TNT with Oliso

A little while back I did a post about "A Tale of 3 Irons", which shared my dramatized version of my irons breaking down.  At the end of the post I wrote the following: 

But we will have to wait and see, Irons and me seem to have very fickle friendships :)  If #3 and I don't get along very well I might have to consider looking for a replacement in the Royal Family of Irons.  I hear Oliso is quite the Family name of Pressing!

We'll the story picks back up today.  Iron #3 was rather disappointing.  (Shocker, I know.)  And it was time to try out  Oliso.   I learned more about their quilter's iron (the TG1600) and it sounded amazing!!.  So I decided to give it a whirl!!!!  And may I say . . . I LOVE IT!!!  (Sorry to shout, but I really love it that much!)

So, let me tell you a little about my experience with the Oliso TG1600

The full name of this particular is the Oliso Pro Smart Iron with iTouch Technology TG1600.  Now, if you were like me, you are wondering what iTouch Technology is on an iron.  Well let me show you!!

The iron has 2 scorchguards. (I like to think of them as feet.) You can rest the iron on them like so.  It's not touching the fabric so you don't have to worry about it leaving marks.  

Now, when you are ready to iron, simply hold the handle and the schorchguards lift allowing you to press.

As soon as you are done, simply let go of the handle and the schorchguards lower automatically lifting the iron and preventing burning or scorching of your fabric.

Yup, you never have to lift your iron up.  I can't tell you what a relief this is to my wrist!!!!  And, it saves so much time!!  I didn't think lifting your iron up and down would use up any measurable amount of time but I really noticed the difference, especially when doing a large pile of pressing.  And every bit of time saved pressing is more time for piecing!!!

Another great feature of the Oliso TG1600 is the power (heat and steam) behind this iron.  In the past, pressing meant running the iron over the piece several times or standing there with the iron for several seconds.  With the Oliso TG1600 it is just a quick zip over the fabric.  The heat and auto steam set the seam instantly and with one pass!!  Yes, it truly is One Pass Pressing!!  (Oh yes, more sewing time there, also)

And, I don't have to iron the right side.  This really blew me away.  I always flip over my piecing to press the opposite side just to really get a nice crisp seam.  But every time I turned over a piece to press the front I found the seam already perfectly crisp.   Another huge time saver!!!!

Another  favorite thing about the Oliso TG1600 is the detailer tip.  Now I am sure this would be great for clothing, but let's get real, when was the last time I ever ironed clothing.  And this is a quilter's iron, and I tell you it is fabulous for pressing seams open!!!  I get so frustrated pressing seams open when I have to practically finger press the entire seam in order to get it to stay open long enough to get my iron in it.  The detailer tip combined with the heat and steam from the TG1600 make finger pressing a thing of the past.  Just start at the end of your seam and let the iron do the work.  No fingers necessary.  Ahhh!!!  Love it!!!

The tank on the Oliso TG1600 is a side filling tank.  I loved not having to fill  my iron at the sink.  I could just refil it at the ironing board and continue on. No time wasted.

The Oliso TG1600 also has an anti-drip system that prevents spitting and leaking while the iron is hot.  Love it!!  Seriously, this is what my old irons have done to my 1 year old ironing board cover.  So sad.  Now that I know I won't be having any leaking issues I think I best be making a new Ironing Board Cover.

And the last 2 things show how much they had quilters in mind during the design phase.  First, A 12" cord with 360 degrees pivot.  And if you spin around your ironing board as much as I do you will totally appreciate that.  And second, a 30 minute auto off timer!!!  Finally!!!!!  Doesn't it just drive you nuts when you have been sewing 3 seams and you go back to your iron to find it has shut off!!!   No such thing with the TG1600.  It waits for you to be ready.  (But, it still has auto shut off if it is knocked over, good safety feature!)  

I gave it a major first test run pressing this entire pile of piecing.

Into this pile in under 2 hours!!!   

So, to sum it up   . . . I really, really, really love my Oliso TG1600 and I will never be pressing with anything else!!  

