Raise Your E-Notion IQ- Sew Steady Tables

Its Wednesday and the good news is....I know it's Wednesday :)  Time to raise your E-Notion IQ a little bit more. 

I choose to feature Sew Steady Tables today because I found mine to be invaluable this past week.  I'll also include photos from Quilt Market 2011 of the Sew Steady Booth.

Did you see the Featherweight?  Yes, there are Sew Steady Tables for those little beauties :)

I bought the Acrylic Spinning Tray, Polishing Kit and the Sew Straight Guide last year in Houston. 

Here is my "old" sewing machine.  I used it because I don't have a Sew Steady Table for the new one YET.  That will be ordered this week!!

The acrylic table attached to my Bernina is a Sew Steady Table.  The SST extends my sewing bed so my fabrics don't drag over the edge of the small bed and distort my stitches or get make my seams uneven. 

The Acrylic Spinning Tray is great for me because I misplace almost everything I lay my hands on.  I wish I were kidding...but I'm not.  You can see I keep a pair of scissors and my Wonder Clips  (another notion I highly value...they are awesome).

Ok, THE KING SIZE PROJECT....

 I needed to make some very large play cushions/mats and I found this duvet cover I had purchased ($4.00 Goodwill :).  It was brand new in the package and the fabric is nice and heavy.  Perfect to cut in half and make the two giant mats.

This is the stuffing for the mats....can you believe the size of this bag of foam scraps?  The Occupational Therapist (part of the longer story) had this bag in the closet at the clinic and she gave it to me. 

You can see there are lots of scraps and odd shaped pieces of a variety of foams.   I stuffed 1/2 of the bag of foam into the mat I had made from the duvet cover.  Then the tricky part was how was I going to get the edge of the fabric from that ginormous bag under my presser foot?  Mr. McSteamy to the rescue.

 You can see Mr. McSteamy held the ginormous bag while I fit the edge of the fabric under the presser foot.  My Sew Steady Table was perfect to support all the bulk close to my machine.  It would have been a nightmare to attempt without my SST and Mr. McSteamy.

It took both hands to keep the fabric under the needle.

 Now I have two very large play mats and I believe this just may save my sofa and chair cushions when the co-workers decide they need a coffee break and want to rough-house :)

Sew Steady Tables feature:

• High quality acrylic construction; rounded front edge for comfort
• Large tables work with tiltables
• Large, Big and Giant tables come with additional support leg for stability

You can get a Sew Steady Table for your Serger or Sewing Machine in Junior, Large, Big and Giant!   The tables can be used as a light box if you put a light under it :)  Great tip ay?

SST's are custom made to fit your make and model of sewing machine so it may take from 2-4 weeks for delivery.
Don't you just feel your E-Notion IQ going up?  I hope you do :)

Be sure to check out the

 IHAN Pre-Holiday Sale aka Black Friday - Cyber Monday Sale

I'm going now add all the great deals.

Smiles,
Kelly

Clover To The Rescue - Wonder Clips and Flower Head Pins

Waldo and I are still feverishly working on our quilt as you go charity quilt.  Every evening this week we have gotten together to get our blocks joined and now our rows.  Waldo is determined to have this quilt done by tomorrow, Friday.  Ya gotta love a woman on a mission....she keeps me hopping :)

I have to say it really is great to have the right tools for the job.  I am a person who gets annoyed when things don't go smoothly and I've found myself annoyed a few times with this project.  

These are the 10 count package of Wonder Clips.  They also come in 50 count packages.  If you are like me you are thinking...why do I need these...I could use the metal clips for paper right?  That was my first idea too...then I remembered Clover came out with these new clips and I wanted to try them. 

What I like about the Wonder Clips is that they did not crease my fabric and there is no risk of tearing your fabric like with the metal ones (I've actually done that).  They have a nice grip and I dropped them on the floor a few times and they did not break....which to me means they were made well with good quality and strength plastic.  The other neat thing about the Wonder Clips is they have a 1/4 and 1/2 inch seam allowance markings on the clips....and the clips lay flat.  As you can see in the photo above, I've clipped the roll together.  Before I did that, I found myself very frustrated the roll would unwind and I kept having to move my hand that was guiding the fabric through my machine to straighten the roll....then my stitching was crooked.  It does not take too much ripping out to tick me off .....really now...lol.

Waldo (Mrs. Rosemary) is joining the blocks so we can join the rows....we did that last night...whoo hooo..almost done :)

We have to fold and pin the fabric that will be the binding and the borders for this quilt as you go project.  I kept getting the fabric wobbly and I found it hard to grab the glass head pins that I love....so I grabbed the Clover Flower Head Pins and gave them a go.  They were perfect because I could grab the head so much easier with my fingers and they were nice and long...holding that fabric for a greater length.  Now I'm not saying our binding and borders are perfect....although I'd like you to believe that....but I did find the Flower Head Pins to be a great help.

I have to say I love my job!!!  I get to try all the new notions and tell my friends about the things I find to be helpful....it beats scooping "you know what"  in the circus.  LOL

Smiles,
Kelly