{"id":3030,"date":"2016-02-18T15:28:20","date_gmt":"2016-02-18T21:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/?p=3030"},"modified":"2016-02-22T11:52:12","modified_gmt":"2016-02-22T17:52:12","slug":"busy-hands-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/?p=3030","title":{"rendered":"Busy hands"},"content":{"rendered":"

It seems since November and finishing Bright Hopes baby quilt, I’ve been wandering aimlessly without an inspired purpose.\u00a0 My hands have wanted to stitch but I’ve had no projects at a stage requiring hand sewing.\u00a0 I find it difficult to sit in the \"SAMSUNG<\/a>evenings with idle hands.<\/p>\n

During the day, I enjoy machine sewing and have continued working on the Wild Goose Chase batik top.\u00a0 All the triangle units are complete and I’ve begun assembling them by machine.\u00a0 I like the pattern and fabric but the project doesn’t excite me and still requires no hand stitching.<\/p>\n

I decided to dig out String Pyramids and prepare it for hand quilting.\u00a0 This top is twin+ bed size and after conferring with DH, he suggested I use a lightweight batting to make a warm weather quilt.\u00a0 I already have Thermore batting in my stash so decided to use it.<\/p>\n

I found some pieces of wide fabric to use for backing and began basting the quilt.\u00a0 It took 3 days to accomplish this as basting is my least favorite step.\u00a0 During this time, I tried to allow the top to tell me the design I should hand quilt.\u00a0 I could only ‘hear’ mumbles and no definite answer but I kept thinking about the old traditional Bishop’s Fan design and how I’ve never done it.\u00a0 Well, the time has come!\"SAMSUNG<\/a><\/p>\n

After some research on the Net for marking a Bishop’s Fan design, I made the required tool from clear plastic salvaged from a disposable salad container.\u00a0 It’s perfect!<\/p>\n

Because of all the seams in the quilt pattern, I decided the fan arcs should be no closer than 1\u00bc” apart.\u00a0 Using a Dremel, I drilled holes into the clear plastic.<\/p>\n

I stick a stylus into the hole farthest left (in the point) and with a Crayola marker in the next hole, I’m able to draw a perfectly curved arc.\u00a0 I repeat the process with each hole until I have a 5-arc fan marked on the quilt.\u00a0 Though the tool is a bit crude, it works wonderfully and will last through marking this quilt.\u00a0 The price was right and repurposing a throwaway makes me smile!<\/p>\n

\"SAMSUNG<\/a>FINALLY, I have a hand-stitching project to keep my hands busy and busy they will be for quite a while since it takes 2-3 evenings to quilt one row of fans on the quilt.\u00a0 All the seams in those String Pyramids make the job a challenge but I’m enjoying the mindless work as I relax and watch movies.\u00a0 It’s fun enough to keep me up an extra hour each night!<\/p>\n

I just noticed DH in the garden patch removing last season’s tomato cages and trellises.\u00a0 He’s been feeling pretty well so I’m wondering if he plans to crank and wrestle the tiller.\u00a0 I haven’t dared to hope for a garden this year but if he’s able to till, I can certainly plant.\u00a0 After last year’s big, BIG garden, I’m hoping he will limit the size to a more manageable proportion.<\/p>\n

Spring is here!<\/p>\n

Shirl<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It seems since November and finishing Bright Hopes baby quilt, I’ve been wandering aimlessly without an inspired purpose.\u00a0 My hands have wanted to stitch but I’ve had no projects at a stage requiring hand sewing.\u00a0 I find it difficult to sit in the evenings with idle hands. During the day, I enjoy machine sewing and (continue reading…) <\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,14,27],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3030"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3069,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3030\/revisions\/3069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.shirlsu.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}