Getting That 1/4" Seam Just Right

This past weekend's CW BOW was really rather an easy block which I was able to finish in one sitting on Sunday morning!!

#39 Hovering Hawks

Having said that is was an easy block, of course with so many small pieces one's 1/4" seam allowance needs to be very accurate because you can loose or gain (millimeters ) or 1/16" 's very easily.

Because I use my vintage machines to sew with, some of the older models do not have any seam guidance lines on the throat plate which can be a bit tricky!  I guess we have become very comfortable about this as most of the machines now have a lot of visual aids to help us get accurate seams.  Although not always!! some are rather generous as I have already discovered!!!

With this latest block I decided to use my 1956, 201K, it has no seam guidance lines at all, so what to do?? I really didn't want to use an adhasive tape.   I had been looking around and found a nifty little seam guide which adheres (not sticky) to the throat plate and provides a nice little ridge that the fabric can butt up against.

I bought it through OzQuilts in Melbourne.  http://www.ozquilts.com.au/index.html
It is an American product and I was particularly interested in it because it does not have a sticky residue on the side that sticks to the bed of the machine as it is vinyl.

I did learn a little trick though, and that is always great,!! you will notice Tip #6.
I had to make just one adjustment to the vinyl position to get a perfect 5" across the finished 3 strips that I sewed together.

As suggested I sewed three 2" wide strips together, (I cut mine at around 5"-6" in length) and was happy when I pressed the seams in one direction that my practice piece ended up exactly at 5" across.

Whoo hoo!!!!!

My block came up exactly at 8 1/2".

Now this is just a new take on something has had been around for some time, which was the original seam guide that Singer produced to get the same result.  They are hard to find but I have a few of them and use them on my Featherweight and my old  201K, 1953 treadle (pictured below).

It works really well!  But if you are unable to find one for your old Singer, then the modern alternative is a great tool!

This old dear has seen better days and has been well used,  her decals are a bit ratty, she has numerous wrinkes, but she sews like a dream and I love treadling with her!!! 

So if you really want to check out your machines' 1/4" seam capability, do that little sewing check and see if you get 5" or more or less across, that will give you an idea if you need to adjust the placement of your fabric or get a seam guide of some description to aid your sewing.

With the onset of Spring my gorgeous flowering shrub "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow" is in full bloom.
It has a wonderful fragrance and is a joy to see at this time of the year.  I don't know its proper botanical name, but it is called that because the flowers come in at three different colours depending on their maturity!!!

Thankyou for dropping by!!!  Hope your fingers are happy and busy at your sewing!!

Take it easy,
Merilyn

Back from the Never Never!

I can't believe its been nearly a month since I last posted!  Life sure has a way of getting in the way of my sewing time!  I feel as if I've been out in the Never Never but I'm back with a little to show you!

I've kept up with my Barbara Brackman BOW's which is just about as much as I could get done lately, we're up to #38 Ohio Star.

A friend gave me a Fat-Eighth of the purple print which I just love and was waiting for the right block to come along!   I still have a Fat-Sixteenth left LOL!   The photo really doesn't do the fabric justice, it is such a pretty colour.  

Last week #37 Confederate Rose.

The block Barbara gave us was a simplified version of this block, but she did say this was the original from Blockbase.   I love a challenge so I decided to give this a go, it has several tricky 'Y' seams to navigate through but the slow painstaking effort was well worth it, I would have to say this is my favourite block despite the slowness of its completion!  

#36 Kentucky Crossroads.

I decided to do four 4"x 4" for this block although it only required one 8"x 8".  It was a variation that a few of the other ladies did as well, and the one I preferred.

#35 Star of the West.

I got to use some rust and cheddar colours in this one!

I also got a little creative.....out of necessity!!!!!

The other side of this is.....

I updated my mobile phone recently and really didn't like any of the commercial covers that were available, not just that they were all rather dull colour-wise but I had trouble finding it in my bag in a hurry....so, I thought something more colourful and bright would stand out and make things easier!!

I had a delve into my solids scraps and before I knew it I had a new cover for my phone!

With all prototypes you realise that some small modifications can enhance the overall product, looking at it I can see I should have tapered the edges of the fold-over section, but hey!  it's a cover for my mobile and best of all I can find it in my dark bag in a jiffy LOL!!!!!....and I'm happy with it!!!!

You may remember a little while back I put together a little charm pack quilt for my vintage car!
Well I picked it up from the long-arm quilter a couple of days ago and yesterday I sewed on the binding!
It turned out great, I just love the whimsey of it - I have called it "50's Picnic".

Here is a close-up of the quilting!

I'm in the middle of completing another small quilt, just have to do some handquilting on the borders, so hopefully I'll be able to share that with you very soon!

Just recently also, I had the opportunity to go to the movies, it was one of my days off and I had heard that the new Australian movie 'Red Dog' had received good reviews.

Being a dog lover and a fan of Aussie movies I persuaded a friend to go with me!  It was fantastic!!!! and so was the dog (I believe they used 4 dogs in the making of the movie).  It is set in an Australian Mining town in the north of Western Australia in 1971.   If you are still undecided as to whether you should see it, I say don't hesitate,  you will love it!  You may even shed a tear or two!!!  I could relate to this film because I have lived in an outback mining town and could see the funny side of life in such a place.   The scenery is just superb!
Check here to see a trailer of the movie!    http://www.abc.net.au/atthemovies/txt/s3272052.htm

Another beautiful weekend has come to a close, Spring is here with an attitude I can tell you with today's temp at 32 Celsius (late 80's F), if this is Spring then Summer promises to be very hot indeed!!!!!

Thank you for dropping by,

Take it easy,
Merilyn