Cutting Session

 This has been lurking and growing for several days, so this morning I turned on the iron and tackled it.

Forty minutes later I had these strips, ready to trim down

There's an app for that!

Just a quick post--not too inspired to post anything, but want to move forward.

When I made my first and second bunches of project bags, I used several lines of quilting to secure the iron-on interfacing and give more structure to the sides of the bags.

Here's a built-in, analog app I used to make fairly evenly-spaced lines of quilting:

This takes a light touch--you really don't want to press against the pressure foot, nor down on the traveling fabric. I don't think I'd ever use this technique on a quilt (never say "never"!), but for these bags it was a perfect, and quick, way to get those straight lines of stitching knocked out.

O-N-O-F-F modulators

(Equipment troubleshooting humor. More than once they've been the culprit in a 'non-functioning' piece of machinery I was called upon to 'fix'.)

I have 4 machines set up in my sewing studio (10'x13' bedroom), with a 5th one--a Brother serger--squatting at the end of my sewing table waiting to be called off the bench and put into play. Some time ago I grew tired of wasting time trying to find the on/off switch hidden out of sight on at least one of my machines.

Marking pens to the rescue!

My Brother Nouvelle 1500 has its switch on the side, which you'd think would be simple to find, but no! It's different enough from my Janome Jem (which I've had so long and use so often I could probably thread and operate it with my eyes closed) that I'd grope...grope...grope...then finally crane my neck around the side to find the switch. Fixed:

Simple, but oh so handy!

My Viking Platinum 16 (deep-throat free-motion quilting) sits in its own table with her switch as far from me as possible. I couldn't even seem to remember which side to randomly grope. Fixed:

What's that I see?

I spy with my little eye...

Flip! Gotcha!!