Thoughts on Safety and Organizing (otherwise known as a confession of my faults!)

The other day while pressing it occurred to me that there are a lot of ways to hurt yourself while quilting. This epiphany came to me as I steamed my finger. I realized it is easy to burn yourself daily! I've been known to steam myself, burn myself on the iron, and my personal favorite is the 2nd degree burns from hitting the light bulb in the machine. I'd say to be careful, but I still keep doing it myself....so good luck out there. Another dangerous thing is the rotary cutter. Obviously it is VERY SHARP so getting cut is bound to happen. I can honestly say that I am so obsessively careful with mine that I have never had a bad cut. That is probably because I have only one strict rule of quilting--CLOSE THE DAMN ROTARY CUTTER EVERY TIME IT IS PUT DOWN!!!! Makes me nuts to see someone leave the cutter just sitting on the table. I've heard stories of stitches on the hand and feet. Yes, the feet. Probably a good idea to wear shoes in case you drop the cutter. But the most major injury is also caused by the rotary cutter. My ex was an ergonomics expert and he drilled ergonomics and tool safety into my head. It is very important to use the cutter properly. It is important to have a straight line from the fingertip to the shoulder. That means the perfect way to use the cutter is standing at the perfect height for a straight arm. (This one is the hardest one for me to follow. I have to sit down sometimes. Shame on me). Always hold the cutter as shown, with the finger on the finger rest and the wrist straight. Always cut straight away from yourself.

The day I thought about this blog post, I was working on proects that required a lot of pressing and squaring up scrappy, thick blocks. I managed to steam myself and actually had shoulder pain from all the cutting. The last thing I ever want is another frozen shoulder, or rotary cuff injury, so I had to follow the professional advice...REST! Shoulder was better in a day, thank goodness, but it was a good warning! I cringe any time I see someone gripping the cutter with a bent wrist, or cutting across the body. Why, you ask? Carpel tunnel and rotary cuff injuries are just waiting to happen. And no one wants those!!

If you see yourself in this picture, PLEASE make an adjustment! On a separate note, I just have to document the clean-up progress I made this week. I have been making charity quilts. I've been mostly using strips of fabrics. Talk about a mess. I had fabrics everywhere! I have also inherited a quilting room from a friend, and was overwhelmed with stuff--UFO's in bags and boxes, fabrics in bags and boxes, tools, etc. I consolidated fabrics into my stash, worked on UFO's of mine and hers, cut scraps into strips, and was finally able to stack up the totes. I documented my progress by taking a picture of all the empty ziploc bags, and boxes! And the tops that are in the first stage of construction.

So please .....Be Careful out there!

The Viking Quilts are Finished! Moving on!

I just finished printing my labels for the Viking quilts! Yes, that's quilts, plural. I got so many stars that I ended up making 2. More money for the cause! I have also finished a quilt for someone special in CdA so I finally finished 3 bindings! Only 5 more bindings ready to tack down! The Viking quilts are lucky to be done so soon. There was a bad period in the middle. My gas was turned off from Mar 10 to April 22 thanks to a carbon monoxide leak and a landlord that didn't appear to care one bit if we were ok. Don't get me started! I ended up on a hotel for 26 days. Every day I entered my apartment (illegally, since we'd been red tagged and forced to evacuate. I'm such a rebel). I wore layers of clothes (temps in the 40's to 50's) and sewed for a bit on the scrappy backgrounds and extra bitty stars. I took them back to the hotel, pressed, squared up, and repeated every day. It was quite a month!

The big thing now is the Farmer's Market. I am making pouches and tote bags. I have so many made now that I'm good for the rest of the season! Once I get set up it's a lot of fun (unless a storm hits and pours rain). I had quite a haartbreaker in the storm. I stood there and watched the red on the quilt spread all over the top of my quilt. 3 loads with 3 color catchers each and it's back to normal!

As you can see, I'm still alive and quilting. So many ufo's, so little time!

Viking Blue!

 

This blog is for my Class of 72 Vikings! Class reunion is coming up and I thought it would be easiest for me to post the info for the Viking Raffle Quilt this way. I am hoping any and all quilters/sewers/adventurist spirits will contribute to this project.

The vision is quite simple. White stars on a blue background. The rules are pretty simple, actually.

1. The white should be white white (no cream, no print, but white on white is fine

2. Viking Blue. Also may be called cobalt (Kona). Think the blue on the crayon that says Blue. Values can go up or down a bit but needs to stay in the blue range. Get as many prints as you can find.

3. Please use many different blue prints in each block. (Do not make the whole block with just one fabric. It will stick out amongst the scrappy). Try for 4 or more per block.

4. ANY STAR is ok. ANY SIZE  is ok. The more variety the better. (I'd say 12" would be the absolute largest, and as many little ones as possible, to add sparkle. Little pinwheels are also nice in the background)

5. Please send any leftover scraps/squares/strips of the blues so I can create the scrappy background.

I am hoping to get all blocks by April so I have time to make the top (or tops if we get a lot). 
Please message me on Messenger  with questions and for address to send. (I know not everyone has Messenger-I hear you Debbie-so I guess you're on your own to figure out how to reach me. I think Ann has the reunion mailing list)

I can't wait to get packages in the mail with beautiful white stars and  scraps of blues.

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Oh,,one more thing. Prewashing is not necessary UNLESS the fabric has been in contact with cats. Very allergic.