So that is what I have been up to this week??  How about you!!  Link on up :)

   

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July Is Crazy!!!

Okay,  So there has not been a lot of time to sew so far this month.  I have had 2 family reunions already and another one on it's way.  I love spending time with all of my family, but I have to admit, when I haven't sewn for almost 2 weeks straight I get a little crazy.  (And I can't show you any pictures of our fun family time as my camera is still missing, thanks to my MIL for letting me use hers :)

However, this week is clear and I found a bit of time on Monday night (as in midnight) to sew my first Tetris Quilt-a-Long block together.  These go together so fast so if you are on the fence about whether you have time to join, totally jump in!!!   The prizes are awesome and the blocks are so fast and so fun!!!

Then yesterday I had all of nap time so I whipped up my bee blocks for the month.

Laura asked us to do a bright scrappy log cabin block.  I used a lot of the same prints I used for my Double Dresden Delight quilt and then just added some complimenting fabrics so I had enough prints.

Sue sent us some super scrappy fabrics to make 2 little adorable scrappy Japanese X and + blocks.   This was my first time making these blocks and I can totally see how people get addicted to them!!

And even basted the quilt that has been on my floor for 3 weeks.  (Tutorial next Monday for the Christmas in July Hop, yes I am procrastinating to the last minute :)

And even though I haven't had time to sew, I have still had my computer near by.   So when I saw another  Fat Quarter Idol at Sew Mama Sew  contest I couldn't resist.  (Especially as it took me days last month to get my pinterest account all sorted out, thank you 3 year old for playing on the computer and managing to freeze my account :)  And I was super excited yesterday to find that I was a finalist :)  I choose a soft, calming, beach pallet :)  I just love it :)    So if you haven't already, pop on over and check out the finalist and vote for your favorites.  There are some beautiful color combos to choose from :)

And  I don't have a lot to report, but lets finish up with the Wednesday Rundown :)  (I haven't done one of these since the end of June, that shows how crazy it has been around here :) 

Designing Stage

• Circle Meets Square Quilt
• Ashlyn's Quilt
• WIC with MSS Quilt
• Turnovers Quilt
• Modern Squares Quilt

Piecing Stage

• Jessi and Me Quilt 
• Tetris Quilt-A-Long
• King Size Serenity Quilt
• Sew Bee Create Quilt (waiting on 2 blocks)
• Braided Irish Chain - Queen and King (a tiny bit of progress)

Quilting Stage

• Solids Quilt for Free Motion
• Snip and Clip Quilt 

Completed Stage

• July Bee Block

Tetris Quilt-A-Long - Week 1

**  NOTE  - This post is part of a series of posts for the Tetris Quilt-A-Long.  If you would like to join (and have a chance to win one of the grand prizes sponsored by The Intrepid Thread ) you can find a list of the post links here :)


Need detailed instructions on "how to play"??  See this post :)


It's Week 1 of the Tetris Quilt-A-Long!!!!  I know lots of you are excited to play so let's get right to it :)

First, Print off your grid!!

Now, color in your Tetris Pieces

 

 

 

 

Nothing fancy needed, just fill it in as if you were playing.  Here's my grid for this week.

Now lay your fabric out to match your grid.  (Yes, 2 of my yellows are right side down, but no worries, I fixed it before I pieced it :)

And now just sew your squares into rows and then your rows into your Week 1 Block!!! (For detailed instructions on sewing a grid/patch block together see this post :)  

Yippee Skippee!!!  Your first week block is complete!!!  And now you can enter to win the weekly prize :)

The Weekly Prizes are sponsored by the Fat Quarter Shop and a huge thanks goes to them for their support of the Tetris Quilt-A-Long.

