Maintenance

There is all those little odd jobs around the house that need doing on a somewhat regular basis.  It is not only the "man of the house" that has odd jobs that he complains loudly about and puts off until the next blue moon.  We poor downtrodden wives (female partner if you so wish to be called) have ODD jobs too...  And just as a little pinch on the behind to the men who say they do it all, well, you don't...

As you may have discovered from my previous posts, you can safely say, I am frugal, so todays job has a great deal with reuse, recycle or make do... 

I have what is to me a really nice mahogany table and I got it for FREE a couple of years back.  A friend has a executive type husband whos company was moving their offices from one fancy place to an even more upscale address and in the process disposing of office furniture -- to the brass of the company it was easier to give away pieces than to pay someone to come and take it away.  Well, I got a small conference room table, mahogany, round, wooden, and it became my kitchen/dining table.   It is a very nice table, but if used for breakfasts and greasy toast and chipped coffee cups and who knows what else (as my husbands mother used to say " were you raised in a barn?) Well, she would know, cause I don't think my hubby knows what a placemat is--something that falls on the floor or why I made cloth dinner napkins ("these dish rags are not much good" says he) so, in order to keep a really nice mahogany table nice for when the quilting ladies come for tea and talk, I make a fitted plastic table cover for my really nice mahogany table -- I even like saying nice mahogany table!!

So today I hunted around in the sewing room and found my cheap elastic that has a really good stretch to it and after using the really nice mahogany table as a pattern, I cut the big round shape from one of those $2 (or now they are getting to be 3.95) plastic table covers with the sort of flannel backing and set to stitching all around that really stretchy elastic with a big zig zag stitch.

It is a pretty quick job actually, not more than a half hour I would say including cleaning off all the breakfast stuff and taking off the old raggedy and torn cover to putting the new cover on the really nice mahogany table.

A bit of a wiggle and smoosh and stretch out and the new snug table cover is fitted onto the really nice mahogany table.

Cheery and bright -- goes with my lime-green walls and looks like we are headed well into spring...

Well, now, that job's done.

PS, I'll show you what happens with the left over bits from the table cloth... later...

Mattress Sizes Puzzle

I bought a new bed.  And have run into a puzzle.  How are beds measured?  Is a bed sold in Canada different than a bed sold in the USA?  Or has the economic downturn created that innovative idea that I first noticed in fast food hamburgers -- slightly smaller for the same price??  Now, I have lived all my adult years sharing a Double bed with my husband, and yes, it is a bit more COZY than the more popular sized Queen bed mostly bought by couples. 

Now to be honest, neither of us are quite as slim as we used to be so we decided to buy a Queen sized bed this time and went ahead and moved around some furniture in our room to accommodate the larger size.  Everywhere I look the measurements for a Queen Size Bed is 60" x 80", and as long as I can remember a double sized bed is 54" x 72". 

The measurements on our old double bed and box spring turned out to be 52" x 71", but I attribute that slight change to almost 20 years of wear, so I would say when new it measured the regular size.

So before our new bed arrived we actually measured out on the floor the 60"x 80" space needed...
We put bits of masking tape on the floor so we could accurately place the bed.  The first thing I noticed with the new bed was that when I laid down on it (just had to test it right away, I could see the bits of tape quite easily on each side and at the bottom end.  Technically, if we had measured the space correctly, the bed should be right up to the bits of tape and even covering them, so why was I still seeing them?  Did we receive the wrong sized bed?  All the paperwork did say Queen Size, so I thought I would measure the mattress.  The actual measurement of the bed turned out to be  57" x 77"!  I was a bit stunned by that so called the store we purchased it from.  The sales person checked that we had received the bed we chose and verified that it was sent out and that it was a Queen Sized bed...  This is a name brand mattress and box spring, supposedly top quality and purchased from a very reputable retailer of long standing and everybody knows the name.  So now the big question is: What is the measurements of a Queen Sized bed??

Our old mattress still has its sewn on label that guarrantees it's life to be 20 years and its size to be 54" x 72" and it was not a top quality mattress set but pretty good.  So today we pay about 3 times the price we did for the old one but  the new one is barely bigger than what we got and is definately not what we expected to have -- which is more room to wiggle around on and not always be "touching bums" -- but we are and it isn't...

