:shock: Or maybe not. I only wanted to get the dust off... :roll:

Below is a picture of a living breathing strip knot. It took me almost 2 hours to untangle and hang, but I did it. Sigh...when will I learn to rethink what looks like a good idea? :roll:

This week I've been too tired by evening to add the next strip to my log cabin border for the barn quilt blocks....I DID learn years ago to NOT quilt when I'm tired--it works my seam ripper too hard. :roll: The small squares sewn together in a chain need cutting apart next... We may have a "wind" day tomorrow from school--if we do, I'll get lots done! :D

Have you tried putting them in a lingerie bag before you wash them? It's not perfect, but helps a little.

Well at least a strip knot looks pretty!

Oh Barnbum, forgive me but I cannot help but laugh. I can easily picture myself doing the same thing. :lol: Thankfully I'm good at learning from other people's 'adventures'. :lol:

You know, I should be sewing but I keep finding myself playing in this Forum. :P At this rate I'm not going to get much accomplished but I'm having a grand time making new friends. :D
~Tiffany

Oh no!! not a pretty site to see when you open the washer...then to have to get them all untangled... what a task! :(

I have used a lingerie bag. It helps a lot, especially with strips and squares I got from swaps. They were not prewashed!

Try that next time you have pieces to launder!

You kinda did rethink it...just not at the right time! I do most of my rethinking that way! I'm glad you got it all salvaged and I'm sure it added a spike to your learning curve. I don't make the same mistake twice very often, but I make new ones once a lot :) :) :)

I meant for you to get a grin or giggle from this, Tiffany. :D The best visual was when I tried to pull one strip out and the whole knot arose--I would have taken a picture but I was home alone. It was a 3 hand job. :lol:

Well, they aren't dusty anymore. Just the act of yanking them from their close friends in the basket removed any lingering particles.

I'm thinking the next time you want to dust off your fabric strips, a can of air might be a less time consuming way to go. :lol:

I laugh because I have been there. What can I say, give me enough time and I'm sure I'll be there again. I tend to repeat my mistakes once in awhile, just to make sure I've learned my lesson well. :roll:
Tiffany

LOL!

I once put a sofa cover in the dryer without reading the label and the darn thing melted. I had to scrape the plastic-ky lint off the inside of my dryer.

Oh well. I guess you will at least only make some mistakes once in life! :lol:

Oooohhh, I don't think I'll laugh over that one. I've had to peel things off my dryer before and I have a great imagination so I really feel for you!

I have to say, I love those cans of air. I use them for all sorts of things in my quilt room. The main thing I use it for is to blow out the bobbin area of my sewing machine. For those who haven't heard, you aren't supposed to blow into your sewing machine to blow away the fabric dust because our breath is very moist and can actually cause rusting in the parts down below. Now, this may be an old wives' tale, or it may work with older machines that are made from real metal. I don't know. I do know I switched to a can of air to blow away my fabric dust, just in case. ;)
~Tiffany

Barnbum
I am so glad you posted that--I was just getting ready to do the same thing in the morning. I will take advantage of your mistake and try something else.

Experience is what tells you when you make the same mistake more then once. :lol: And Tiffany: :oops:

Experience is what tells you when you make the same mistake more then once. :lol: And Tiffany: When I get the new newsletter I have to do ALL the added forum sites. Than it takes me all night to just get off this site. :oops:

I just purchased a new machine. The one I had was about forty years old. I am so happy that the subject came up about blowing air into your machine to remove dust. This new machine is mostly plastic I guess,but when you think about it blowing the moist air around into any machine does not sound like the better thing to do. Thank you all for calling this to my attention as well as having the chance to see myself doing the same thing with my strips. Got to love this quilting thing huh? Now will you please tell me where I can find cans of air? Did I say I wanted to buy a CAN of AIR?????
Thanks everyone..
Jean

Karla..sounds like something right up my alley. I love making new "adventures" like that. Luckily, my hubby is used to my great ideas and usually helps me undo them...of course, I do have to listen to the commentary the whole time....did I say it was worth his help???? :roll:

Glad it worked out for you. I less mistake to make in the future.. :oops:

LOL. You can buy air at any office supply store or even Walmart. Darn stuff isn't cheap and if someone had told me I would be buying cans of air and bottles of water way back in the early 80's, I would have laughed until snot ran down my face, all the while wondering who the idiot is who would buy such a thing. It would seem that idiot is now me. :lol:

What machine did you get?
~Tiffany

Tiffany,

And you read, didn't you, that you really shouldn't use the canned air on the bobbin area because it forces the lint deeper into the machine, right?

Anita

I haven't had that problem yet. :( Of course I regularly take my face plate off and the bobbin area out and clean it and that may help in that area.

They need to make a sewing machine that blows its own lint out! Now that would solve everything quite nicely. :lol:
~Tiffany

A dealer told me that canned air tends to pack your lint down inside your machine and under your bobbin where only a dealer can access. I have found that if you use an artist's large fan brush you have excellent results. Anyway this is what he said. Thanx

There is literally no room in my bobbin area for a brush. I've got a Janome 6600 and it's pretty tight down there. There sure isn't the extra room that I have with my 1957 Brother. I think I could shove my hand in there if I had smaller hands (I've got large hands). I think they should just add a feature where you can push a button and it blows air through the area and out where you can gather up the lint and throw it away. You would think someone would have come up with something like this already. :!:
~Tiffany

How bout a lint filter like in the clothes dryer? :lol: I use a little 1 inch brush in my machine however they say a feather (not feather duster) works great. Anyone with chickens, ducks, or geese have it made. :lol: Maybe a parrot or two? Don't think canary or parakeet feathers would work too well. Not stiff enough. :P

The brush I am talking about is a half cresent and flat. I have a Janome Platinum 760 and a Viking Mega Quilter. The 760 I take the bobbin holder out and use the brush to sweep really good under the holder, then inside the bobbin holder and then put it back together. I sew every day so I do this at least once a day. The 760 has a drop in bobbin and the viking has a vertical. The brush has a long skinny handle and I have no problem getting it in there. You would think that they could come up with something though to address this problem. I guess the only thing we could do ourselves is to use a thread that is as lint free as we can find till they come up with something better. Of course, you know that it will add major $$$'s onto the cost of the machine that has it!!

Hello, Yes just reading your post I had to chuckle,because I have done the same thing.

I found an old double weddeing ring top at a thrift store and put it in the tub to wash it a little,it had a lot of red in it guess what happen to the white? I have found some stuff,that says it will take that out,but have been afraid to try it.

This winter I got out all of my leftover strips from other quilts and just sat a the sewing machine sewing them all together. When I was done it lookes so pretty,I decided to do another one then use it as a valance for my bedroom windows. I made me a water color quilt and thought that would look good with it,since they are all pastals,then just have shears hang under it. Sure would like to grab some of them out of that basket.