Monday, February 10, 2014

Making Progress!

I've done a bit more stitching tonight! This little striped quilt is coming right along.

I've sewn the stripes together first and now I will sew the rows together. Much less concentration is required about which seam to sew next when I do it this way. Sometimes with hexies, you jump around a bit with having to hit all of the seams and sometimes they are not right next to each other! It's easy to miss one. This way, I keep control and sewing the seams is nice and thoughtless!

My needle is bent really well now! It's almost bent too much! I grabbed a smaller sized miliner to stitch these pieces together. This one is a size 11. My fingers have not held an 11 for a long while because I have not been able to thread the size 11 with the Aurafil thread I do appliqué with. And the 11 is too hard for me to thread with Bottom Line. Of course, my eyes are not what they used to be! I suppose my fingers are used to firmly grabbing that thicker size 9 or 10 needle that I use most of the time, thus bending this one fast! Who all likes a bent needle? Makes it easy to hold onto. I have met many people who think a bent needle needs to go in the trash, but that means it's just getting warmed up if you ask me!

 

I am trying some new thread on this quilt. Shown above is a red Invisifil from Wonderfil Threads. It is so nice as you can see above. The stitches are nearly invisible! This is a 100 weight thread.

Wonderfil has also sent me some heavier weight thread called Deco Bob. This is an 80 weight. It also sews very nicely. You can see a close up of the stitches below. The ivory pieces are sewn together with this one. You can see a few stitches on the left, but the others are pretty invisible also! I think I like this thread for sewing these seams. These were all sewn without the papers inside. For those of you who may be new to the blog, I prepare my EPP with starch most of the time. It makes for perfect shapes! At times I do use the papers still, so I will test this thread WITH the papers also.

Just wanted to say Hey and show you these threads! Have a great rest of the week!

Take care,

Missie

 

12 comments:

  1. I really wish I could find a needle that takes thicker threads and sews smoothly, lol.
    I like the smaller ones since they slide through, but then I have to use regular thread.
    Looks like another wonderful project in the works.

    Debbie

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  2. I like a bent needle too!! Lovely little hexies and the thread looks fabulous - you made it look that way!

    Blessings

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  3. I like my needle straight or slightly bent, but if it bends too much I am done with it,
    I haven't tried any of these threads. No one around here carries anything like that.
    Wanted to let you know that my local grocery store, of all places, started carrying Primitive Quilts and Projects, and I picked up the latest issue with your beautiful pattern!

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  4. A little bit of bend to my needle is fine, but too much and I can't stitch straight anymore.:) Great hexies!

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  5. Love your hexes! I also have bent needles, but I tend to take out a new one when that happens. Maybe I should just keep quilting when that happens!

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  6. I will try such a needle for my flower garden on progress, and this thread seems perfect. Thank you. Christine

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  7. Love your striped quilt! I've never thought of using hexies in that manner ... you've inspired me. I've done everything everyone's recommended for whipstitching, but my stitches still show ... but I haven't tried that Invisifil ... perhaps I should give it a try?? If that doesn't help, then obviously I'm whipstitched challenged. ha!

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  8. I just picked up some of the Invisafil this last week to use for machine applique. Thanks for the tip to also use it for hand work! Does it handle better than silk?

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  9. Love your little red and white hexies! I seem to bend needles immediately! Don't mind it so much for binding, but I don't care for it when hand quilting.

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  10. Love the hexie stripes. Can't wait to see what it becomes.

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  11. Love the strippy hexie idea!! Somewhere in the future I might take that up!!

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  12. Nice threads - they do look practically invisible. Thanks for leaving a comment on Hexagon Alley. I like the striped look of your current hexagon project. Such pretty fabrics. I like a bent needle for hand quilting, that's certain. I think it could make this kind of piecing much easier, though I don't actually have a bent one at the moment. I use a lot of Milliner's needles, too, for piecing these and even more for the threads for crazy quilting. That squared eye is much easier to thread!

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