I have a friend who often tells me (because sometimes I am overly frugal) that "you get what you pay for"...  I have been doubting her the last few years because of a few other things where I expect to be getting top quality and it is not only poorly made but made with poor materials and now I see that what I have paid for in a bed is again less than what I expected.   It is quite a disappointment to have believed I was getting what I paid for and yes, the quality is probably there, or is it - because the warrenty is now only 5 years, not 20, and the size is 3" less all the way around!  Did I get what I paid for?  In reality, I guess that is the standard now, or is it?  I am having a hard time believing that you can get what you pay for on anything now.   I do feel cheated somewhat and definately disappointed that such a well known company would call their product by these standardized names but not really follow the accepted standard...

Well, I guess there is one advantage to this smaller size -- the quilt I was planning to make for the bed, need not be quite as big as I thought, I guess I may save 20 dollars on that extra 3" border all around!  How 'bout you?  What size is your bed, and what size did you think it was?  Does it measure up?

UPDATE:  After checking the web pages of both the store and the manufacturer,(the Canadian branch of the International company) the bed measurements for a queen size are listed as 59" x 79 1/2" with the possibility of a one inch varience due to the amount of foam in the mattress...  So technically I have not been short changed 3" in each direction, only 2" in width and 2 1/2 inches in length...  I still feel like I did not get what I paid for.

Oh, and on the upside; because I bought a pillow top mattress I was somewhat worried that sheets might be just a smidge too small for the new bed.  I bought top quality queen sheet sets (400 thread count, organic cotton) and they fit beautifully, even a bit enough to tuck nicely under the mattress, so the sheets are sized right and because the bed is smaller than expected it makes it easy to put on the fitted sheets...  So as another friend reminds me (and she always sings it) "Keep on the sunny side of life"...

Tipping on Tuesday

Wow, tuesdays come around pretty quick!

Just a short one today...

Here is an idea that might be useful, I mostly use it for crochet patterns but also quite often for quilt patterns, especially if I am going to make any adjustments, either enlarging or decreasing the size.

Make photo copies of the pattern instructions.  There are a few good reasons for this.  Now, you are not making photocopies to hand out or give away, because the person who wrote the pattern is not then getting paid for their work to create the pattern.  A book, with patterns is meant for the person who bought the book and if you are making copies for others to use, that is a contravention of copywrite laws, so please don't use patterns or books that you have not a right to use.   I am not going to go into details of copywrite, cause, I don't know all the rules or laws on the issue -- I just think that what feels right probably is right.  So the photocopies you make are for your own use.

One, is changing dimensions, either of the block used or the number of blocks for the whole quilt.  You can write the changes on the photocopy pages without marking the magazine or book or even the individual purchased pattern, by writting your changes on the photocopy pages it will not confuse you if next time you plan something different or you can save your pages so that if you want or need you can reuse your own changes in the future -- this is also great for crochet or knit patterns.

If you are making a quilt from a fairly thick book, by photo copying the pages you need you will save on wear and tear of the book binding.

And since a quilt is often a multi-day/week/month project, I find that by making a photocopy of the pattern instructions, you can then keep the photocopy pages more easily attached to the project.  I know I have started a project, perhaps even to the point of cutting and partial sewing then for some reason, put the book or magazine away on the shelf--then, the trick is finding it again!  A photo copy with the cut fabrics saves on a frenzied search or even the give up of the part done pattern when you can't remember what or where the original pattern is...

The photo copy pages often prove very useful for crochet or knit patterns because you can check off the rows or sections you have done, without having to recount or try to figure where you left off -- a little check mark takes you instantly to the next row you need to do...

Cleaning Your Sewing Machine

I just discovered a Blog-Along and here I am making my small attempt to take part.

I have had various sewing machines since I was about 10 years old!  The first one I bought for myself was in a Salvation Army Store in Selkirk, Manitoba.  I saw it in the window of the store during lunch hour early in the school year when I was in grade nine.  It was $10.   I went into the store and told the lady I would buy it but I couldn't come get it until my Dad could bring the Truck on Saturday Morning--so she put my name on the machine and said to come back and I could pay for it then... It was a "I don't know how old" treadle singer.  My Dad worked in a factory and his job title was OILER.  He oiled all the factory machines so they would keep running smoothly and no one had to stop work cause the machine seized up -- he was an important fellow in the factory...  So, lucky me, I had an expert teacher to show me how to look after that wonderful old machine.   Of course, my Dad looked it over before I handed over my hard earned $10 to the 2nd hand store lady -- he pronounced it to be in good working condition!  Great!

