Well, it's official. Fall has arrived. Although school here starts after Labour Day the stores are already full of back to school supplies. Sheesh, talk about rushing my life along! I refuse to get caught up by the smell of new crayons, the reams of crisply lined paper - it's still summer, and I intend to soak up every last minute of it. Here's to a wonderful, slow-paced August for all of us!
Do you buy interesting supplies at quilt shows and then go home and proceed to put them away in a cupboard and forget about them? I know you do, I keep hearing customers in my booth say that's exactly what they did with that pack of
Texture Magic they bought. Time to dig it out and play! And to help, Superior Threads has a series of
video tutorials posted that will take you through the process step-by-step. No more excuses! Texture Magic is a fabric that, when stitched to the back of any fabric and steamed, will shrink 30% in all directions. This creates interesting textures on the surface of your fabric, which can then be used in garments, quilts, or bags.
Now that you're in a playful mood perhaps it's time to clear out some threads, yarns, or fibres from your stash and make some thread lace.
Dissolve 4X is a heavy duty film type stabilizer which dissolves quickly in cold water. Simply cut 2 pieces of Dissolve into the desired size - and proceed as you would when making a sandwich. On the one "slice" you can put all sorts of filling - the threads that don't seem to work in your machine but you won't part with, the bits of yarns that are hanging around, snips of batiks, organzas or silks. Cover with your other slice and pin to secure. (If not using any filling just stitch on one slice of Dissolve). Now thread your machine with whatever catches your fancy. If your piece is ultimately going to be seen from both sides - like a scarf - you may want to put the same thread in the bobbin too. Now stitch. And stitch. And, wait - you're not done yet - stitch some more. Rinse your piece in cold water, washing away all the Dissolve 4X. Lay flat to dry. Congratulations! You've just made thread lace!
Hmmm.... what if you made some thread lace using
Nite Lite Extra Glow thread? Perhaps some spider webs to put into a quilt? This 40 wt. polyester thread will glow brightly for up to 6 hrs. after being exposed to either natural or artificial light. Although it does come in 5 colours plus white they all glow white. Washing or dry cleaning will not diminish its glow.
If you are thinking of restocking your thread collection for the busy quilting season ahead why not order some handy
Thread Colour Cards? It's not always easy or accurate to view colours on a computer monitor - especially when the colour choice is critical. The Colour Cards are made with the actual thread, making the decision process much easier. And for the super-organized they are wonderful to have on file together with your thread inventory. The nice people at Superior Threads have done the work for you, just download the inventory lists
here and print.
Transfer-Eze is a nifty product that works with our inkjet printers/copiers, and is used for marking embroidery or quilting patterns. It is a pliable film with a paper backing that has a "stick" to it. Once you're copied the pattern and removed the backing paper simply adhere the film to the top of your work. Quilt or embroider, and then rinse the Transfer-Eze away in cold water. This would be a great way to mark the back of your quilt when doing bobbin work, or when using a dense, opaque fabric that is hard to mark, such as wool.
As print size shrinks and needle eyes become smaller and smaller with each passing year I was interested in trying the uniquely designed
Spiral Eye Needles. What a pleasant surprise! These needles were easy to thread, and I now prefer them over the self-threading ones which sometimes shred the thread at the top of the needle. I have them available in a
size 8 Between (I put these to good use burying my quilting threads on the back),
size 8 Sharp, and a
size 20 Chenille (makes threading perle 5 cotton a breeze!).
If your travel plans include Toronto this summer here are some textile events of special interest to quilters:
- until Sept. 6th
