I had been waiting for a little something arriving in the post - but I didn't expect it to arrive from here!
we have recently been eating courgette ribbons instead of pasta, but it's a bit of a faff cutting them, so I have invested in this gadget (or is it a gizmo?)
which promises to turn courgettes into spaghetti with just a twist
quite often these things promise a lot, but deliver a little ......... but this one does just what it says on the packet!
so now for the goodies I came home with in Saturday. First, who can resist that magic word "sale"
then there were these yummy woolly bits, which were on a special offer, saving me £4
I have seen these gloves being used in online quilting classes, so I thought I would give them a try (although I think it's a bit of a silly name!)
they are light and comfortable, with "sticky" fingertips
I almost didn't get to make my last purchase ......... the stallholders were having problems with the machine for processing credit card sales, and I didn't have quite enough cash left to pay for my purchase. However, as I had been patiently waiting for quite some time, they let me off with some of the bill!! (as I was leaving, I stopped to give the few coins I had left to a chap collecting for Help for Heroes - so I came home with a completely empty purse!!). So what is in my bag from Parrs Reel Ruler
two rulers (one came with the basic kit, I added the second one), a foot for the machine, and a "sew slip" mat
the mat, as you can see, is much bigger than the one I got some time ago
there was a slight pause at this point, as I stared in disbelief at the tv!
the trickiest bit of using the new rulers was getting the protective covering off them, but eventually I was ready to start. Put simply, the foot fits into the slot in the ruler and you simply follow along the slot
but of course it isn't quite as simple as that, as you have to make sure that the ruler doesn't slip, and as you are free motion quilting you have to concentrate on keeping your stitches even. My first attempt with the straight ruler wasn't too bad ......
then I set up the curved ruler
once you have stitched your first line, you can then stitch an echo line - you line the edge of the slot up with the first line of stitching
then you can turn the ruler round and stitch a cable. Of course you can stitch longer lines - you just keep moving the ruler along
I went back to the square ruler and stitched a square within a square - Malcolm came into the studio at that point and was quite impressed (it obviously appealed to the engineer in him)
I also had a little play with some fmq - first some spirals
then some meandering
next some waves/flames
followed by flowers
I thought I would have another attempt at an owl. Malcolm had laughed at my previous try - and he laughed at this one too!
so to finish we'll have two better looking birds - one of our many sparrows, sitting on top of the stone owl in the front garden