Ironing Out the Wrinkles

 Good morning, and welcome to Treadlestitches!

It's another rainy day here, but I'm starting today with a mug of tea and the cheerful color of the month.  September is for red scraps, brought to you by Angela at the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  (See link below.)

I only got two of my RSC blocks done this week.  These are the vintage nine patches I'm removing from an unfinished top and "remodeling" into double nine patches.

I really love how this unknown quilter used every shade of red and every sort of red print.  It's the variety in scrap quilts that makes my heart go pitter patter.

I love all things vintage, including this used 1960s iron I bought at Goodwill a few years ago.  So imagine my panic when it began to have problems heating.  Without an iron there is no pressing wrinkled scraps for cutting, no pressing blocks or borders or backing--in short, no piecing!  What was I going to do? 

Bad luck with irons has followed me around, so I knew what I didn't want.  Twice, before I got the good old G.E. iron, I bought new ones, and was VERY disappointed.  The expensive one quit after about a year.  The cheap one quit right away (saving me time, I guess).  Both of these irons had automatic shut off, which I absolutely hate.  Manufacturers had apparently not thought of that particular torture for quilters when my vintage iron was made, and I had gotten used to having a hot iron whenever I needed it. 

Meet my new iron, the Knapp Monarch Dry Iron.  I ordered it from the Vermont Country Store, and it came right away.  (I know this seems like a commercial, but I am not affiliated with any suppliers.) It's a dry iron, meaning it doesn't use steam.  Since I don't use steam either, it's like a dream come true.  (It's probably my own fault, but I tend to distort quilt blocks when I use a steam iron.)

Check out the sole plate--no holes!  This kind of iron would have come in handy when I was transferring children's crayon drawings to fabric.  The old irons left little round steam holes in the design.

As with everything, there are pluses and minuses.

Here's what I like about the iron:

1.  Heats well.

2.  Heats quickly.

3.  No automatic shut off (!!!!).

4.  Not too light weight, not too heavy.

5.  No steam holes (in case I want to do fusible web, etc.)

 

And here are some minor issues.

1.  Makes a loud clicking sound when it gets to the heat you've selected.

2.  Hums every so often as it heats up.

3.  To turn it off, you have to unplug it (no off switch). 

The first two issues can be "solved" by turning up the music.  The last one is more of an inconvenience.

I hope I have this iron problem solved now, but I won't know for a while if the Knapp Monarch is reliable in the long term.  I do like that it does one simple job, and does it well.  Like a treadle!

Once I had the new iron, I had some catch-up work to do on this project.  This is my Diary Quilt, which I started back in January.  I picked quite the year to do this, didn't I?

Each of these big squares represents a month, and each strip is one day.  There are half strips at the end, to get all of the days in.  I didn't take the post it notes off before taking the pictures because I'm afraid I'll get them mixed up. 

I was so far behind!  At the end of April, I just kind of ran out of steam.  So the last two weekends I've been sorting through strips and making the blocks for May, June, July, and August.  The little block above is for last week.  The school bus marks the beginning of the school year for Big Buddy and Little Buddy, and the strip with hearts is for the family party we had on Labor Day weekend, our first since Christmas and just our kids and their spouses and kids. 

Little Buddy is in preschool every day now, so we see him less, but we're making the most of it.  Baby Buddy is starting to eat solid food, not just his toys.

Now that I'm caught up on the Diary quilt, I can enjoy making more red blocks for the RSC.

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge has been so good for me.  It has helped me to see color everywhere, and not to just get stuck on the same old thing.

This week may we find relief from stress and anxiety, and joy in the little things around us.  Stay safe!

Cheers for reading,

Sylvia@Treadlestitches 

Linking up with:

Angela at So Scrappy

Alycia at Finished or Not Finished Friday

Sarah at Can I Get A Whoop Whoop

Cynthia at Oh Scrap