At home, My Dad, insisted I learn about my new machine -- first thing he did and insisted I watch and even had me hold and observe how thing fit together, was to turn the machine over.  He showed me how the bobbin shuttle moved back and forth, we studied how the shuttle was connected to a moving arm that then was connected to a kind of "U" shaped joint, that was connected to another shaft that went up the post part of the machine.  We oiled every joint that moved.  Turned upright, we found small "oil holes" in various places on the top of the machine.  My Dad said they were there because there was a joint directly beneath it that needed oil, but because it was inside it would not be easy to get at, so I should carefully drop a drop of oil into each of those tiny holes.  We took the front fancy work steel plate off the front end of the machine and again found various tiny holes when the pieces of metal joined to create movable connections.  All those needed a drop of oil.

Now, not only did all those little bits get a drop of oil but also all the shafts and inside, bottom, top, wheel, machine bed and anything that could be reached should be wiped down with a small piece of chamois that my Dad gave me.  My Dad said that I should pick a day every month and put oil in all the right spots and wipe down the machine.  Since my birthday was the 24th of December, I decided that I would clean my machine on the 24th day of every month. 

I used that machine all through school and into my first few years of working...  Today, I don't know what happened to that machine, I think my mom gave it to a younger cousin, but now I can't remember.  I have had many machines since then and every single one needs oil at sometime or another and mostly, I have stuck to  the 24th day of each month to do that little bit of maintenance.  It is a cleaning job that I absolutely LOVE to do -- I actually look forward to it!  

Now today, I use, mostly a Janome 6600P, and it gets a good going over as regularly as any previous machine I have had -- now there are different "rules" to a electronic machine, but there is STILL all those same or rather mostly those same basic joints to make the needle go up and down and contrary to the sewing store, I have taken my Janome apart to find those joints and I still clean my own machine.  I would not recommend that you do that though, it costs too much to fix it if you do something wrong.  I am not a repair person, but since it is MY machine, I take the chance.  I have been doing it now for about 3 years and probably 20 or 30 take aparts to clean -- I have never taken it to the sewing machine repair guy and have never had it "properly" cleaned -- I trust my self and thank my Dad for teaching me his "tricks" to OILING.   Now don't tell me I shouldn't or something dire will transpire, cause like any dangerous sport, I accept the risks and do it anyway...  I love my machine, but I love doing my own cleaning more...

Crochet Baby Afghan

When you are a human who is compelled to make stuff, you make things that you don't even need yourself, just cause you need to make stuff!   Many of the people I know don't know what it is like to just HAVE to make things.  Is it an addiction?  I can't think of any other word that really applies to the need to be practicing my crafts all the time...   I love to quilt, but I am just about as addicted to yarn as I am to fabric -- well, technically they are FIBRE RELATED aren't they??

For the past few weeks I have been working on a baby afghan.  I started it because I found two balls of Bernat Softee Baby Yarn at Value Village for only $.99 each!   The colour was a lovely blue and I was inclined to create something in blue -- When I went to pay the cashier for the two balls of yarn, I was desperately hoping that I would be able to find some more "Softee"  in at least a complementary colour at one of the shops in town so that the two balls I was getting would not end up being not enough for anything!  A stop at Wal-mart did not yield any Bernat yarns, so I headed over to Micheals and not only did they carry Bernat Softee Baby, but they actually had the same colour!  So even though the new store price was $5.99 a ball, I was in possession of the weekly (or is it bi-weekly now? ) 40% off coupon.  So two more balls of this same yarn cost me 9.59 plus taxes...  For an afghan a total material cost of less than $12. is pretty good, and has kept me well occupied for about 3 weeks of evenings sitting in  my chair crocheting while watching TV -- give or take a few evenings... (and I think there is enough of the last ball of yarn to crochet a matching baby toque or cap to go with the afghan)

Now I am thinking maybe I shouldn't have disclosed the price that I paid for this yarn, but I love a good deal and can't help telling others but, I am considering setting up an ETSY or ARTFIRE store because making stuff that I don't need may be useful to someone else...

