Such A Cut-Up Quilt Progress and a Tip for Stretched Block

The top is finished and I like it so much better than the original.

Now the tip, which you may already know, but was new to me.

I knew the bias cut triangles were going to be a problem, especially the larger ones, so I spritzed them lightly with spray starch. (That's not the tip for you, I already knew that would help prevent stretching.) I had a problem with the spray can and soaked one of them. Afterward, I noticed that it shrank as it dried but ironing it straightened it out. Originally, the strips were 7 inches, which was actually good for me because after I sewed the pieces into 12 inch blocks, there was enough excess to square them up nicely. Still, when I put the rows together, I found that one was a half inch longer. It had two of the large triangles in it and they had stretched. I pinned them together, matching the seams and spaced out the "ruffle" of the stretched triangles and pinned them. Then I saturated it with the spray starch. When it dried, no more "ruffles" and it sewed together perfectly. After ironing, the starch relaxed and it looked fine.

Tablecloths Finished

As you can see in the above photo, I also found some lampshades I like. Thanks to all who participated in the poll. It was enough for me to see that while everyone has different tastes, the shade options I found locally just weren't right for the lamp (or for me). The original barrel shades may look good with the lamps, but after disliking them for over thirty years, they just weren't an option for me either.

When I showed these shades to a friend (while they still had the plastic and price tags on them), she gasped and said "I thought you were supposed to be frugal!" I had been feeling a bit guilty over the price even though I knew these were the shades and at first I started to agree with her. But being frugal isn't necessarily being cheap. Often it's cutting back in some areas so you can spend in other areas, and that's exactly what I've done in this bedroom.

Ok, with that out of the way, let me show you what I started with and why I really needed to get these tablecloths made. Hubby made these tables years ago out of an old bookshelf, and when we got the new bed, they were too short. Since they weren't anything special to begin with, Hubby made them taller the easiest way possible, but not the most attractive way.


I found sheets the same color as the coverlet and made round tablecloths out of them. Then I used extra curtain panels to make square cloths to layer over them. I may make them a big smaller but will live with them this size for awhile.

To soften the hard edge and prevent snags on finer fabric tablecloths, I used an old mattress pad and the elastic from the fitted sheet to cover the tables.


We had the glass cut years ago and I have no idea why we got smoked glass instead of clear. I guess we liked it better at the time. The table tops and glass were cut so I could use these crocheted table toppers made by my great aunt.


The finished tablecloths (with excess fabric wrapped around pillows to see what it looks like).



Remember what I started with?


Until next time, may you have blessings and happy sewing,
Marti

P.S.2. I've got a sewing tip too. After I made the first tablecloth, I realized that the sheets were a little on the limp side, and since I didn't have any spray sizing I mixed up a batch of liquid starch, the heavy formula. I only had one table cloth hemmed, but I starched both tablecloths. When I began hemming the second tablecloth I didn't have to use any pins, the starched fabric stayed firmly flat after pressing. Cut my hemming time in half or less for the second tablecloth.

Unintentional Tip of the Day

Have you ever reached for a spool of thread on your rack or spool drawer and found the end of it tangled with all the other threads? My spool drawer is always like that, and the polyester embroidery machine thread is the worst. Today I had to cut about a yard of tangles off the end of a spool of invisible thread and reached for the Scotch tape, even though I hate the sticky residue it can leave behind if the spool isn't used very often. However, I couldn't find the tape, so I thought I would wrap it in plastic wrap just for now (knowing that just for now usually turns into forever). Then my eye caught sight of the Press n Seal wrap and I snipped off a corner of it (about an inch square). It works great!

This is the way my spool drawer used to look (if not worse).


These are a couple of spools with the Press n Seal.


No sticky residue, comes off easily, and is reusable. How great is that?!!

(Edited, two years later:  After a length of time, the Press n Seal DOES leave a sticky residue on the thread.  So, now I only do this for short times when I am using spools and alternating between colors in a project.)

Until next time, may you have blessings and fewer tangles in your life,
Marti