Thursday Tidbit - My Favorite New Fabric Marker

There are all kinds of fabric marking pens, pencils, and tools out there in the marketplace, and I have used many of them over the years.  But I've discovered a new one lately and it is currently my favorite!

I wanted to mark the hand quilting lines on this new mini quilt in the shop.

I knew I needed a marker that I could remove the lines fairly easily when I was finished.  The Sewline Duo Marker  + Eraser Set was just the ticket!

This is a 2 pen set.  The first one you use is the pink one.  It does the actual marking.  It has a tip like a felt-tip pen.

After marking my test lines, I practiced my big stitch quilting.

After quilting for a bit, I then used the white eraser pen.  It has a chiseled tip and you just drag it over the marker lines and they disappear!!  I know it's hard to see in these pics, but if you click on them, you should be able to get a closer look.

This is a great tool if you make a marking mistake.  Just erase it and try again.  I have tested it on several threads (including floss) and the color of the thread remained the same and didn't run.  My daughter found this set and has used it for marking embroidery as well as rough sketching on T-shirts prior to design painting.  I think it's awesome!

One Week, One Thing - June 18

I'm still riding the crazy train getting ready for our Market Review party!

This week I made an entire quilt out of a Summersville layer cake and quilted and bound 2 others.

 And if that wasn't enough, I just had to try out the folded triangle coasters....

This week will be more of the same...  I won't stop sewing until June 30!

Thursday Tidbit - Twirling 4-Patch Seams

Have you ever made a 4-patch or pinwheel block that was lumpy in the middle?  You know what I mean...  You pressed to the dark side on the two halves so that the seams nested in the center, but when you sew that center seam and then press it to one side or the other, there's a big lump in the center of the block?

Of course, you can always press the center seam open to distribute the bulk, but you can also do a little magic trick to "swirl" the center seam.

Do you notice how the center seam on the left side of the block is pressed down, and the center seam on the right side is pressed up?  (The vertical seam is automatically divided to the left and right due to the nested seam prior to sewing the two horizontal halves together.)  This technique opens up the bulk in the center, and distributes the seams evenly to minimize the "lump" in the middle.

I intended to do an entire photo essay on the technique, but Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Company did such an amazing job on this topic on her blog, that I decided not to re-create the wheel!

 Here's the link to her blog post on the subject.  Enjoy!