To Shrink or not to Shrink.....

Quilt Show is over and now it is back to sewing and the ironing board.  It has been two weeks since the last ironing-related post, but life has been crazy.  We have had two black bears killed in our neighborhood very close to my house.  They both died miserable deaths from gunshot wounds, which is tragic and very illegal.  Some gun nut running around here is scary, and I am out walking the dog every morning.

This is the closest I'll ever get to a bear.  They can be a nuisance, but they
are fun to see wandering the neighborhood.  It was a tragic end to two of "our" animals.

When anxious, return to quilting.  Quilting and sewing keep a person on their toes.  They say that using the brain and solving problems keeps it functioning well, and forestalls age-related deterioration.  At this rate I think my brain should last at least 150 years!

My cork board ironing board is fantastic.

See how nicely the pins hold  in the cork board?  You can see the glue on
the back side of block, but it will wash out later when I block the quilt.

I wrote about my shrunken ironing board cover.  Apparently I didn't shrink the canvas when I made it a couple of years ago.  When it got looking grungy I just turned it over.  When I renovated the table top with cork board I washed the cover and it shrunk up irretrievably, so I had to make a new one.  This time I washed the new piece of canvas first and made the cover.  It fits the table top, but is a bit looser that I really want.  If I had not washed it, I could have spritzed it with water so it would shrink down to the table top.  The downside, of course, is that I would have to make a new cover every couple of years, whenever the cover got too grungy.  I guess the upshot is that you have to choose your own poison.

TIP:  Pre-shrink the canvas for your ironing board cover and you can wash it in the future.

TIP:  Don't pre-shrink the canvas for your ironing board and it will shrink to fit with a little spritzing.

I hated taking time out from my quilt to do this mundane sort of sewing, but I learned something about my sewing machine.  Do you read your sewing machine manual from cover to cover (eye roll here)?  Neither do I because I could never remember it all, and there is much that I will never use.  However, I needed to secure the edges of the canvas so I read about all the options for overcasting.  I don't use overcasting in quilting, but was in the mood to investigate.  I discovered that I have a lovely presser foot that does beautiful overcasting even on heavy, fraying canvas.  I never even noticed that foot in the box of tools or if I did, I had no idea what it was for.  I wanted to sew, not play with the toys.

I also decided something else.  I used pretty heavy canvas for my cover and since I had just enough left to make the new cover I used the same stuff.  I also had on hand a little bit of lighter weight canvas, which I used to make a small, portable pressing board.  Time will tell, but I believe the lighter fabric works just as well, and it is so much easier to work with.  Good grief, I used to cover my ironing boards with old sheets!

Small pressing board front (above) and back (below).

For my paperless paper piecing I laid an old sheet down to protect the ironing board cover - yes I did!!!  I use a lot of starch pressing each and every seam allowance.  I also press every glued seam.  I can throw the old sheet into the wash more easily than the ironing board cover.  I also use my teflon iron cover to protect my iron from scorched starch and glue stains.

Icky looking scorched starch stains on the old sheet.

Teflon cover on my iron.

TIP:  Save yourself some time and effort whenever possible.  You will have extra time for sewing!

Sew some happy seams this week.  I wish you no brain shrinkage.

Ironing

On numerous occasions I have needed to pin some fabric to my ironing board, but the pins tend to have a mind of their own and topple from the upright position.  Recently I put two pieces of foam core board under the padding and cover.  It was fantastic...for awhile.  I could stick pins in there and they'd stay put.  Well, that worked for the short term, but foam core board is affected by the heat and soon began to look like a roller coaster.  Now I have three pieces of foam core board that are basically useless.

Why do I need to stick pins in my ironing board?  I use them to secure the first piece of fabric to the pattern when I am doing paperless paper piecing.  I also find pins invaluable for aligning seams and points when I am sewing a main seam together.  I stick pins through matching points straight up and down into the ironing board, and I stick pins here and there to match seamlines.  Then I glue baste the main seam allowances together, press and sew.  I generally get great results with only the occasional need to rip and redo.  I know, I am very fussy, but I like to be able to show my quilts and these details are important in that venue.

Sharon Schamber has a great video on making your own pressing board.  I have watched it a couple of times, but the board she uses is not meant for sticking pins into.  I got the brilliant idea of placing cork board on top of my DH-built ironing table (22" x 60"), and placing the covering over that. I did some research and found that it is heat resistant, absorbing heat without emitting fumes.  It is slightly rough, which grips the covering fabric enough to keep it in place.

Corkboard on top of plywood table surface (to the left is a small platform
for setting stuff on - not part of the ironing surface)

TIP:  In my research I found that you should not use particle board.  It does not hold up when exposed to moisture.  I do not use a steam iron, but do occasionally use water in a spray bottle and/or starch.  I didn't find anything about cork and moisture so I am keeping my fingers crossed, but I don't think it is an issue.  DH says it will be fine.

I am covering the cork board with cotton batting and canvas.  I am using Quilters Dream Request  (low loft), which I have on hand so I am using two layers.  If I were using Quilters Dream Select I would use only one layer.

Batting on of cork board.

Ironing board is ready to go.  Canvas cover washed and clean.  Canvas cover no longer fits!  It shrunk...it REALLY shrunk!  Quilting time on hold as I make a new cover.  New canvas is in the washing machine in hot water as I write.

TIP:  Pre-shrink your canvas if you are using it for an ironing board cover.  Duh!

Waiting for the canvas to dry (my dryer is the mountain wind).

Sew some happy seams today.  I wish you no shrinkage this week.