Over the Kitchen Counter: Angie's Place for Cooking and Crafts

Roxanne Glue Baste It & For Keeps

In my latest order I received a bottle of Roxanne Glue Baste It. I know many quilters love it for applique (its original purpose) and I bought it because it was one of Joanna Figueroa's favourite things to use to fuse the fabric shape onto the quilt. It is water soluble, dries quickly, and has a great, fine-tip applicator top.

I am also reading For Keeps, the book by Amy Gibson (of the Craftsy 2012 Block of the Month class) and she really recommends giving glue basting a try. Although she is a long-time quilter and avid pinner, Amy has become smitten with this method for not only applique, but binding and long seams like borders. The book was something I'd wanted when I first heard Amy was writing it but then I sort of forgot about it. I wanted to add to my order and I always love new quilt books and there it was. I am SO glad I got For Keeps. I wasn't sure if it would be a good fit with me but I love the idea behind it (quilts to be used and loved by the family) and there are so many great pages of reading. I am going to review it more thoroughly soon but I did want to mention that Amy influenced me to try glue basting.

Ok, so now that I have tried Roxanne's product, it's kind of GREAT! I'm attaching the borders to my Piece of Cake quilt and I usually pin every few inches. Invariably, as I stitch those long seams, I get thoroughly poked in the legs with the pins. I hate it! The Glue Baste It is wonderful to apply and it dispenses in tiny droplets. I hit it with a warm iron to set it (not necessary according to the instructions) and it worked like a charm. I was able to soar through the seam without drawing blood and the fabric didn't move at all, not even by a thread. I am pretty much sold! (The first seam I used it on was the centre seam joining my backing panels. It glued the pieces perfectly...only I forgot that I would need to press the seam open! Ooops! I simply spritzed the fabric with some water and I was able to get the tip of the iron to separate the seam allowance and press. Great product!

Here's the video on how Glue Baste It works, as explained by the inventor...

 

...and here is Joanna demonstrating how she likes to use the glue for applique...

 

Inside the Frivols & My Work Cut Out

I was delighted with the goodies inside my latest Frivols tin, in addition to the 42 - 7"x7" yummy Strawberry Fields Revisited fabric. As I mentioned, the Vintage quilt pattern is wonderful with the Churn Dash block and looks really simple to put together with half square triangles and some strip piecing. The tin itself is really sweet but my favourite item was the co-ordinating printed fabric quilt label. It has a cute strawberry and a place to write my name and the date. Of course, I'm itching to do some patchwork and get this quilt underway and it's a great chance to use a different sewing machine. However, this weekend I sorted out my UFOs and realized I need to slow down!

What have I done, I thought, as I organized my quilt tops with their batting, backing, and binding. I have three projects completely assembled and ready to be basted (Wheels, Piece of Cake 3, and the Hashtag quilt). I have one ready and waiting to buy backing and binding (Vintage). I have the t-shirt quilt waiting for the backing to be pieced (but at least I have that fabric!). I have the Piece of Cake 2 quilt that needs its borders now the fabric has arrived. I am going to be so good at quilting after all these are finished! It's a little overwhelming to see them all lined up, especially since they all need basting and that is an undesirable part of the process. So...I need to stop piecing and start quilting. I will get my patchwork fix working on the small blocks for the Farmer's Wife even though they are driving me crazy! One block turns out nicely, the next is a disaster. I need a break from it already since I get frustrated when I encounter such difficulties.

 I have done so much quilty shopping that it's also time to read all the new books, try all the new notions, and use up some of the amazing fabric. The only thing I might need to buy is some more 505 basting spray. I'm going to be using a lot of it in the next couple of months...