Sew potholders to celebrate Julia Child

Sew a quick potholder to celebrate this weekend! Julia Child was born on August 15th. What better way to have fun this weekend than to sew something for the kitchen. My favorite quick project is a pair of potholders.

One of my favorite shops, Quilting by the Yard, is having a sale on kitchen novelty fabrics to celebrate Julia. They're having a Food Celebration Weekend. From August 2th through Sunday, August 15th they will be offering a 25% off sale on all wine or food theme fabrics. And every purchase gets an entry to win the book Julie and Julia!

I go through a lot of potholders during a year. Between constant washing and scorching they wear out quickly. And, these are so quick to make you’ll want some for every season. Use your scraps or buy some of the fun novelty fruit and vegetable prints that are in the quilt shops now. You can make one pair of potholders from a fat quarter, though you might need a little bit more for bias binding for both. Get two coordinating prints fat quarters and you will definitely have more than enough for these two potholders plus extra to trim towels, or appliqué a table runner to match.

Prewash your fabrics. This is one project that definitely benefits from pre-washing the fabrics. Potholders get such wear and tear in the kitchen and need to be washable.

• Cut four eight inch squares from the novelty fabric.
• Cut two four inch squares from batting fabric. (It should come as no surprise to my friends that I use wool as my batting in this project. Not only do I have a lot of wool in my stash, felted and otherwise, but wool is a natural heat resistant fabric. If it is felted it is already washed and shrunk. And, it is easy to needle through.)
• Cut two 1-7/8” x 34” or piece bias strips together to make this length for the binding.
• Assemble two sandwiches by layering novelty fabric wrong side up, batting, and novelty fabric wrong side down. You will have a sandwich with batting in the center and the right side of the novelty fabric facing you on both top and bottom.
• Quilt this sandwich. Here is a good place to have fun. Try out your new walking foot. Practice some motif you have been wanting to try. Outline quilt the design in the fabric. It’s such a small little quilt, just have fun.
• Make sure the completed square lays flat. Press them if necessary. Trim up to a square so that all the edges of all the layers match. The quilting process does take up to some extent. At this point your squares will not be perfect eight inch squares any longer. But it doesn’t matter. Just trim them up to a perfect square. Round the corners if you like. I use several old CD’s glued together to make a rotary cutting guide. Works great.
• Press the two strips of binding in half lengthwise and the fold in the edges to the inside center to make bias binding. Apply the binding all along the edges. I topstitch the binding for extra strength.

You’re done.

These are quick and easy to make.

Now you can get into the kitchen and make something from one of Julia’s cookbooks to celebrate her birthday this weekend!

Bon Appetit!

National Sewing Machine Day

National Sewing Machine Day on August 12th and it's a good time to pamper your hardworking machine.

My Bernina 1090 was "formerly owned" when I bought it almost 15 years ago and it has been a work horse ever since.  One of the first things I learned was how to maintain the machine.   It was the first thing we learned way back in 7th grade Home Ec and it has served me, and my machines, well all these years.   

First and foremost check your owner's manual to be sure that you can clean and maintain your machine without voiding it's warranty.  In general, newer computerized machines are factory sealed and maintenance is only allowed by a trained technician.    If this is the case with your machine it is time to take your machine for it’s annual vacation to be cleaned and serviced.   

If you don’t have your manual you can contact the manufacturer or search the Internet.    A-1 sewing machine has links to free manuals online.   Another site, Sewing Machine Reviewer offer links to all the major manufacturers.   It offers links to free manuals, as well as, other model’s manuals that cost a few dollars.    If you have misplaced your original manual this may be money well spent.   

It was expected that older machines would be cleaned and maintained by the owner.     It is a good rule to oil your machine after eight hours of sewing.     When I worked in a clothing manufacturer’s business years ago the ladies in the sample sewing room cleaned and oiled their machines at the beginning of each workday.    Time was allotted for them to clean out the bobbin race and oil it.   Also, a drop of oil was added to several points in the head of the machine wherever the operator’s manual, or the floor supervisor, indicated.    It only took them 10 or 15 minutes but it was considered important to keep their machines humming all day long.   
Manufacturers suggest that machines be cleaned and oiled every eight hours or so.    Most hobby sewers don’t sew for eight hours straight.   (Though sometimes on deadline for a quilt show I have come close.)   Maintaining your machine at the beginning of each new project is one way to remember.     Even machines that are factory sealed benefit from frequent cleaning.   

Some quilters make sure to clean out their bobbin areas when they insert a new full bobbin or two.   Because I use a lot of felted wool this area gets a lot of lint.    

Please DON’T blow into the machine to clean it out.    Canned air used to clean computers seems to be an easy way to go but it can cause problems in the future.    You don’t want to force dirt and lint further into the machine.   You want to remove it.    

The best way to do this is to use a vacuum attachment that is sold for computers and electronics.     It is basically a specialized miniaturized hose with small brushes that can get into the areas under your machine.   It works great to remove all that fuzz that accumulates in the bobbin area.    If left there the lint can cause additional drag on your bobbin race and causes the machine to work harder.   

And keep the outside of your machine clean, too.    A cover at night, even if it’s only a lightweight cloth thrown over the machine, keeps out dust, and in my house, an inquisitive cat.    At the very most, I use a microfiber cloth to wipe down the outside of my machine.   

Keep your machine clean and it will serve you for years and years to come.   I own a 1941 Singer Model 221 (commonly called a Featherweight) that I bought from its original owner years ago.    71 years old and still going strong.  It has been lovingly maintained by the sewer/owners all that time.