Lesson Learned
It seems as though I am destined to continue learning . . . not all bad.
I am frugal, ultra conservative . . . also known as cheap. I have been working on a stitching project for some time. The base fabric I have had for a least twenty years. The fake suede blocks endured the embroidery. Nephew Brett gives me quilt batting that he trims off of the ends of the quilts that he does on his longarm. Generally those strips are at least 80 inches long and about 24 inches wide. Earlier in the month I used multiple of these strips encased in a covering for a pillow to showcase a spring stitching,
Today I used paper tape, an adhesive backed, very thin tape used to hold surgical hardware in place. The tape tore off the roll with very little effort, and before I could blink, I had multiple strips of quilt batting taped together to be adequate for my 36″ x 42″ wall hanging. Things were rolling right along. The backing for the wall hanging was measured, cut and laid out. The sandwiching was completed.
All the settings of the sewing machine were in place – complete with the correct pressure foot. I was ready to do some free motion quilting within each block, stitching together all three layers. Even with several trips out to the garage to help Dennis with some items, I came back and picked up right where I had left off. This wall hanging was actually going to be! “Shut the door.” The thread began to shred and the bottom bobbin thread was being pulled up to the top. So much for smooth sailing. All I could do was take the project out from under the needle and begin picking out bad stitches. Sitting at one of my church tables picking away, I realized this mess had happened where I had taped the quilt batting together. Good grief! Where the needle had not touched the taped area, it was wonderful and I had quite a bit of the good area done. I realized that there were two individual strips, 42″ in length that I would run in to thread shredding and stitch picking. The adhesive of the paper tape was sticking to the needle and thus the thread was shredding going through a sticky eye of the needle. I shut the sewing machine off and went up to get a cup of coffee and think about what I had done.
There is tape sold exclusively for joining quilt batting. Why would I spend money on that when I had all these rolls of paper tape from multiple hospital stays. All I can say is cheap, cheap and more cheap. Obviously the medical adhesive is quite different from the JoAnn’s product sold in the notions department.
Eventually I cooled off and returned to the sewing machine and dug through my manual for the sewing machine. I also did some YouTube. What I had in the sewing machine was a titanium needle, good for multiple hours of stitching. I found out that needles that were stainless steel and less desirable and less durable in today’s world of sewing and stitching may possibly have a surface that would not attract the adhesive to the degree that the titanium needle’s surface would. It is a gamble. I dug through a box of needles that were from Lena. The size 12 that I found wasn’t rusty but it sure didn’t have a nice shine to it either. I had nothing to loose. I did a test run to make sure the puncture hole of the needle didn’t leave a dark mark as some metals can.
I found a spot on my project that I could match up the new stitches where the older shredded ones had been picked out and held my breath. I could not believe my stroke of good fortune. We stitched right through that nasty taped area with the same quality of stitches that I had first begun with. I didn’t get very far after that blessing as it was supper time. Five o’clock and the lights go off in the sewing studio. Tomorrow is another day.
So will I purchase the JoAnn Fabric product the next time we are in Mankato . . . probably not. This wonderful needle of Lena’s will be in a special spot for the next time I tape together batting.
Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup was on the menu. Our tip: one can of soup for each of us, non-diluted. It’s most likely 150-160 calories per can. It sure beats the watered down version. We have been enjoying it that way for a long time.