This little afghan is, I think an original design, simple but original at least to me because I followed no published pattern - which is actually the way I tend to crochet, patterns drive me nuts with the counting of stitches and rows, so I just do something til I get bored with that stitch or than many rows and try to put in something else that seems to fit.  The frilly fluffy border too, was an "invent as you go" set of rows and with a couple of tries and a bit of counting (sometimes counting is necessary) I managed to crochet around the centre area and make all four corners have the exact right treatment in order to keep the frilly border consistent.  I am quite proud of that accomplishment, actually....

Now, because I just have to keep making things -- I have started a traditional type granny square afghan...  In the last 2 days of 'sittin in my chair, crocheting while watching TV I have made about 100 first round of the grannies in three different colours - orange, purple, and white -- more colours and rounds to come -- more visits to Value Village and the other 2nd hand stores to look for bright colour yarns -- I'm thinkin' this will be a BIG one...

Tipping Tuesday

Now here's a fun tip, that I completely forgot about until the other day when I was looking for a gift for a quilty pal...

The SEW-DA Water Bottle

Do you drink water? of course you do! And do you have a stash of fabric? Of course you do! Well, here is a little treat for someone who is just like you. First you need to find a empty water bottle, this is the generic type bottle and I like it best because it is easiest to take apart and put back together easily. Once you have drunk the water out of it, (don't loose the cap), make a cut near the top where the bottle begins its straight down part, cut all the way around so that the top and bottom come seperate. Next, find or make up, 8 fat eighths of different fabrics or you can also stack 2" or 2 1/2" charm squares in the bottle. You can fit 7 fat eighths rolled and then one fat eighth stuffed into the top bit. (Thats a whole METER - or Yard if American) in one little bottle!  Fit the two sections of the bottle together--it may take a bit of squishing and squeezing but they will slide one over the other and you won't even notice where the cut is. Now, the last thing to do is to make a label for the bottle - something like REFRESHING SEW-DA POP,
Made right here at HOME
Nutritional Content = 8 fat eighths of lovely cotton fabric
No FAT, NO Sugar
USE as DESIRED

There are alot of variations to the label you can do to make it your own, call it Club Sew-Da, or any other play on the word Sew and so...  If you really want to elaborate on the gift, make a small water bottle tote to wrap it in...

Oh, you don't have to use just fabric, make a small hand sewing kit, thread, needles, thimble, small scissors, etc.  Or give it a theme for embroidery, or cross stitch and maybe even include a pattern!  What a versatile gift...

Tipping on Tuesday

I thought i would begin this series right from the beginning and start you off with a list of the most essential tools that one would need to begin making a quilt.  We are in a big rush in our lives, children, house, hobbies, work and quilting, takes time, even when you use all the short cuts and modern tools, it takes time, but your first essential tool, is the ROTARY CUTTER. 

The Rotary Cutter will make everything accurate and quick.  You can cut both straight and curve lines with the rotary cutter.  First in your collection should be the 45mm size cutter, it is the most versatile and the easiest to manipulate.  At some time in the future when you want to tackle curved cutting a 18mm cutter will handle those curves like a brand new Chevrolet Corvette...   There are a few different brands of cutters that are available on the store shelves.  If you can, try out how the cutter feels in your hands before you buy, they work slightly different to extend the cutter and to slide it back so that it safe when not in use -- think about which you prefer --I bought my first cutter in 1986 and it is still in use, so it should easily last you many many years...

Now without a CUTTING MAT, the rotary cutter is very limited, because the mat usually comes with a measured grid printed right on it.   The Cutting Mat is probably (other than your sewing machine) the most expensive tool you will purchase.  You should buy the largest mat that you can afford.  If you don't get a good sized mat, you will wonder later why you did't.  Think about the fact that fabric comes in 44" wide bolts and even folded in half that is 22" wide, so a mat that is at least 22"wide is optimal because the more times you fold your fabric, the more likely that the layers will slip or slide and your cut can then be inaccurate.  Look for those sale coupons to use when you go out to buy your cutting mat -- remember the mat will last for at least 5 years or perhaps more with good maintenance.  Good maintanence means, always lay it flat, never leave it in a sunny or overly warm spot -- never leave it in the trunk of the car -- it will warp and become quite useless.  Wipe it with a damp cloth every once in a while.

