Posted on by agilejack

Implementing Suggestions

In reading comments on my blog earlier today I made note of a couple suggestions I wanted to try in sewing my EPP pieces together.

The first suggestion…

Use a headlamp to light your work. I knew I had an unopened package of headlamps I bought at Costco a couple years ago. And I have to say, this was a brilliant (get it? Brilliant!) suggestion! I mean look at this illumination!

This made a HUGE difference in how easy it was to sew these pieces together.

The other suggestion was that I use the ladder stitch rather than a whip stitch. So I went onto YouTube and found a couple videos demonstrating how to do this stitch in EPP. I chose the one I liked the best and got my materials together for a 1.5 hour zoom meeting I had this afternoon.

I got a good portion of this piece sewn in that meeting and was actually participating in the meeting. And my stitches are looking much better. Some sections are virtually invisible. Other sections look like I was a drunken sailor on a ship in the middle of a hurricane. But I am getting better overall.

And I’m realizing that I might have to do a larger project with these because I’ve almost gotten through all the pieces I basted and I have an entire year of project meetings coming up. I might have to do something more complicated than big old hexis.

There were also several people who recommended needles to use. I’ve ordered some needles that should be here tomorrow so I might be able to try them out tomorrow night.

Before dinner tonight I went out and took a walk around my yard to see how things are doing. My apples are really going gangbusters! These usually ripen around the end of July and I’ll be doing a dehydrator full every night. I usually also make a few batches of applesauce if there are enough apples.

Bender thinks they’re ready to eat now, but they seem a little green to me still.

Bender eats a lot of apples when they fall ripe from this tree.

I’ve shared a lot of photos of roses from around my neighborhood, so I thought I’d share some of my own roses.

Those are some determined roses. I basically completely ignore them.

Oh! Take a look at what I ran across on our walk this evening…

There were some really amazing skies here today. This one was from our afternoon walk as we made our way through the park that’s a couple blocks from my house.

This photo was from our evening walk.

Thanks to everyone who commented on my app’s ability to accurately identify plants. And here I was thinking it was really keeping me on top of things. That’s the last time I’ll tell anyone how accurate it is!

One more day and then a weekend! I’m planning on heading down to Scio, OR, to watch a sheep herding trial. Other than that my weekend is free. I think it’s gonna be a hot one.

26 Replies to “Implementing Suggestions”

  2. Your EPP is coming along wonderfully. I also needed a hand project during work and learned EPP from videos. Tula Pink has a 3 part video that has great info for various basic EPP I dived right in and went big with a Willyne Hammerstein design ‘La Passacaglia’’. Look that one up, it will blow your mind!

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    1. Oh! I’ll have to see if I can find Tula’s videos. I just sort of dived in with no idea what I’m doing. But that’s sort of the fun part for me!!!

      Anne

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  3. Congrats on the amazing ice. Your Mom’s ice maker is considered “vintage” and probably could pay off your mortgage!
    Do you use her recipe for making ice or have you created “franken-cubes” from various recipes. Maybe your next project could be an insulated ice-bucket-hat-adaption. For when it’s really hot!
    O.K. I’m needing decaf.

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  4. In reference to stitching through glue, try not to apply the glue right along the edge where you will be stitching. Run the glue closer to the raw edge of the fabric and away from the folded edge. This is easier if you are using a 3/8” seam allowance instead of 1/4”.

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  5. Kathleen – Lol! That photo of the big cloud filled sky is wonderful! And what is this about “recipes” for homemade ice cubes? I was raised in Massachusetts and never heard about Ice cube recipes. Learn something new every day. Oh, oh, Annie, just as I feared, you’re going to make something BIG from those tiny little hexies.

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    1. I love my yard. I was so lucky to find this property when I moved to Portland. These large lots are quickly disappearing as they are splitting the lots and building houses behind the original houses.

      Anne

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  9. How fun, that band was doing a great job! Every so often I break out the flute and play a scale and try to remember the Star Spangled Banner haha.

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    1. My roses look pretty good, but they don’t compare to what I see around my neighborhood. But they look REALLY good when yo consider how little attention I give them.

      anne

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  11. I have an antique ice maker that I bought at an auction. It is aluminum and has a handle that you pull to crack eject the frozen ice. It works really well with every ice recipe I have found. I appreciate you bringing specialty home made ice to the worlds attention. It has been overlooked for years.

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  12. A head lamp! What a brilliant idea. I’m going to send for one today. Will have to remember to remove it if someone comes to the door, otherwise they might think I’m a master forger and not a quilter 🤭 Alison

    P.S Your roses are beautiful. It has been a particularly good year for roses here in the UK too. Alison

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    1. I think the headlamp is the one thing that made the biggest difference. But it’s pretty uncomfortable. i’m not sure I could forget that I have it on.

      Anne

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