To Do Tuesday #58

The weeks are going very fast again. Have been sort of productive however it seems things are not working out the way I want them to.

My list from last week included:

- start the new pattern with the block from above✅

- start the marking of the wholecloth and maybe✅

- do a little bit more knitting ❌

- baste another charity quilt ❌

It was not for lack of trying!

I started the marking of my wholecloth quilt

All was well until I noticed some parts not lining up. I did trace this in quarters and thought that this would work, but I am dealing with movable fabric, so of course that did not work out that well. Rinsed this out with a lot of cursing and taped my two quarters together to make that easier and also remembered that I could just have drawn my frame in from the measurements. Not entirely sure why I did not do this.

The next day I ironed the fabric again and just when I went to put my cross hair lines in I discovered the

BROWN LINES

of part of the center motif. How did this happen? I used a brandnew marking pen, I did not iron my blue lines in...I was flabberghasted and it threw me right back to last year when I finished a wholecloth table runner and had brown lines in some places when I rinsed it out. 

First I tried to get the brown lines out...followed all sorts of suggestions I got in a FB group of what one could use, but I think deep down I knew it would not come out as brown lines only appear when it is heat set. Suspected the harsh Australian sun, so the next day did all sorts of tests, hanging fabric out in direct sun, ironed fabric to heat set some lines and no, all my tests came out clear. The fabric I used for my wholecloth was spoiled. I did wash it a couple of more times and I got it faint enough to use for maybe another table runner project.

All the while I was cracking my brain as to what could cause this. My latest suspicion is my light box. I have got a very fancy LED lightbox that I have had for years. Never really had a problem with this. I did notice that the edges of the light box were quite warm when I was doing the tracing of my wholecloth (which took several hours) and wondered whether this could cause some of the marks to be heat set into the fabric. That would explain why it is only in very random places, i.e. maybe were I rested my arm for tracing or where the motif for example was resting for quite a long while on the edge while I was tracing the feathers around the edges (my wholecloth fabric extends the size of the light box so I have to shift the fabric over to do the various sections). Never really paid attention to this and it certainly has not been a problem in previous years but I cannot remember whether the heat has been an issue previously as it has been a while since I have done a bigger wholecloth. Interestingly enough, I also had this issue on the table runner, also close to the center section which I would have moved over to trace a feather border around the edges. The tracing area of the lightbox itself does not get hot, it is just around the edges, I think.

Anyway, I have bought new fabric and will try again. In order to test this out we will put some blocks of wood around the light box and put some glass on this, using the light box as the light source that way. This will ensure that the fabric does not touch the lightbox edges and if that does not work...I don't know.

Also discovered that my center motif is 3-1/2in and 4-1/2in in diameter. What was I thinking? I have not got half circles rulers I can use to stitch that out and would have to do this freehand. While possible it never comes out as clean as to when you use a ruler. No way was I going to change my design again...instead I went out and bought the echo clips you can get for the Bernina feet. A very expensive and frustrating week!

I did start on my new pattern by making my triangle units using the Freezer Paper Foundation Piecing method. Made about 10 units before I had to replace the foundation. Really like this method as it goes very fast and without much fuss and bonus, you do not use a lot of freezer paper.

And that's all I did. Frustration levels are high, not helped by the weather. It is 41 degrees today and I was going to piece a bit more today but that has not happened. With this sort of weather you can really only sit around without breaking out in sweat, even with the air conditioner running.

Hoping that other quilters had a better week. Linking up to To Do Tuesday #58 over at Quilt Schmilt.

Karin