Lastly, you will need a good acrylic ruler -- the best ruler to start off with is the 6" x 24" or the 6 1/2 inch x 24 inch ruler.  This ruler has its measurements marked in 1/4" increments and remember all your quilting seams are done as 1/4" seams so everything you cut will be needing that 1/4 or 1/2 inch measurement marker.  Also on the 6 x 24 inch ruler are marked the 30 degree, 45 degree and the 60 degree angles that at times for cutting triangles you will find useful...  The clear acrylic ruler allows you to see and measure accurately and because it is thicker than a metal 'workshop' ruler it allows you to "lean" your cutting blade next to it without skimming off the edge of the ruler and also stabilizes the cutting blade when making long cuts.

These three tools will make all your sewing more accurate and simpler.  So never feel that they are too costly or that they are not needed for this hobby.  The cutting mat and ruler have many other purposes too -- a place to cut paper (though do not use your fabric rotary cutter for paper, get and use a different one for paper), the ruler has been used in my house to measure anything from distance between pictures to width and depth of book shelves (though a better measuring tool would have been a proper tape measure).

UnSewing an UnSightly Error and an Announcement.

Sometimes things just don't work out. Sometimes they are just so totally wrong that the only recourse is to RIP_IT!
So thats what I did...

I came across some already cut cute little squares of fabric, at the second hand store. They just had to be made into something excessively cute. Except I wasn't thinking clearly. For some strange reason the colours in a couple of pieces of sunflower fabric, one with a light background, and one with a black background were just the right colour combo's to coordinate with the little squares of duckies...  Turns out coordination is not what was called for, in this case!   NO!
 Definately not.
After piecing a few squares with the duckies and sunflowers you can see how such sweet things can go so horribly wrong!!
I am glad I could see the error of my ways early in the project, even so, it was at least an hour sewing and another hour un sewing and now I am mulling over in my head -- hopefully a bit more careful thought will be applied when embarking on making something CUTE out of the fussy cut ducky squares!

And Now For An Announcement!!
I am planning to make Tuesdays each week a THEME day. As some of my readers know i wrote a column for The Canadian Quilter Magazine, as Miss Snips Notebook. So, I am sort of missing that writing with a particular purpose, so Starting this Tuesday, I will be concentrating on Tips for Tuesdays. I hope you come by to check out short cuts and simple methods or ideas to make your quilt making easier, maybe quicker and perhaps more accurate.

My Favourite Smell

My Favourite Smell is when I open the door to my sewing room and the fabric and tools and furniture and books smell wafts over me.  My sewing room smells like no other room in the house.  No one goes in there but me and rarely one of the cats wanders in for a visit.  No one but me stays in the room for longer than a few minutes.  The whole rest of the house smells different than my sewing room.  The kitchen smells like dishwasher detergent or onions or garlic or pizza, the bedrooms, well they often smell like stinky feet and dusty corners.  The living room smells like the latest fragrance candle.  The sewing room just plain smells nice, subtle and clean, fresh and I like to think, it smells like me...  I love my sewing room smell...  It would be great if some fragrance scientist would come to my house and smell that smell and create a room freshener with the sewing room smell...

Another UFO done!

This UFO challenge with my online quilt group - RBQ is very inspiring and motivating and I am getting things done! This is the largest quilt that I have made completely on my own, no paying for long arm quilting and no trading blocks and not even trading fabric. Every piece of fabric was from my stash. I generally cut the leftovers from other projects into squares and this is a result of a thousand or so 2 1/2 inch squares and 5" squares turned into half square triangles. Black inside 'stopper' border and light value 2 1/2 inch squares pieced to make the outside border with black binding...  The back of the quilt is pieced with an overabundance of brown and browny greens that have been in my stash too long.

As you might see the quilt is quilted in simple straight lines, 4 inches apart -- I am thinking of adding a few more lines of quilting but that is just "thinking of" and not really needed on this quilt as the batting is a medium weight poly batting and should hold up quite well just the way it is...

I started this one in late spring 2008, when I was recovering from my major illness earlier in that year and was feeling a kind of restlessness and a worry that if I died, who would finish piecing all those scraps?  Ever had that kind of thought hanging over you?  It sure gets you going to sort and clean and finish, then the feeling subsides and you go back to the normal procrastinating self...

And The Cat, Archie, I am not sure if he is inspecting the quilt or wondering why this quilt is covering his view out the back patio doors of the two bird feeders, which to him are infinately entertaining...