W.I.P.-it, W.I.P.-it good Wednesday!

Hi peeps!

I started working on the citrus batik table topper I mentioned here and here.

I usually eyeball it when I'm doing half square triangles(and they never seem to work out), but this time I decided to draw the sewing lines on the wrong sides with my Frixion pen. Woa! What a difference that makes! I never realized how much my machine(and my hands) move the fabric around, making slightly wobbly lines instead of nice straight lines. 

In all fairness Pfrancine(my Pffaf) is in dire need to be cleaned and have the motor timer reset but I got this pretty pile done in no time flat!

I wanted to show you what happens when put your iron on the marks made with a Frixion pen. You can see the pen marks on the bottom triangle, below the stitching. 

I pressed the seam quickly, and as you can see on the top triangle, the marks disappeared completely. It's like magic!

I have been seeing others around blog-land who are pressing their seams open and thought I would give it a try. A small project is a great place to see how it goes. I liked how crisp the seam was.

Here is one of the finished HSTs, now all I have to do is *ug* trim these squares down. 

I can't tell you the specific dimensions as this was a free-with-purchase pattern and it is not available on the Timeless Treasure website. I did go there to check, so that I could share with you, but no I can't. Sorry…but, you can probably figure it out!

I wanted to talk about thimbles…do you use them??? 

I have never been able to use a conventional thimble, they always felt 'wrong' on my finger. I have been using a leather thimble(pictured above) for years, but wear them out very quickly as I push the needle with the side of my middle finger. These thimbles cost around $10-$15 plus shipping and I have gone through several in the past 18 months, while I have been working on two enormous hexagon projects.

I saw the blue one(a Roxanne's mid-priced metal thimble) on clearance so I ordered the largest size. I have mentioned my thick fingers before, and I really thought the XL size would fit. Well, it only fits if I rub a tiny dab of hand lotion into that finger…and, well it still didn't feel all that right. Plus after just a few hours of use, the pretty blue paint started to come off!

I was shopping at a favorite Etsy shop and noticed the metal cuff-style thimbles there. They were ultra cheap…I think 4 for $1, so I bought them. Well, they work great! I have been using one for a couple of months now, with no problem! Just goes to show you that expensive doesn't always mean the best!

Don't forget to enter Craftsy's #SecretStash Contest here.

Prizes include a box of secret stash goodies(and they have tonnes of things to choose from!!!) as well as a Craftsy class of your choice! Cool!!!

Also, the person I awarded my consolation prize to in my last giveaway never got back to me, even though I allowed 48 hours for a response. 

I have contacted Pam P. and hope she will get back to me asap!

I did notice that a lot of the people that commented were "no-reply bloggers" which means they didn't have an email connected to their open id and therefore I had no way of contacting them. So, if you would like to win …and receive your winnings, please check your Google+ account and see if your email is visible in the top right drop-down window. If it isn't, just Google how to fix the no-reply blogger issue on your Google+ account and you will find a few tutorials to show you how to fix it!

By the way, a big HELLO *waving happily* to my new followers. Thanks so much for joining up!

Question of the day:

Do you wear a thimble, and if you do, what kind of thimble do you use?

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Quilty Huggs,

Jacqueline

A WIP, a Win, and the Caribbean Festival!

Hi Peeps!

It has been a long time..I KNOW…but the excessive heat we have been getting laid me low with an awful 5-day migraine…NOT fun! I did manage to get started on the HST's for the Jumbo Prism Pillow(link on the Cute Tute page), though.

Aren't those trimmings colourful?

These are the smaller HST's, all trimmed and ready for pressing. I have to finish up trimming the large triangles. They are a bit tricky, as I only have a long ruler that is wide enough. I better check on Massdrop to see if they have any there on sale!

I won this cute Yoko Saito pattern from a giveaway at see how we sew blog. You should check them out. If you go to the pattern page and scroll down, they have some free patterns too!

The Hubs and I went to the Caribbean Festival in Maple Ridge this past Saturday. It is an annual event, and we do try to go every year. We didn't have the teenager with us(out sunning on the beach with his friends), so were able to catch some shade in the beer garden while eating our (expensive) Jamaican Jerk chicken. It was really good, a treat I look forward to every year! It was smoking' hot and by the time we headed home, we were done. 

I did buy a large Batik sheet(purple, of course, with stencilled red turtles all over it). We will use it as a top sheet during the summer months. Show-and-tell next post!

I finally figured out how to rotate and crop my pics! YAY! The Hubs took this picture of a brave couple dancing in the street on a hot summer day. The young lady looked very warm in that pretty costume.

I have some Happy Mail to show next post and I received a surprise package from one of my sponsors…I think a giveaway is coming soon!

Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Jacqueline