Do you clap??

A while back I was given a “Tailor’s Clapper”…..

As my mouth said “thank you”, my mind wondered “what do I do with THAT?”

So it was time to do some research. This is what I found…..

A clapper is a wooden tool for flattening seams!!

Okay…that is easy enough.

Typically, the clapper is placed on top of a seam that has just been steamed and pressed. The clapper traps in the heat and moisture and the weight of the wood flattens the seam further.

But does it work??? I did a test.

While working on my 10-minute scrap quilt, I will often piece a row of squares before I press…..

I then press them all at the same time, and all going in one direction…..

Then, I place the clapper on top of the strip for a few seconds…..

…..and look how flat those seams are…..

But let’s give it a better test.

What if I sew two strips together….

….and place the clapper on the pressed seam…..

That looks good…..

But to truly test, let’s compare it with one that was pressed without the clapper….

I was AMAZED at how much flatter the “clappered” one was (on the right if you can’t tell).

The instructions say to leave the clapper in place for 3 to 6 seconds and that timing works well when I am pressing seams.

The only problem is that I might need a second one to further streamline the process.

And, for your useless fact of the day….. When the clapper is slapped on a hard surface, it produces a clapping sound, hence the name.

If you are interested, I purchased mine at Amazon.

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I sprayed…..I didn’t like it!

Several months ago I posted about using “Turtle Wax” to shine the bed of my sewing machine, making it easy for the fabric to glide across it as I free motioned quilted…….

Do you wax??…..

That post received many comments of people saying that they use a Silicon spray instead of wax. It was apparently faster and easier to use.

So, I took their advice and bought a can…..

Because I was worried about the spray, I spent some time covering the important bits of my machine…..

First a napkin covering the throat plate…..

Then another napkin scrunched up around the needle and shaft……

….held in place with tape……

I opened the can, shook it up and sprayed……

Immediately there was a cloud of droplets flying through my studio and a (not terribly pleasant) smell permeated everything.

OKAY….that was NOT what I was expecting!!

I took a rag and buffed the area well……

….but kept finding small pockets of spray in areas that weren’t close to the can when I sprayed.

Needless to say, I was NOT a happy camper!!

And, on top of all of that, I don’t feel that my fabric is sliding any better than it was before.

So many of you told me that THIS was the way to go and my question is……

“What did I do wrong??”

Should I have sprayed a cloth and then used the cloth on the machine bed?

Should I have used the “straw” to direct the spray better?

I am sure that this is MY problem, so please…..

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“Elmer”-ing the binding

When I was at the International Quilt Festival back in November, I listened to a short lecture by Sue Heinz of Kismet Quilts.

She is a vivacious speaker and, in her short presentation, she provided many ideas for making your quilts better and better!

One of the things that she talked about was using glue in your quilts, except she wouldn’t use the word “glue”. Instead she “Elmer-ed” her quilts!!

She suggested that we check out Sharon Schamber’s video for using Elmer to obtain perfect binding.

I started watching the first video (approximately 10 minutes), then discovered that it went straight into another 10 minute video and finally into a third.

BUT, in those three videos, Sharon presented many great ideas for perfecting your quilt binding, and I thought that you might enjoy it as well.

Start here……

….and it should take you into the other videos.

If you are reading this post via email, you can click this link to go straight to the YouTube video… https://youtu.be/4PE0Yq9iGlc?si=N-NDt8ap6TCM9OXS

While at the show, I purchased a fine-tip that will fit on the Elmer bottle, but you could also use a bottle similar to these…..

I do want to try this technique at some point, but first I have to get a quilt finished!!!!

If you have applied binding in this manner before, please let me know your experience.

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On Tuesdays, I provide a tip, technique, or product review. Please subscribe to the blog to ensure that you don’t miss ANY of them!!

My TO-DO List is TOO long!!

Do you have this problem? Your task list is getting longer and longer and longer…..

….and time is getting shorter and shorter and shorter!!

Well….maybe I found a solution!!

As you know, I love to listen to podcasts and one I have recently found is “The Lazy Genius”.

The host is Kendra Adachi and her take on life is simple….. “Be a genius about the things that matter, and lazy about the things that don’t!!”

One of her solutions when looking at a task list is to break it down into four categories…..

SOON

LATER

NEVER MIND!!

I especially love that last one. How many tasks on my list can be removed because they were just thoughts and not really tasks. I added them to the list so wouldn’t forget but….do I REALLY want to do them???

Maybe you should have a look at your “list” and see if sorting them using these criteria might help!!

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On Tuesdays, I provide a tip, technique, or product review. Please subscribe to the blog to ensure that you don’t miss ANY of them!!

SUPER QUICK Gift

Today is the 19th, so I feel sure that many of you are like me, looking for quick gift ideas for friends!!

Last week, I wrote about my “Sewing Machine Cleaning Kit”….

https://francesquilts.com/2023/12/12/quick-gifts-for-quilters/

….but didn’t give you the instructions for making the super easy pencil case.

Well, here you go…..

Cut two pieces of fabric the width (plus 1/2-inch) that you want the case to be, and 3-times as long as you want the case to be. I actually added 1/2 inch to this measurement and then cut it off later……

My cut dimensions were 10.5 x 13.0

Place them right sides together and sew across the top…..

Press the resulting seam open….

….and fold over so that the wrong sides are together….

At this point, I trimmed the long edge to a number that was easily divisible by three (12.75-inches in this case)….

Now comes the miracle part!!

Place it so that the inside fabric is on top and mark the 1/3rd point (4.25-inches in my case)……

Mark it on BOTH the right and left side!!

Now, fold the inside fabric along this imaginary line between your marks…..

I ironed it in place!!

Turn it over and it should look like this…..

Next….fold the top fabric up…..

…..until the edges line up, right sides together…..

Check to be sure that all edges are straight.

Now sew, starting on the top edge and working your way around each of the corners. Stop sewing about 3 or 4 inches from where you started, leaving a hole……

Clip the corners….

….and “birth” the case thru the opening…..

Use a point turner to push out the four corners…..

Turn under 1/4-inch on each side of the opening…..

Now we need to switch gears and make the strings and, honestly, this part took longer than the rest.

First, decide how many strings you want to use……I chose to make one and fold it in half.

For each string, cut a piece of fabric 1.5-inches wide and approximately 42 inches in length.

Fold one edge of the fabric to the middle of the strip and iron in place…..

Do the same thing to the other side…..

Now fold in the center and do a final iron…..

Head the sewing machine and start sewing at one end. Stitch across the end several times…..

….and then sew closely along the long edge…..

Finish the end in the same manner as above.

Fold the strap in half and place the fold inside the opening. Sew around the ENTIRE piece to finish it nicely…..

Fill as desired and wrap the cords around the case several times….tuck into place….

It honestly took longer to write up these instructions than it did to make the case!!

Give them a try and surprise your friends!!

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On Tuesdays, I provide a tip, technique, or product review. Please subscribe to the blog to ensure that you don’t miss ANY of them!!