End of the Holidays

Well my holiday anyway, I am back to work next week.   I should have been doing heaps and heaps of sewing but I have been a bit slack over the last few days so it has just been a bit here and there. I am going to have to really pull my finger out over the weekend and put in some solid hours.  Have done a bit of cutting out though so a few pieces are all ready to sew.

I was also trailing a few new products to see if they would be ok.  The first was Fusible Web in a Can which is spray based fusible web.  You spray it on the back of your applique piece and then iron it down for a permanent fix.  It works quite well.  First I used it on a few pieces that I cut out to fix to some cushion fronts secondly I used it to fix some batting and that was successful.  It does make the fabric quit stiff which is ok for my bottle holders/cushions but may not be so good for quilts, however, I was using the product with linen which doesn't have much drape so that probably added to firmness of the finished product.    It kept the fabric well adhered.  I have stitch around the pieces as I wanted to give it the quilted look so I can't say for sure if the stick will be permanent.  The product is pretty easy to use and is probably going to be a handy edition to your applique kit for those times when you run out of the regular fusible.

I have become a convert to Aurifil Thread in the last few months and am going to replace all my general sewing thread with Aurifil as I run out.  I am trying the 28wt cotton which is quite thick and I read on my Aurifil Iphone App that it is great for hand work and can be used in the top of the machine but it recommends using a lighter weight thread in the bobbin.  Of course I read this after the fact and just filled the bobbin and put it on my machine. I am using a needle with a larger eye in it that which is the usually needle I use for machine quilting and it hasn't missed a beat.  The thicker thread is great with the raw linen that I am sewing with at the moment.

I have to say that I love the look of the raw linen it is a timeless classic but I HATE sewing with it.  This one is so hard on the hands when trying to manipulate sewing the circle into the bottom of the holders so although I really love the look of this holder I don't think I will be making a huge amount of them, just one or 2 for each stall I think I will be able to manage.  It did give me a chance to use some of my Yardage Design offcuts that I got a few weeks ago, which I love and want to get some more of especially the agapathus fabric.