Monday, July 5, 2010

It's Monday .... again






My Prima Ballerina's... (the two on the left)

It's not only Monday but it is the day of new resolutions. Seems to me that every Monday I get up with this new attitude. "This week I am going to do"... Well, last week was the list. It lasted till Tuesday. Heaven only knows what the week before was because it is so long ago I have forgotten. They (who ever the heck they are) say that if you set goals, set them small. I set goals so small I can't see them to shoot at and I still don't seem to organize myself to achieve them. Some of you are saying I am a little scatterbrained... I can hear you!! But at least one or two of you are thinking, "Poor Gail, I know just what she means."


I finally finished the tote I was working on at Laila's two weeks ago.  it's bigger than the others I have made. Each square was six inches rather than five inches. I used five of each square per row. I think four would have been plenty. I will try that next.

So do you stop setting goals or do you move along, start another week and try again. Well, anyone who knows me knows although I am very scatter brained, I like a challenge. Especially when someone else is being challenged at the exact same time. So here is this weeks resolution...

I resolve to write every day this week in this blog about a new product I have found. (Maybe new to me, maybe new to you.) I will tell you about it, show you a picture of my test results and grade it on a scale of 1 to 10. In return, I challenge you to comment on it, and tell me whether or not, based on my information, you think it would be a useful product for you to own. Now, I am not suggesting that you run out and buy it, but it might be fun to hear form you, if you have already seen it, or if you would like more information or you just think it is cool that you heard it first from me!

Are you game? Let's see what happens...

Day 1: Heat Press Batting Together

Well here is a dynamite new product that is only about 4 months on the market and all I can say is WOW! Jeanne Harwood, who is an accomplished seamstress, educator, quilter, and longarm machine quilter, must have been standing over her machine one day and thought, " This is atrocious! I have miscalculated, YET AGAIN, on the length of this batting. I now have to spend the next 30 minutes, sewing these two pieces of batting together to make this work. I need to design a product that will reduce the time it takes to fix this hideous mistake!" Well maybe she didn't say that, but that's what I would have said if I had been a genius like her. At any rate, off she went and the next thing you know, Heat Press Batting Together was no longer a crazy thought in her mind, but a real notion that has sold 13,000 times in the last 4 months! Again, WOW!

And it's not just for long armers. This is a product that will save you money in the long run for all machine and hand quilters. I have yet to see a batting that comes the exact size of any quilt I have ever quilted. There is always just enough left over to NOT fit any other project you have going. Now sewing together a 12 inch square is not a huge deal, but the same principal does not work when you need to add 12 inches to the width of a 96" long quilt. There are always gaps, I don't care how good you are and how careful you are, there are always gaps. This amazing tape is great for attaching two pieces of batting and once it is in the quilt, there are no holes or areas that are too thin or where the black thread you used shows through... opps. Did I do that?... hmmmm.

Its easy to use, just watch your iron temperature when using batting with polyester... keep your iron a little cooler than normal quilting temperature. Lay two pieces of batting next to each other, press tape over join and fuse. When you run your fingers over it, you cannot feel the tape, or a ridge where the join is at all!!! It stretches with the batting, it is light weight and  it is white, so it hides well.  The tape is 1 1/2" wide and each roll contains 10 yards, enough to do 3 large quilts. I have already started to use it and I love it. 

The negatives... I did read somewhere else that, "once you get the outside wrap off, it works awesome". and I do agree. The product is tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and almost impossible to get into.. A little something, coloured tape, a sharpie mark, something at the beginning would be helpful. But I am sure Genius Jeanne will work that out! And the name... I will never remember all that... I'll just call it that great "Batting Tape". from now on... you'll know what I mean!

This notion may be up for the 2010 Notion of the Year award, and I still have 4 more days to go.  See you tomorrow!


Day 1 of my personal wall hanging challenge. I plan to work on this every day this week. I used Misty Fuse as the fusible and it was amazing to work with.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

You mean I don't have to chuck batting away anymore? Bonus!
And for lists - I'd never get anything done without a list. Whatever isn't done at the end of the day gets left on the list and tomorrows tasks added. That's a motivator in itself:-)

Unknown said...

hmmmmm... well you can tell I am not my mothers daughter...Either mother... LOL

and nope, no more wasted batting. You will love this Great Batting Tape!!!

Heather said...

Terrific ballerinas.

That batting tape sounds great.