Saturday, July 21, 2012

Happiness is a new roll of sticky painter's tape

Last week, it was so hot and humid that I went to the [airconditioned] library for some frothy mysteries - and finished them in less than a week.  They included Buried in Buttercream and The Body in the Boudoir, definitely lightweight but great for hot days.  It cooled down Wednesday night, and we've had nearly perfect conditions ever since - sunny, moderately warm, low humidity. 

I froze some vegetables from the garden and actually cooked a few hot meals for dinner.  The vegetable lasagna had chard, a small summer squash, green beans, and a few late peas from the garden.  And this morning I made the first two zucchini breads of the summer.  Some sweet little girls came by yesterday pulling a wagon full of just-picked blueberries and raspberries, so those went into the freezer, too.

Thoughout these days, I've been working steadily on the medallion quilt.  I finished outlining all of the flowers, leaves, and stems in the center and did a little decorative stitching with rayon thread to add texture to the applique.  Then I sewed and attached the 16" log cabin borders, along with more batting and backing.  That was a tough job, but it worked out OK.  And now I'm quilting a grid all the way around and into the medallion.  The quilt is quite heavy now with all its seams since the "logs" are only 1/2" finished. 

This part of the quilting has not been without difficulties though.  It wasn't until the second day that I realized I had forgotten to put the walking foot on and a larger size needle in the sewing machine.  Now it's sewing more smoothly.  Then, I was having a terrible time keeping the painter's tape down on the top, and had to keep pinning it so it wouldn't move as I worked with it.  I was so frustrated that I finally went down to the hardware store for a new roll.  I bought Scotch painter's tape this time instead of "Duck" brand, and what a difference.  It actually sticks as I move the quilt around.  At the rate I'm going, I think it will be another week before I'm done, but it's looking good so far.

1 comment:

Karen - Quilts...etc. said...

I have tried painters tape as well and it didn't stick to my cloth and I ended up putting the tape in the workshop - it was a new roll of tape - I had always heard good things about the tape - I swore I would never use it again and stick to masking tape instead which has never created a problem for me although I have heard of some quilters saying it is not good.
Karen