Painter's Tape Sewing Hacks

I thought it might be helpful to have a visual of how I am using the tape guide to sew diagonal seams. I placed the painter’s tape so the left edge is aligned with the needle. I also drew a line at the quarter-inch mark because I needed to be able to see that mark for a straight seam on some other units.

And this is what it looks like when I am ready to sew a corner square to a larger square with a diagonal seam. The bottom point of the small square rides along the painter’s tape and gives me an accurate seam.

I do have to remove the tape to replace the bobbin, but that’s not a huge issue.

Some sewists go so far as to mark the actual bed of the machine with a line, using a permanent marker, but I won’t do that.

The next quilt top is coming along nicely. I was going to sew each set of units in one fell swoop—rather like how Bonnie Hunter structures her quiltalongs, where she has you sew one part before going on to the next—but I get too excited about seeing a completed quilt block. I have to make several blocks before I settle down enough to chain piece, and even then, I’ll only chain piece enough units for four or six blocks before I stop and assemble the blocks. I decided yesterday, though, that my system has the advantage of catching any problems before I get too far into assembly. One of my units was coming out a tad small and I had to make an adjustment. I was glad I caught that after I had made eight of those units, not after I had made 80.

I finished quilting the stars on Noon and Night yesterday afternoon. I am going to go over the top today with a fine-tooth comb to make sure I didn’t miss anything before I trim and bind it. I am rather hoping for a good dump of fresh snow with this next storm system (arriving today), because I think that a photo of a black quilt on a snow-white background would be lovely and dramatic.

****************************************************

January and February are tough months in Montana for a lot of people. I’ve noted an uptick in the number of suicide calls on the scanner recently. We heard a few days ago that someone who was an important influence in my kids’ lives when they were growing up committed suicide last week. And I found out this morning that someone else I know lost her father, a schizophrenic. He was unable to meet with his social worker during the pandemic and stopped taking his medication. Stories like these are why I get so angry with people demanding that everyone stay home during a pandemic “to help save a life.” (I get especially annoyed when I hear those kind of statements coming from people in cushy situations who don’t have to make any sacrifices.) The reality is that life is not black and white, and “saving a life” by forcing everyone to stay home involves the possibility that someone else will lose theirs from the despair of isolation or lack of access to medical care. There are always tradeoffs, and to pretend otherwise is disingenuous. We should be trying to find the middle road with the fewest impacts, not immediately defaulting to the most draconian solution possible because that makes some people more comfortable. I’ll say it again, louder this time for the people in the back: Life is risky. You can’t avoid dying. News flash.

I listened to the Farmish Kind of Life podcast yesterday on my way home from town. Amy, the host, noted that she’s been getting a lot of comments from people who are concerned that she’s not paying attention to what is happening in the US. She noted that there is a difference between “paying attention,” and “being consumed by.” I think a lot of people are missing that distinction. I have absolutely zero control over what is happening in Washington DC right now, so I am not going to spin myself up into a tizzy about it. You know what I do have control over? I have control over what is happening in my own life and my own community, and I have stuff to do. I have no idea what’s coming down the pike, and I don’t want to waste the time I have been given by spending it yelling into the void of social media. It’s interesting to me that the people in the homesteading community have no problem understanding that concept—almost as if we’re all too busy getting stuff done.