A Little of This and a Little of That

Sunday, May 24

Loops and Lycra

I have been provided with some useful information about the ratio of stretchy trim to base fabric: it should be 2 to 3. (Thanks, Gayle!) This piece of information came in handy because I wanted to make myself a mask with ear loops instead of ties so I could get a haircut.

It took some doing, but I finally completed it. I cut a 1-inch wide strip of lycra, then folded it in half and stitched the sides together using the multiple zigzag stitch. Why did I bother with stitching the ear loop? I don't know exactly. It seemed to give the piece more stability without sacrificing too much stretchiness. (See my previous post, Loopla!, for more on lycra ear loops.)

My "Haircut Mask" was made with Kaffe Fassett fabric for the front and for the filter pocket. The back, underneath the pocket, was just some generic orange polka dot fabric I had. I encased one of the new nose bridges (explained below) in between the filter pocket and the back. It will be relatively easy to get to it, if it breaks.

Haircut Mask
The fabric is Leopard Lotus Ochre by Philip Jacobs from the Spring 2016 Kaffe Fassett Collective.

Filter pocket of Haircut Mask
 The fabric is Pink Tree Fungi by Philip Jacobs from the Fall 2016 Kaffe Fassett Collective

I love this mask, and it goes on and off so quickly and easily.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult to sew a zigzag stitch on a narrow little strip of Lycra.
First I had to change needle plates, which involves a screwdriver. For regular sewing I prefer to use the Straight Stitch Needle Plate, because it doesn't jam. However, for zigzag stitches it is necessary to use the "Standard" Needle Plate, which has a wide hole so the needle can zigzag from side to side. Then I forgot to take off the Standard Needle Plate before I started sewing the regular fabric again.  Oy, did it jam. I couldn't get the fabric out until I unscrewed the plate and took it off.

For those of you who may not be sewing-literate, this is what the Standard Needle Plate (aka throat plate) looks like:

Standard Needle Plate

And this is the hole that eats your fabric:

The Straight Stitch Needle Plate has a different configuration of holes:

Straight Stitch Needle Plate

Long story short, my beloved Janome is now in the shop. I managed to damage the needle plate while trying to un-jam it. She was way overdue for routine maintenance in any case.

And I want to end this segment by saying that I have also been reminded to use a stretch or ball-point needle when sewing on lycra. I didn't. Maybe that would have made it easier. And maybe I should have lowered the feed dogs. This whole adventure has been one experiment after another.

Locks and Laces

Meanwhile, my daughter received a mask that she really likes because it goes on quickly. It has ties made of plastic lanyard lacing. We used to call it "gimp," and we  made lanyards with it at camp. What her mask has actually looks a little wider and more flexible than standard lanyard lace.

The lacing goes through a channel on each side of the mask, so you don't have to worry about sewing through a very narrow piece of plastic.

The really cool thing about this mask is the cord lock toggle that is used to quickly adjust and tighten the ties. You only need one per mask.

Based solely on the photos, I don't really think this is the same exact material campers know and love. You can't see the knots well, but they don't look like the gimp knots that always came undone due to the stiffness and lack of friction I remember from my camping days.

Whatever. I will figure the ties out later. I'm thinking t-shirts might work. In order to be able to experiment, I ordered some cord locks (and they came in just a few days🤗). I was able to get a package of 25 cord locks for $7.29. That works out to about 29 cents apiece. Very reasonable.

A Bridge to Nose-wear

Susan C presciently ordered a bunch of nose bridges very early on in our new lives as mask makers. She was kind enough to share them, and I got two dozen to play with while I waited for my order to arrive.

I placed my order for the same type of nose bridge  on April 27. It was a little late in the game, but I carefully chose a supplier (through Amazon) who looked to be able to get them shipped quickly. As soon as I placed the order the expected arrival date changed to a later date. I kept checking the tracking feature and the arrival kept getting pushed back, until the product finally showed up as "currently unavailable." After almost a month, the tracking feature informed me I could request a refund. I did so yesterday, and the seller promptly responded agreeing to give me a refund. An email from Amazon confirmed this, but I want to see it on my credit card.

