11/11/16

The Thread that Binds

Thanks to all of you who have offered help and advice regarding the glue issue on the Happy Villages. Before I go on, I want to make clear that we are still die hard Amazon Prime fans. Nearly 100% of the time it works just as it is supposed to. Mike and I joke that we can hit the "Buy Now" button on our keyboard and then walk to the front door to retrieve the item. They promise two-day shipping, but around half the time, the item shows up the next day. Definitely they messed up with the glue, but they've refunded the purchase price with no expectation that I will return the item, and they extended our Amazon Prime membership by a month. No complaints here...except about the wait...and there's certainly plenty I can work on in the meantime.

Several of you mentioned Elmer's School Glue, and a few have recommended refilling the Roxanne's bottle with Elmer's once I've used it. No doubt, it works just as well. The book author recommended Roxanne's because of it's quick-drying and repositionable properties, but mainly because of its applicator that will allow me to put a tiny drop of glue right where I want it. The entire Happy Village piece is only 16 x 16 inches and so the scale is very small.


The little window pieces are about 1/4-inch square and have to be handled with tweezers. A glue stick is much too large and clumsy for such tiny pieces, and I have yet to see a bottle of Elmer's with a fine enough point to be workable. (I'm not saying they don't exist, just that I haven't seen them.) I'd end up with glue everywhere, but particularly on my fingertips. With glue all over my fingertips, it would be pretty hard to manage those tiny little pieces of fabric without having them stuck all over me eventually.

Yesterday, I had hopes that this "chisel" point might get the job done. However, it requires pressing the tip onto the piece to release the glue, and when I pick it up from the fabric, the glued piece comes with it.


The Elmer's glue pen won't work because it requires rolling over the piece like a ballpoint pen to release the glue. I need something that allows me to dab little bits of glue. I believe this product will be useful for other applications, but not for this one. 


And so you've all given me good ideas. As I've said before, quilters are the most generous and helpful people I know. Thank you for proving my point, because I love that I'm right about that. For now, I'll just wait for the Roxanne's glue to arrive. It's just another week. In the meantime, I'll get back to my quilting. There's always plenty of other stuff to work on in the sewing room.

When the glue pens weren't going to do the job, I went back to quilting the Pumpkin Patch table topper. I finished quilting all the orange pumpkins and then switched off to the green thread. I quilted some stems and vines onto the ones in the center of the topper. When I'm finished with the quilting, I'm hoping I can use one of the fancy stitches on my sewing machine to stitch a leaf vine onto that green border and the one around the outside edge of the quilt.


Here's how it's looking from the back.


With the center quilted, I got to work on the pieced pumpkins. I outlined the stems and leaves and quilted veins onto them. Then I thought they needed a few little vines coming off the leaves.


Remember when I showed these the other days and the pumpkins were incomplete when seen from the back. Now that I've quilted around the leaves, they're looking better.


The green thread was giving me grief yesterday. It's an Essentials thread, and of a lesser quality (and a lower price) than the Isacord thread. When I was getting ready to quit for the day, I switched out my sewing machine needle and used a larger eye. I haven't given that a try yet, but I'm hoping it will help. Also, I might put some thread lubricant on the thread if I continue to have problems. I've mentioned Sewer's Aid in previous posts, and I use it especially with metallic threads.


It is a silicon-based lubricant that will lubricate your thread and allow it to pass through the eye of your needle without snagging. The silicon will not absorb into your fibers either. Just run a thin line from the top to the bottom of your spool, and then massage it in like hand lotion. I've only used it on metallic threads, but I don't see why it won't work for cotton as well. I'm going to give it a try if the breakage problem continues.

Mike and I are heading to the RV show this morning. We're not shopping, just looking. Recently Mike ordered a new truck, and while we don't have it yet, he's talked of little else. We're expecting to take delivery in the next couple of weeks. The reason for the new truck is so that we can upgrade our truck camper to one of the larger three-slide deals. We'll still keep our fifth wheel, but having a larger truck camper will allow us to go on our ATV outings in a little more style. And, for us, traveling in style means we get to take the kitties with us. The new camper won't happen for another couple of years at least, but we'll be truck-ready when the camper time comes. For now, we just continue to look and drool, and we have fun at the RV shows. When we get home this afternoon, I'll get back to my quilting. I'd love to get that topper finished this weekend.

