Wednesday, April 02, 2008

Should come with a warning

Some days the quilting room can be a danger zone! Today I have pinned a block to my sweatpants, broke the needle in my sewing machine which now has it jammed up, sewed the final block of my sampler quilt in upside down, and set fire to the ironing board...that final one deserves some explaining.

My husband bought a new ironing board cover. I basically use the iron to press fabric. My Dh on the other hand irons everything. It can be 90 degrees out and he will iron his shirt and trousers before going out to golf. By the time he gets off the driving range he is a wrinkled mess...but that doesn't matter. He only stopped "touching up" T-shirts last year. (Glad to know I've had some influence on him!) All that to explain why he bought this new fangled ironing board cover that "reflects heat." He put it on the board this past weekend.
So how did this lead to a small fire? One word - paperpiecing. (hummm - maybe that is two words?) Anyways, I was working on some civil war blocks and used the iron which was still on his setting for a cotton shirt for my block. I use the very thin paper sold in fabric stores specifically for paper-piecing. I generally just iron it quickly to keep folds from occurring...also it makes the paper come off easier - in this instance a bit too easy. There was no smoke. No warning. Just woosh. A quick flame sprung up the side of the iron. I jumped back and grabbed the closest thing - my husband's shoe - and slapped the block like crazy!

So the block is now in the trash. I will have to explain a slight scorch mark on the new cover to my husband tonight. I think I will go back to using my cotton ironing board cover again...

I'm not sure how many of these blocks I will end up doing. Some are from Dear Jane and others from a variety of books. They are 6 inches and are using up some of the tiny bits of repro fabric that I love and just can't part with. A few are made up of orphan blocks or bits of blocks. I wonder if the original Jane didn't do that as she made some of her blocks.

14 comments:

McIrish Annie said...

you are having quite the adventures in your sewing room! Who knew quilting was a hazardous occupation??

sewkalico said...

Oh dear! Well as long as you (and the shoe) are all right. Love the blocks! Using up scraps you love is a wonderful feeling too.

MARCIE said...

Love your funny adventures! Your blocks look great too. Wow-it actually caught on fire? You could have given it a clever name. Well, I'll leave that to you.

Purple Pam said...

You have such exciting adventures without even leaving your home! You make me smile every time I read your blog. Thank you for sharing your wonderful world. And your patchwork is even wonderful, too!

Mary Johnson said...

I love the fabrics and colors in these blocks too. I've been tempted to join in and make the Civil War Diary blocks but that would be too much right now - esp. since I'm not even getting the two things - 3 things - on my must be done before the move...but I still have about 10 days!

Unknown said...

These little blocks are so sweet -but what a hazard you are at the moment :o) just be careful you could do yourself a mischief!

Marilyn Robertson said...

What beautiful little quilt blocks! I love your fabric choices. I love CW repro's. I can never get enough of them!

Mad about Craft said...

The blocks are lovely, I really like the colours.

Maybe you should each have your own ironing boards. I am thinking about having my own iron for crafting as the main iron soleplate is not brillant for the crafting .

sewprimitive karen said...

I'm not sure how many of these blocks I will end up doing. ....especially if you keep setting them on fire :-).

comicbooklady said...

egads! I am glad you were not burned! No one deserves a day like that!

*karendianne. said...

I love these blocks - just too cute! But can we stop with the flames?! :>

Pyromania Love, *karendianne.

Patti said...

Oh Siobhan - thanks so much for the laugh! I'm sure it wasn't at all funny when it happened but your description of the incident is priceless. Makes me think of something that might have happened to Lucy Richardo - did you ever watch "I Love Lucy"? I'm glad that the block and the board cover were the only casualities. Could have been much worse!

Quilts And Pieces said...

I"m sorry, but I am sitting here laughing at your terrible day! The last straw was the picture of you beating flames down with your DH shoe!

Helen said...

Don't you think some days deserve to be started over? I didn't think ironing fabric was so dangerous! Glad you got it out quickly. I would have kept the burnt block for show & tell at my club :-)