I did consider not cancelling the order, but Susan C reported that she was finding the pieces rather flimsy, and one of them had broken inside a mask during washing. I think I will get the plastic-covered wire nose bridge strips instead, but I will probably have a long wait.

My Latest Labors

My mask group is working on some masks for the synagogue, in case people show up without a mask. The idea is that people who don't have a mask can keep one. But people who already have one at home should leave them at the synagogue. We are still figuring out a system to collect these weekly and wash them.

Speaking for myself only, I work much too hard on these masks to have them be taken as a souvenir, or because they are "free," or because they are nicer, or because we forgot and walked out wearing it. They are not intended to be throw-away items. So, my solution to this "problem" is to use up some this ugly Judaica fabric that I've had forever. I am halfway through a set of these masks. I will finish them when my Janome comes home.

I also made a pair of masks for one of my cousins in California. She didn't get the sewing gene, apparently. Her masks got the full treatment, with nose bridges and filter pockets and pretty fabric.

The fabric on the top mask is May Purple Fireweed Bali Batik, by Alaskan artist Dana Michelle, from the Into the Wild collection, by Hoffman Fabrics. The fabric on the bottom mask is Red Guinea Flower, from Kaffe Fassett.

The filter pocket on the top mask is a batik. The filter pocket on the bottom mask is Leopard Lotus Orange by Philip Jacobs from the Spring 2016 Kaffe Fassett Collective.   

Now I just have to figure out what I'm going to do with those cord locks. And make about 50 more masks.

Mother's Favorite - September 2015 BOM

Here we go with the September block.

I like the nesting triangles. What I don't like is the background fabric. It is off-white, but it has a very faint watercolor pattern to it. The contrast color is a light orangey-brown. It's hard to see in the photo above, but it shows up more clearly on the fabric. On some of the pieces it is much more noticeable than on others.

To me, it looks like the fabric was scorched during ironing. The scale of the print is such that you can't see the contrast color on every piece. I also think that the scale is larger than the scale of the blue and pink fabrics. It is obvious that the blue and pink fabrics are watercolor batiks. It is not obvious with the background fabric.

I suspect it might look too busy if you used a "more obvious" watercolor print for your background. Maybe the answer is to use a solid, which is what it looks like anyway.

Lessons learned:

• Before photographing a block, remove stray threads. Otherwise you will have to choose between 1) repeating the process: taking the card out of the camera, putting it into the computer, importing the new photo, editing the photo, struggling with the photo app (the biggie), uploading it to the blog app, etc., or 2) letting people think you are lazy.

• When selecting fabric, ask yourself what it will look like when it has been cut into small pieces. Is the scale wrong? Will there be pieces without any pattern on them? Will it look stained, or appear to have been scorched?

Pish Pash

I finished it! The "Pashmina" table runner.

SLM thinks this is why it's called Pashmina

I still have to learn what setting to use on the camera to make my photos of quilting come out well. I had some issues with focus, lighting, and color.

I had to take the closeup photos in three sections:

I used wavy lines for the free-motion quilting. It turned out pretty well. I think my control got better as I went along. Practice, practice, practice. Ideally, I would do all of the quilting in one sitting to maintain consistency, but my arms would probably fall off if I tried to do this - especially on a larger project.

I decided to use the backing fabric for the binding. I thought it would look good.

Backing with matching binding

I'm not thrilled with the way the binding turned out on the front. I didn't realize it would come out looking like the stripes on a barber pole once it had been trimmed and folded into a narrow strip. It does look nice on the back, though.

