted 1" x 4" poplar scraps from another project.After the table was finished, I covered it with two layers of cotton batting (using a power stapler)and then some of that metallic heat-resistant ironing board cover fabric.I love it, and now I use the shelf underneath for fabric storage.It's terrific for ironing a full width of fabric. But if I were to do it over, I would make the top six inches wider, or about 54". Why? Because you need a place to set your iron down within easy reach while you shift your fabric about, and 44" wide fabric on a 48" wide table doesn't leave you a lot of space. Also, if you make one of these (and I highly recommend it), make sure you set the height properly. The top of my ironing table is 32-1/2" off the floor, perfect for me. But I am only five feet tall. If you're taller, adjust accordingly.Of course, Millie thinks it's hers.

Tools of the Trade

I really like to keep my sewing studio tidy. Whenever I am finished working, though, I always put my tools away. This is the drawer in my bureau where I keep the essentials. You can see my scissors and rotary cutters, pins, binding makers, seam ripper and a few other things.
I keep my pins in this big tin. I use the finest pins I can get, and I use steel pins. This way if I drop them, I can pick them up with a big magnet. The two dark areas on the cover of the tin are magnetic strips, useful for stray pins and this little pair of scissors I use to trim threads.My cutting mat is clear, and is 24" x 36" which makes cutting crosswise strips a snap. Many years ago I bought these plexiglass strips in varying widths, from 5/8" up to 4" and 24" long. I love them. I haven't seen them available anywhere. I guess folks just measure every time, which would make me crazy. I love grabbing one of these plexi strips and just ... ZIP. These hang on the wall near my cutting table.I have a good selection of right triangles, too. The two large ones are 16" and 12" and are very useful for squaring things up. The small orange one is 4" and I use it most often for bindings. I also love my 6" wide x 24" long rule.I have a small assortment of specialized rules, but the one I like the best is the Easy Rule Jr. It's 3-1/2" x 9" and it's very handy because of its small size. These hang on the side of my ironing table.On a bookcase behind the ironing table I keep my spray bottle, a box for loose thread bits, some pencils, the pencil sharpener, a lint remover (or cat hair remover), the telephone, iron, and a measuring cup of water. I refresh the water in the measuring cup every day because my cat likes to drink from it. The yellow banana shaped bowl is a holding spot for my scissors when I need to get them out of the way when I am ironing.No matter how busy I am, when I am finished sewing, all these tools get put back where they belong. It may sound obsessive, but actually, it just makes everything much easier to find.

The "Tool" & a Half

About a year ago I made this cat tent, complete with fleece pillow. At the time I thought I would make two, because I had two cats, so I got 8 pieces of 1" PVC pipe and all the extra crutch tips. Then Cat # 1 got really sick.... and I never made the second tent.But one of the extra poles (about 40" long") is really nice for moving pieces around on the floor.
Here's a closeup of the end with the crutch tip. These are available at hardware stores everywhere.And here's what it looks like, moving the pieces around on the floor.Here's the half of the quilt top I have made so far. I promised to make it for a friend in time for Christmas.
Wanda, I am an artist by training and my walls are filled with artwork. I don't have a wall either big or empty enough to use as a design wall. And I find moving pieces around on the floor gives me a lot of freedom, plus I can get some distance away to get a good look. Yes, Millie (the cat) loves to play "slip and slide", but that's life with a cat.

She never did like the tent.

How I Work

We all have things we do to make our sewing more efficient. Here are a couple of mine.

I use grey thread for all my patchwork piecing. Yes, ALL! No matter what color fabric I am using, I sew it up with this light grey thread. I find this grey disappears. White and cream thread stick out when next to dark colors because of the strong light-dark contrast, so I use the grey.

I buy it in these large 1,000 meter spools. I pay about $7.80 for them at my local fabric store. The 100 meter spool, next to it in blue, costs about $3.00 each, so you can see it is a cost saver as well.And when I have to wind a bobbin, I wind up four of them at the same time. This way changing the bobbin is No Big Deal. When I get down to one full bobbin left, I fill the other three. So I always have at least three bobbins fully wound, and one in the machine.
I have a 30+ year old Kenmore sewing machine. It is made of metal, and sews zig-zag and 10 other stitches, which I very rarely use.My sewing room is very small, about 8 x 10 feet. My sewing machine sits on this little student desk, which measures 18 x 24". I keep an extra pair of inexpensive scissors in the desk for trimming threads. This pair of scissors NEVER moves from the sewing machine. I also have a bowl with extra needles, and little brushes to keep the feed dogs and bobbin area free of dust.

Underneath, on the floor, you see a plastic bin. This is so when I chain-piece all the pieces can fall into this neat, clean plastic bin. It makes it easy to grab everything when I am done.
All the other thread lives on this thread rack on the wall nearby, arranged by color and within easy reach, and there is a wastebasket right next to the machine.