Monthly Archives: January 2013

Save the Thimble!

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Finger Saver 9000 by Laura Wasilowski

I am a big fan of the tools of our trade. Give me a pair of scissors, a needle, thread, fabric, and a comfy thimble and I’m happy for hours. And now I have discovered that one of my favorite tools, the thimble, is an endangered species! We must save the thimble!

Turns out that Monopoly is going to retire the thimble as a token for their game. Now, I have never won a Monopoly game in my life but I do enjoy racing around the board game with a thimble and losing gracefully. 

Fortunately, Susan Brubaker Knapp and the International Quilt Association  are trying to save the thimble. If you are on Facebook, you can vote (before Feb. 6) to save the Monopoly game thimble. Vote here: https://apps.facebook.com/saveyourtoken/.  And you can also support the IQA. 

Susan has created the Save the Thimble logo (above) for theInternational Quilt Association. If you purchase items with the logo from Cafe Press, a portion of the proceeds go to the IQA. So to save the thimble and support the International Quilt Association! Visit here:http://www.cafepress.com/dd/75759578

And if Monopoly does not reinstate the thimble I shall try to lose gracefully.

Guest Artists: Two Talented Decaturites

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Maggie the Magnificent!

Meet Maggie, one of my students at the Decatur Guild where I visited last week. The class was Colorful Leaves and I love the original design she made. Of course, I would expect nothing less from Maggie as she is working on her graduate degree from the Chicago School of Fusing.

Erica the Superb!

Meet Erica, also from the Decatur guild and an embroiderer extraordinaire. This piece she is holding is beautifully hand embroidered on white fabric. She’s traced the basic design on the fabric and improvised the stitching as she goes. Thank you Erica and Maggie for sharing your work with us!

Save the Paper!

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What’s with all this fuss about removing the paper from fused fabrics before using them? Can’t you just cut out fabric shapes with the paper still on it? Well, my little pumpkin there are several reasons to remove the silicone release paper from a fused fabric before using the fabric. Here they are:

Building units.
  • You want to save the paper whole in big sheets because it has so many uses like collage building, building elements as a unit, and  fused fabric storage.
  • If you cut out a shape leaving the paper on, the pull on the fabric edges as you remove the paper may fray the edges of the fabric. You want nice clean edges.
  • If you want to transfer a pattern shape to fused fabric you need the paper. Here’s the directions for Pattern Transfer to a Fused Fabrics. It’s worth saving the paper for this.
  • Most importantly, silicone release paper is used as protection. Place it on top of your quilt to protect it from that filthy iron that you refuse to clean.
Ah! The miracle of pattern transfer with silicone release paper.

Now get out there and save some paper!