wrinkles

Members of The Quilters' Guild of the British Isles will recall that "Wrinkles and White Hairs" was the name of the column I edit in THE QUILTER. A "Wrinkle" is a tip or bit of inside know-how: a better, easier or cheaper way to do something perhaps.

If you are interested in the Clover needle threader or the needles described in the latest column of Wrinkles, here are addresses for stockists of Clover products in the UK, as supplied to me by Nina Conrad of Clover Europe. This is not to say that the product cannot be found elsewhere. Clover will also have a booth no J32 at the Festival of Quilts at the NEC, Birmingham in August and I am sure will have the product available for you to see and try.

European Quilting Supplies
11 Iliffe House, Iliffe Avenue
LE2 5LS Oadby, Leicester
Tel 0116 / 2710033
Fax 0116 / 2710099

Winbourne Fabrics Ltd.
Unit 3 A Forge Way, Knypersley
ST8 7DN Stoke-On-Trent
Tel 01782-513380
Fax 01782-515559

Viridian Trading Ltd.
Unit 2, Barton Hill Trading Estate
Herapath Street, Barton Hill
BS59RD Bristol
Tel 0117-941-2111
Fax 0117-941-3101

Here are a few more tips related to the sewing machine, the first two courtesy of Patricia McLaughlin, an embroiderer & quilter from Sussex.

  • When constructing the quilt top by assembling blocks and borders together, it can be a good idea to back-sew on seams that will be at the edges of the quilt for greater stability and strength.

  • Whether your machine has imperial or metric markings on the throat plate, you can mark the other system using masking tape, makig it easy to switch from one to the other when necessary. When I participated in a European Round Robin project, I found this useful and it also is good for working projects from Japanese publications as they use the metric system too.

  • Keep a small box or pot beside the machine to hold reels of thread and their corresponding bobbins in all the colours for the current project. It'll be easy to get the next colour change and, if oyu have to stall the project to do something else, they can remain all together till you're able to resume work.

  • Monofilament thread - a tip on how to tame it: put the thread on the spool holder on top of your machine, nearest to the drive belt. Cut a piece of sponge & make a hole in it with a knitting needle or similar. Place the sponge on a second spool holder using the hole just pierced. Now trim the side of the sponge so that it barely clears the side of the spool on which the invisible thread is wound. Thread the monofilament through a darning needle and then push the needle through the sponge taking the thread through after it. Continue to thread the machine in the usual way. This helps prevent the thread whizzing off unwantedly & winding tightly around the spool holder. It does increase the top tension so expect to adjust this to suit your own machine.

  • Pat also loves to use Madeira threads for embellinshing her work but finds they do have a will of their own! The 1000m spools especially unravel at the slightest excuse and in an effort to rewind the tangles much thread can be wasted. Pat found the answer is to store each spool in a plastic 35mm film container. Store these upright in a drawer or box kept specifially for the purpose. You can see at a glance which colour you require without disturbing the other threads.

  • I received a really good tip along with a birthday present! Sue Atkinson, a quilter from Nottingham, and I share the same day so we swapped gifts. Sue's included a strawberry pincushion and she suggested using it to keep machine needles filed safely for re-use. What you do is with a fabric pen, label the segments for the different sizes of needle that you use. When you change needles for a particular task, the good but somewhat used needle can be stuck in the correct section - where it can be found for re-use later. For years I have used a few folds of tissue that lined the lid of my machine gadget box marked out vaguely in this way & intended to make a tidy little pad for the purpose - but Sue has saved me a job!

  • And lastly, that seems like a cue to repeat the tip about keeping an old film pot for putting broken machine needles, bent pins etc into for safe disposal. I keep one by the machine at home and carry another in my tool box for classes. When ready to dispose, tape the lid on well with masking tape.

You can now send me your favourite wrinkles or problems by e-mail to: jenni@jennidobson.co.uk

(The email link has been removed to help reduce spamming)