A Pro-Fusion of Advice

Well, I should know by now that when one whines, gripes, complains, protests, grumbles, bleats, carps, grouses, or swears about a sewing product, one will receive the much-appreciated advice of one's fellow bloggers. Oh my goodness! You guys sure do know your fusibles. And let me just tell you that you were right. If you didn't read yesterday's post, then you can check it out right here. Or don't. There's nothing in our hallowed Blogging Constitution that forces you to read it, so you decide. (And, no, there is no Blogging Constitution, but it's on my to-do list.)

The favorite way to get the Wonder Under paper backing off your fabric seems to be the pin method. And a few of you very wisely told me to test it on a scrap. But then, you don't know who you're talking to because testing on scraps would require someone with common sense. Honestly, you've been reading along. Does anything resembling "common sense" ever happen here?

So I forged on ahead and made all the applique pieces without testing and I just ironed that Wonder Under to all the different fabrics without a care in the world because I'm bold that way. No sky-diving for me. Who needs sky-diving when you can get a rush off fusibles? Am I right about that?

So this better work, and do you know why? Because I know where you live. If it doesn't work, you won't know when or where...but you'd just better keep looking over your shoulder until your dying day. Just sayin.

Okay, so let's see if this works. Here's the garlic.

And here's my pin.

And just there I had to set the camera down because I couldn't do it with my left hand, nor could I hold the camera with my left hand, and so you'll have to take my word for it that you can actually score the paper backing, especially if you're using your dominant hand. And lookie there...

Voila! One head of garlic, sans Wonder Under paper backing. No fraying, no swearing, no crying.

Actually, I ended up using a discarded sewing machine needle because I found the pins too flexible. The rigidity of the sewing machine needle worked a little better for me. 

Now before you all go congratulating yourselves, I'll just say this: I still had some problems with the product. On a few pieces, the fusible wanted to come off with the paper and not stay on the fabric. You can see it pretty well on this turnip.

In its defense, it was easy to see it happening and take care not to pull it all off. Also, I found some of the pieces didn't stick as well as I'd thought, and I had to go over it with the iron again after I'd already started top-stitching.

Here's the final word from me on Wonder Under vs. Heat 'n Bond Lite: I still think Heat 'n Bond is the superior product for my needs, but I think Wonder Under has its advantages. For one thing, it is less stiff than the Heat 'n Bond, and that's my biggest gripe about Heat 'n Bond. For baby quilts or other quilts that you want to keep nicely soft, Wonder Under is the better choice. (You can read some other advantages from this post about a class I took last summer.) For wall-hangings or table runners, I think Heat 'n Bond is the better choice just for its superior sticking capability and ease of use. 

That's my advice, take it or leave it. This is only my opinion...not gospel...although I consider my opinion to be gospel, and I'm very opinionated about my opinion. Kindly keep your opinions about my opinion to yourselves, because I still know where you live. You're probably wondering how I know, or even IF I know, and I'll just say two words: Edward Snowden. 

All the fusing is done on my vegetable patch now. I really like the sun at the top, which was my addition. Besides, sun's rays are pretty much my best and favorite quilting motif and that's what I'm planning to do for the quilting on top.

I've started on the top-stitching, and I've attached the batting without the quilt back. I like the extra texture it gives when I top-stitch through the batting, but I don't want that on the back side of the quilt.

Also, I added some Fray Block to some of the rays of the sun since I was still concerned about the fraying from my first Wonder Under attempt.

After I finished the sun, I started to work on some of the vegetables, but stopped after stitching the leaves for the garlic. It was getting late in the day, and I needed to start dinner.

Speaking of dinner, I mentioned that I was going to make some green tomato salsa with the green tomatoes from this week's CSA share. My friend Pat, who blogs at Amity Quilter, told me about a recipe for Squash, Bean, and Cheese Enchiladas with Green Tomato Sauce that happens to be a favorite in her household. After reading it, it sounded pretty darned good to me too. She told me the sauce recipe wouldn't make enough sauce, and so I added in a half jar of the salsa verde I made this past summer. And this was seriously good.

We enjoyed it very much, and there's enough for another dinner. Thanks for the recipe, Pat. It's a winner. 

Today we need to go pick up a wine shipment at one of the local wineries. Also, I'm pickling some beets. I roasted the beets while I was working on the vegetable patch quilt yesterday and then chunked them up and put them in the refrigerator. I'll make some pickling solution and then can them today. That shouldn't take long. 

And oh my goodness! I almost forgot! I finished the binding on the Dream Machines quilt, and laid out the buttons to get the color placement. I'll start sewing those on tomorrow. Here it is!

I'll probably sew the buttons on tomorrow, and then it will be ready to head off to its forever home in Florida. I started this quilt for the 2014 Rainbow Scrap Challenge on January 3, 2014, and so it's good to have it all finished.