Clipping wings the Deb Tucker way…

In one day, I had two readers mention that they used the Deb Tucker “Wing Clipper” tool to perfect their Flying Geese units.

I decided that I had to try it out…..

After making this video, I realized that I could put some non-slip grips on the back of the ruler to help stabilize it. As I searched, I found that there are tons of choices….which ones do you prefer??

I recently purchased 3 more of the Deb Tucker rulers and cant wait to try them and, of course, review them on this site. Be sure to come back for more!!!

PATTERN UPDATE….. have you checked out my pattern for “Crumbs for the Geese” . You can find it on the “Patterns for Sale” at the top of this page.

Let’s buy an iron!!

Last week I asked a question about irons and got some great advice. Here is what I heard…..

First of all, MOST people do not use the steam function on their iron. Instead, they use a spray bottle to better control the amount of water that is being added to the fabric. I had NEVER thought about that.

Also, they said that irons will last longer if you don’t add water to the mix. That certainly makes sense.

One individual suggested this Sprayer from Angela Walters

I might buy it just for the saying!!!

One person suggested that, if you are not using steam, you may not need the higher wattage. That is something else to consider.

Several people liked the Chi brand irons

The one that I found on Amazon was 1700 watts and had a $US80 price tag.

I don’t know anything about this brand but do remember my daughter being so excited when she could finally afford a Chi Hair Straightener!!!

Olisio irons also got a shout out, although I had a hard time finding a full-size one on Amazon. But, maybe I just didn’t look hard enough!!!

The general consensus is that Rowenta irons are simply not worth the money!! Several people said that they like the iron but that it didn’t work for long and had to be replaced.

One that I had never heard of was a dry iron from Vermont Country Store....

This model was $US55.

The most suggested brand was Black & Decker, with this one being singled out…..

It is 1100 watts and sells on Amazon for $US29.

Several people mentioned that they are still using the iron that they bought MANY years ago and one reader said that, when hers finally dies, she will go to a thrift store for a new one.

This really makes me wish that I still had my Mom’s old iron….the one that Dad had replaced the cord on several times!!

The one that I had found when I originally started looking was the Beautural 1800-Watt…..

It had really high reviews on Amazon with 11,000 people rating it!! That number of ratings is hard to fake!!

One reader said that she really liked this iron. The only drawback that she had was that it would sometimes blow the fuses in her old house!! Since my house isn’t that old, I would hope that I wouldn’t have that problem. Having said that, I often have two irons on at the same time so that could be a problem!!

Since I am interested in seeing the difference that an 1800-watt iron would bring, I am planning to order this last iron and give it a try.

Keep coming back and I will let you know what I think!!

And, THANK YOU to everyone who commented and gave advice. Sometimes, it does take a village!!!

Pressing Matters

This past week at my guild retreat I found out something that I didn’t know…..

Irons come in different wattages!!

Who knew!!

This came about because I was using a no-steam iron and was amazed at how flat the scrap blocks were…..

I also liked using a dry iron rather than adding steam to the fabrics and felt as if they were less distorted.

Come to find out, the iron was 40-plus years old and was a 1700 watt iron.

As we talked about this among ourselves, someone mentioned that irons came in different wattages. As I did more research, I found out that higher watt irons heat up faster and get hotter!!

I checked my irons when I got home and found that they were both 1500 watt irons.

I have been looking online to see how high I could go, and found one at 2000 watts but it has no reiews so that is a red-flag to me.

Next I found several at 1800 watts. The two highest rated are both brands that I have never heard of and are not super expensive ($30 – $40).

What would you do????

Do you have a favorite iron??

Please give me any advice that you can!!!!

It’s here!!!

Earlier this week, I succumbed to a long-thought-out plan and ordered an Accuquilt fabric cutter!!

I love working with scraps and spend so much time cutting them into usable shapes (squares and strips) and I find it harder and harder to tackle that large basket that is once again brimming over!!

I had to order the actual cutter from one store and the dies from another and naturally, they couldn’t both arrive at the same time!!

But I was so excited to open the box and find the cutter…..

It was so easy to set up…..

It came with one die (and the others haven’t arrived yet), so I decided that I was going to practice on flying geese blocks!!!

I cut the corner triangles first, simply folding some scrap fabrics over the dies…..

Placed the cutting mat over the top…..

…..and it was off…….

And look at how little waste there was…..

I sewed them together and quickly had 6 flying-geese blocks ready for some unknown project…..

As soon as the dies arrive, I will give the machine a good workout…..can’t wait!!!!

Also, the next International Block Swap has LOTS of 1-inch finished squares so I am going to wait until the dies arrive. That will hopefully make the piecing much easier and more accurate!!

I will be showing you more about it as time goes on…..

Let’s Roll Those Quilts!!

When I left you yesterday the quilts were all piled on my table, waiting to be hauled up the stairs and put away!!

Since I had all of them out at the same time I decided to try another Bonnie Hunter technique and to ROLL the quilts for storage rather than folding them.

I have always worried about folding my quilts, knowing that creases were not going to be good for them and it seemed that rolling might just be the ticket.

I made a video of the process and you can see how easy it is to do. In the video I mentioned that the process was a bit tedious but that was an overstatement. After I had done 6 or 7 quilts it became much easier to do.