A Productive Day!!!

Hello, all!!

Well, lots of snow and ice on the roads kept us inside today, but it made for a very productive day! I can't post pictures of what I'm working on because it's a gift and someone might see it - but I did learn two neat things today and wanted to pass them on.

First of all, I did use a very old piece of fabric from my stash. It had been hanging around for a long time because it was kind of unusual - a piece of warm grey batik with silver spiderwebs and spiders printed on it. I picked it up because it was an interesting piece, but I've never been able to find a use for it where the spiders weren't just a little creepy. I was debating using it in the project I was working on and had almost decided not to use it, when I took a look at the reverse of the fabric - and found out that it was a beautiful warm grey batik without the spiderwebs!! So - if you have a fabric that you can't seem to find a use for, take a look at the reverse side. It may work using that side! I've also used this trick this week when I needed a slightly less intense pink for an applique - the reverse side of the printed pink fabric was slightly lighter, and the print was vague enough that it didn't really make much of a difference in the print.

Second tip - keep a spare chopstick next to your sewing machine! It's really useful for turning things, plus it's great for pulling thread out from under your presser foot, which I find to be really awkward with my fingers - they're too big to get under the presser foot, but the chopstick is just the right size. Since I've learned to pull up my bobbin thread to the top when machine quilting, it's also great for pulling that little loop of bobbin thread through!! Takes about half the time.....

That's all I've got tonight - here's hoping the roads clear off enough for us to get to church safely tomorrow morning!! Later!!

Sarah