Tuesday Tips and Tricks

I have a two-fer for you! Carole at Quilting Adventures has a post today on an applique technique using 2 layers of freezer paper. She also talks about her mini iron and how hot it gets: it has burned a hole in her ironing board because of the iron's rest. I did not like the cheesy little rest that came with my iron so I started putting it in an empty coffee mug. I also use the selvage of some fabric to tie up the cord when I'm not using the iron. So there you have it, a Tuesday Tip.

Iron Update

Remember this post? Here's my update. I am still going to use all three. The new iron is very lightweight and doesn't get as hot as I would like. I was starching and pressing some fat quarters to cut and I ended up getting out the Black and Decker because it has the weight and hotness that I want. I will use the new non-steam iron for pressing the pieces as I sew because I think it will work great for that. The Panasonic is still the one I will use if I need steam. The Black and Decker will be used for ironing the wrinkles out of the yardage and for starching.

So how many people do you know who use three different irons?

My new iron

 

OK. Here's another glamorous post about irons and ironing boards. *grin*

On March 3, Su Bee over at Pieces of Time asked us about our irons. She is on the never ending quest for the perfect iron. Been there.

As you can see, I currently own three irons. It formerly was four but I just threw one out. I had duplicates of the center iron,which is the one I use all the time, but one of them hit the floor. It is a Black & Decker Classic. I just love the weight of it. The white on on the right ( a Panasonic) has a beautiful point for getting into tight little areas, has a good weight but shuts off after 7 minutes. Ugh. The one on the left is my new one. It is a dry iron and is a Continental Platinum (?). I was surprised at how light it is!

When I am stitching on quilt blocks I do press in the up and down motion, really I do. But I must not lift the iron high enough because the steam holes on the B&D and the Panasonic just grab those little corners and crumple them up. That's why I bought the new Continental iron.

Just look at the size of those steam holes!

I'll report back on the new iron.

I think my spray bottle will become my new best friend.

The Ironing Board

The Ironing Board is alive and well at my house! Libby over at Simply Libby is asking us to show our ironing boards. OK, here's mine.

Underneath all that is a real ironing board. I had decided that I wanted one of those big boards several years ago but was too cheap to spend the dollars plus shipping. CarGuy came to my rescue and build a big board for me out of 1/2" plywood. There is a frame on the bottom side that fits right over my ironing board so the big board doesn't shift. I padded it using Sandra Betzina's recommendation of a wool blanket and then covered it with the teflon covering. Thank goodness I have an electric staple gun, (mine, not CarGuy's) 'cause I put it to good use on this. I can lay a fat quarter on this and iron it flat without having to shift the fabric.

I can just hear you asking "What's with the floral fabric?" I use a lot of starch when I'm piecing. And because I'm basically lazy I lay this piece of cotton floral decorator fabric on my big board and spray away. It is hanging over the back quite a bit right now, but when I'm starching I pull the back up and straight pin it to the little quilt hanging above it. That way I keep the starch off the wall and the board. When it gets so full of starch that it could stand up I can throw it into the washing machine rather than have to recover the board.

I have 2 irons. The one resting on the big board is the quilting iron. The reservoir is always kept dry and this iron gets really, really hot. You can see the other iron in an upright position back there in the corner. It's the one that gets used for everything else. I'm about ready to snag Auntie's iron because it is a dry, electric iron. No steam holes. THAT I can use!

And the reason the board looks as clean as it does, is that I just finished a project (the QOV quilt) and like Paul Sr. at Orange County Choppers (OCC) I clean up the 'shop' after a project.

R.I.P.

My Rowenta iron died last night. I have never really worn out an iron before this. Oh sure, I've killed them by knocking them onto the floor, but this is a first.

I didn't realize how attached I was to this iron until I put it on the floor by the back door. This is the last stop before the garbage can. It looked so forlorn!

This iron and I have a history. CarGuy got this for me as a birthday present about 20? years ago. I dunno, it was a long time ago. I loved it. It had the weight that would press a seam open just so. There were two button: one for a spray of water and (I loved this!) one for an extra shot of steam. In our low humidity area, this is needed. A nice feature: the water reservoir was removable. What was not so nice was when it started to piddle water all over the ironing board. I let the reservoir dry out and just used it as a dry iron. We were pals for several more years. Until last night when I plugged it in and turned it on. The little red light came on, but it never got hot.

Goodbye old friend. I'll miss you.