This weeks  prize is a The Birds and the Bees Design Roll by Tula Pink for Free Spirit Fabrics

So what do you have to do for a chance to win this beautiful Design Roll??  Simple . . . Just link up your Week 1 block at the end of this post :)  You can link to a blog post or a flickr picture, or whatever.  Just make sure to link up by next Tuesday morning as I will be announcing a winner at the beginning of next weeks post :)

If you don't get your block done by next week you can still link it up :) (just not in time for the prize :)    The linky will remain open until the end of the Quilt-A-Long.  So if your out of town, or just had a busy week, no worries!!!  Just link up when you can :)

And Don't forget to add your Week 1 Block to the Happy Quilting Quilt-A-Long Flickr group!!!  (There will be some giveaways there too, I'm just saying :)   I am so excited to see everyone's Week 1 block!!!

So what are you waiting for . . . Get your Tetris sewing on!!!

Winner and Missing

Thanks goes to Judy of Green Fairy Quilts for sponsoring our Pre-Tetris Quilt-A-Long Giveaway!!  I can't believe it starts tomorrow!!!  I am so excited :)

So . . . the lucky winner of the Sew Stitchy Jelly Roll is . . . 

Lucky #5!!!

Who happens to be . . . Laura Beech!!!  Congrats Laura, I have sent you an email :)

(I can't tell you how happy I am to have numbers on my comments again.  Thanks Angela!!!!  You can find a post here for help on how to add numbers to threaded comments :)

And this post is up a little later than I planned because I was hoping to add a few pictures of my kids on our camping trip this weekend.  They get so filthy dirty that it is comical.  Unfortunately, when I went to get the camera out of the bag, it was missing!!!

Agghhh, panic.  I unpacked all of the bags, turned things upside down, and still no camera.  I am really hoping it turns up soon.  I can't go very long without it.  (Maybe this will be the excuse I needed to go get a nice one :)  But still, hoping it turns up quickly :)

A Few Changes

I have been working on sprucing up the blog a bit lately.  Nothing major, just some layout changes and such.   My goal is to keep this space neat, tidy, and easy to navigate, but still pleasing to the eye.

Some of the changes included shifting everything to the left as I was starting to wonder if it was hard to read the posts in-between so much information on the sides. I also moved the Featured Buttons onto it's own page as they were starting to really crowd things up.  (Although that Featured Page still needs a lot of work :)  And a few other size adjustments to columns and such.

 My favorite part of the change is my new Follow Me buttons that my good friend Becca made for me :)  Aren't they cute!!

I still have some more changes that I want to make to spruce up some of the "Pages"  (All the links at the top of the blog under the header :)   But I will have to work on those here and there when time allows.

So what do you think??  Is it easy to navigate but still yummy eye candy??  Any suggestions on how to improve would be appreciated :)

TNT - Playing with Scraps

This TNT was actually a few weeks ago but I have been so busy this last week that I am using it anyhow (otherwise there would be a great big "I Got Nothing" post :)

My daughter had her friend over for a play date.  They asked if they could play with my fabric scraps.  This usually means cutting them out in fancy shapes, throwing them in the air and watching them fall.  But this particular day I decided they should Try Something New so I  came up with a New way for them to play.

They made Fabric Collages!!!  I simply sprayed some adhesive tack (same stuff I use for my Slice) onto some scrap-booking paper.  Then I let the girls cut up their desired scraps.  Then they just stuck their shapes onto the paper and Wha La . . . Instant collage.

They really had a great time . . .   And each made about 3 separate collages.  Kept them busy for 2 hours!!!!  And they even managed to keep the scraps in a pretty neat and tidy order.  What a great way to spend the afternoon.

And Josie even got in on the fun :)  She loves watching her big sister craft :)

So that is what we have been trying new (a few weeks ago :)  What have you tried new??  Link on up :)

 

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Swap Completed and a Lesson's Learned

*** Note - If you are looking for the Sew Stitchy Jelly Roll Giveaway you will find it here :)

The Tetris Color Charm Swap is complete!!!  The packages have all been mailed.  I had so much fun checking the mail each day to see what fun fabrics arrived.  Sorting was actually pretty enjoyable.  And I really didn't mind the organizing and so forth.  In fact . . . I loved just about every minute of this swap . . . That is up until the last 120 minutes.