13 comments:

quiltzyx said...

I totally agree with you about the generosity of quilters. We are all full of helpful hints, tips & solutions, aren't we?
The pumpkin quilting is looking mighty fine. Sorry that the thread is not behaving nicely.
What kind of truck did you order? Color? It's always fun to get something new. Have fun at the RV show!

Vroomans' Quilts said...

The pumpkins are coming along beautifully! And we appreciate what you share with us, too.

Debbie said...

I used the Roxanne's glue this morning on a bit that the fusible would not stick to.....it worked wonderfully. So it will be worth the wait, and the tips are really the trick. Just tiny dots of glue came out.

claudia said...

I'm loving your pumpkins! I bought a truck a few months back with the idea in mind to pull a trailer or put a cabover camper on it, but I have decided to just get an RV I can drive. I need a little more space than a cabover would give me and I can't back a trailer up right, so the drivable RV would be the ticket.

Brown Family said...

I need to find Sewer's Aid. My Bernina has an attachment on the side above the wheel that has a pad for silicone. I really liked to use it on metallic thread. However, I am out of the Bernina stuff. I think Sewer's Aid would work!

We are Amazon prime to the core, too. Even though we live in a large town, I hate to go shopping. And some things you just can not find local! I have had the Wal-Mart experience, too. Their web site says they have it, but apparently it is only on the web site. I can get it shipped to the local store for free, but that means I still have to go to the store!

Suzanne Ramsay said...

I use a toothpick dipped in glue. Works great. If I'm doing more than a dap or two I squirt my white glue on a piece of paper towel rat her tha trying to dip the toothpick in the bottle each time. Love following your blog. I anticipate working more of my projects into my life. Thanks for showing us how you fit yours in.

Suzanne Ramsay said...

Rather than. Sorry. Spellcheck

Lyndsey said...

I love the quilting you're doing on the pumpkin table topper. I hope the larger needle and or the lubricant stops the breakages. I must try that when using metallic threads. I gave up using metallic threads in the machine because of the shredding or breakages. I've recently been given a very cute set of metallic threads and want to give it another try.

Yep quilters are a very helpful group. I've learnt so much from the tips posted on quilting blogs, that have made my quilting journey so much easier. In particular the helpful discussions you have with yourself when sorting quilting problems out are both helpful and funny. Folks also leave their tips and encouragement in the comments which I find very useful. My only problem is that some of the lovely quilting and allied accessories are not readily available in the UK.

Dana Gaffney said...

I have the Sewers Aid because you recommended it but haven't used it yet since the threads that acted badly were thrown into the trash with gusto. I wonder if cotton thread will just absorb it.

Kate said...

The pumpkins turned out beautifully, both the stitched and the pieced. Have fun at the RV show. It's housework only at our place today, with maybe a bit of stitching this afternoon.

Karen L. said...

Too bad you don't live closer as I could have lent you my Roxanne glue but I am not sure I could be much farther away than I am (NC).

I know you have worked on a lot of McKenna Ryan quilts and have been meaning to ask you how you quilt them and with what kind of thread. I have quilted a couple of her small patterns using the clear thread and just straight stitching on the edge of each piece as she recommends but wondered if you have a better idea?

Love reading your blog and I hope you are finding peace in your area. We all need that so badly now! "Meow" to your kitties! We are solely dog people now days but have certainly had our share of cats.

Karen L. said...

PS: Forgot to mention that award winning quilter/appliquer Sharon Schamber sells Fine Point Glue Tips that screw right onto the Elmer's Washable School Glue bottles. You can find them in her website store. Just google her name. I have not tried one yet but I am guessing that they must work well since she uses them. Just a thought!

Terri in BC said...

Until you get your Roxanne's glue bottle, have you tried puddling some glue on a paper plate and using a toothpick to put some glue on your piece. I have done that quite successfully!