I tried something new (for me) with the binding. Instead of machine-sewing it onto the front, folding it over, and then hand-sewing it down on the back, I wanted to spare myself the tedious hand-sewing. I machine-stitched the binding onto the back of the project, folded it over, and then machine-stitched it down on the front, very close to the folded edge. That was SO MUCH easier.

I wasn't sure how it was going to look on the back. I don't think it looks that bad. In some places you can't even see the top-stitching. In other places you can see it, but it's on the back, so I can live with it.  

You can see the top-stitching a little bit

If I had matched the thread color better, this might have been less noticeable. As it happened, I just decided to use a color I had on hand. It was close, but somewhat darker than the fabric.
 
Lessons learned:

1. Measure twice, cut once.
2. Relax.
3. Give yourself a realistic but not too distant deadline.
4. A solid color might be best for your binding. Test a print by folding it into a narrow strip.
5. Don't be lazy when it comes to thread color.

Simply Elegant Table Runner

Simply Elegant Table Runner. That's the name on the pattern. I actually don't think it's an accurate description of this project. It IS simple, and it IS a table runner, but it doesn't strike me as elegant. I might have called it No-Nonsense Table Runner or Stripped Down Table Runner or maybe Hopscotch Table Runner.

I am using a kit from Timeless Treasures (Tonga Treats line). It came with the fabric and the pattern. The color run I am using (see photo below) is called "Pashmina." 

Pashmina paint

I definitely would not have named this color run Pashmina. "Pashmina" is a "fine quality material made from goat's wool." And - I'll bet you didn't know this - Benjamin Moore has a paint color called Pashmina. I would have called the batik color run Bali Garden or something along those lines.


I started it earlier this year, and then it got put aside while I traveled a bit. Last week I made a commitment to finish it before August 13. 

Yesterday I made the quilt "sandwich" using spray baste and Insul-Bright batting. This is an insulated batting that is perfect for table runners. 

Uh oh! Something went wrong and I didn't have a long enough piece of Insul-Bright. I decided to overlap two pieces and sew them together with a zig-zag stitch. This worked out well, and I don't think it will affect the appearance.
Today I started doing the actual quilting. This is the hardest part for me. 

I am doing free-motion quilting. I am hoping that with practice I will get to the point where I can maintain even stitch length and smooth lines. I'm not there yet. I do hope that Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000-Hour Rule doesn't apply to free-motion quilting. I don't know if I would have the perseverance for that.

It is quite a bit easier with my new sewing machine because it has a speed control, but I'm still trying to figure out the optimal speed. I had it set too slow, and my stitches were all over the place. I set it a little faster and that seemed to help.

Today I did half of the quilting and then realized that my left wrist was almost broken and my left arm was falling off. Did somebody say Advil? I guess I was too tense. I will have to wait a couple of days before I can continue.

2015 BOM - Bordered Rows

I began the 2015 Block of the Month program in January at my local quilt shop. The quilt top for 2015 is called Bordered Rows, and it comes from Marti Michell.  If I had known the  pattern in advance, I might not have signed up to participate in the program this year. But the way BOM works is you don't know what you are going to get. All I knew was the blocks would be set on point and what color runs we could choose from. You only get a block pattern once a month and you don't get the finishing instructions until you are about halfway through the year.

This year's design uses special fabric sold by Marti Michell. It has a complicated striped print as part of the finishing. If you don't use a stripe, you are going to have to think very carefully about what to use to have the quilt come out looking nice.

I think the quilt, as made by Marti Michell, is very UGLY - both the fabrics and the pattern.

Marti Michell's Bordered Rows Quilt

I especially don't like the asymmetrical placement of three rows of chevrons at the bottom vs. two rows at the top. The three rows look awful and detract from the blocks themselves.

To be honest, I didn't really like any of the color runs offered by my quilt shop, either. I ended up choosing a run consisting of watercolor batiks in primary colors. 

There was one multi-color print in the color run - a batik with a black background. I decided to substitute a grassy print with a green background because I was tired of black.

The fabric I didn't use