And in the attempt to show the bad along with the good . . .  here's the story . . .  (Which could be subtitled What Happens When Melissa Doesn't Think.)

I arrived back in town on Sunday night.  I had a huge pile of packages that I sorted on Monday.  I was expecting the last 4 packages Monday evening.  The mail arrived and 3 packages were there.  Okay, slight panic.  But there is still a day to work with.  I packaged everything so that all I have to do is add the last 8 charms as soon as they arrive.   I wrote the last package owner and she assured me it was on it's way.   So no worries, everything will still be fine.  Still having fun at this point.


So today I go to check the mail . . . and you guessed it, no package!!  (Start the last 120 minutes)


I figure 2 things are against me now.  1 - The quilt-a-long starts on Tuesday (that's in 1 week) and 2 - I am going camping tomorrow. (so I can't really send packages)   So basically. . . I am out of time now. So, I decide to resort to my stash. There was no way I was going to hold up the entire quilt-a-long on one package.  I have some yard cut's in my stash so I iron them and lay them out on the cutting mat.  And I am in such a hurry that I cut the first row wrong!!!!  Grrr!!!


So . . . after totally kicking myself, I get some more stash and continue cutting. I finish cutting the charms, admire my completed stack for about 1 minute, bag the remaining charms, and put them in their designated envelopes, and then seal and tape all of the packages.   First lesson learned . . . The next swap, leave more time.  Set the deadline and then leave a good week of wiggle room.  (Down to about 90 minutes now)

I box up the packages and call my husband.  He will be home in 5 minutes, which is awesome as I don't have to take the kids to the post office!!!  The second my husband gets home I tell him I'm headed to the post office and I will be back in about 10 minutes.  I just have to run in and drop off all of these packages.

So I get to the post office and gladly there is no line.  I place my packages on the counter and tell them they need to be posted today if at all possible.  The clerk looks at the first package and informs me that I will need more postage.  I am confused as I know it is a flat rate envelope and there is enough postage on it.  She then informs me that the postage on it is VOID because it has been taped over.  HORROR!!!

In my haste to make sure none of your packages opened in transit, I taped them up super good.  I was super generous with the tape as some of the packages that came to my house were pretty hammered.  Here I am trying to make sure everything is just perfect, that they won't have to take time adding tape at the Post Office, and wham, it slaps me in the face.  (Please don't tell me that most people know this already :)

I was about to just start crying at the counter.  I wasn't up to forking out all that shipping and it made me sick to think they had already been paid for and I totally messed them up. So after a few panic moments,  I asked if I could try and peel  off the tape.  The clerk said I could try but they closed in 45 minutes.  (45 minutes left now.)

So there I was . . . over on a side counter trying to gently get the tape off of the stamps without ripping the stamps.  You can imagine some of the looks I was getting from other patrons.  The whole time I am just dangling somewhere between furious and devastated.  After 40 minuites (of what felt like 4 hours) I headed back up to the counter with my packages.   I managed to get all of the tape off on the packages but one.  (It decided not to cooperate and just rip off all together.)  I ran back up to the counter with 5 minutes to spare.

I watched them date stamp each one to make sure it was good to go!!!  A few they were a little hesitant on as a corner of the stamp had ripped or a little tiny piece of tape was still on it, but I think they took pity on me and let those ones slide.  After they said they were good to go I climbed in my car and started crying.  I think the stress was just needing to come out.

Major Lesson Learned - So . . .  For any of you out there that want to do a swap of your own some day . . . Remember, Never, ever, ever tape over the stamps!!!  (And yes, I am probably the only one that needed to learn that at the Post Office but just consider it a reminder :)


So that's the story.  And even with the crazy end . . . I am still so incredibly happy I hosted this swap.  It was a lot of fun.  And yup, I am starting to bat around the idea of another fabric swap.  (but not for a month or so.)  What kind would you like to see???