I Have LAPTOP!

And now, FINALLY it's been switched on.  It has more memory, and is an upgrade in size. And it has Windows 10. Which I have never used before. ergh.

Really - I am not computer illiterate but the thought of starting all over with a new laptop made me nervous and unsure of myself. Or maybe I was just being silly. But this was totally me yesterday.

The keyboard will take some getting used to, as will the photo editing capability.  Just different is all. And I need to create folders and move files.  Some of that can wait, some can't.

I have been sewing and making serious progress on three projects.

To ease back into blogging, I'll start with sharing something new I learned.

While I LOVE having the wide expanse of the tile floor at the Michigan House for sandwiching quilts, I do not love scooting around on hands and knees, placing and closing 48,659,781,347 safety pins on that wonder, if unforgiving, hard as iron tile floor.

I had heard about using boards and/or pool noodles for the layering process. I hunted down some online videos to fill in the details and set about securing the necessary equipment. I added pool noodles to the grocery list, which caused the DH some head scratching moments when he was out doing the shopping. In the meantime, I hit the local home improvement store and picked up some 7 foot pre-primed trim boards.  I went with the seven foot length, as they will fit into my truck easily.  I also grabbed some wood dowel rods to put into the center of the pool noodles for stability sake.

Supplies in hand, I head to the Michigan House so that in the event of an epic failure, I could always fall back on the floor. Literally. I also brought along a 3 x 6 foot table to layer on & a large roll of painters tape, again just in case I ended up on the floor.

Since I had three quilts that needed to be layered, I started with the Construction Equipment quilt, so I could work out the kinks.  Of all the current projects, this would be the most forgiving to work on - large pieces with fewer seams. Very straight forward indeed.

Based on the 64 x 84 inch size of the top, I started with the board method.  In the video, they recommend starching the heck out of both the top and backing.  Nope - that's a definite no-go on the two large quilts.

It worked fairly well.  I did notice a tiny bit of backing fabric distortion as I rolled it up.  I wonder if my boards have a slight warp to them. I did eyeball them when I purchased them but I'll need to check them against a level.  The DH has offered to round over the sharp edges so they match the beveled edges.

The two large quilts got layered.  The third - the Solstice Quilt - was still in process of being pieced.  When it's done, I'm planning on trying out the pool noodles for layering that one as it only measures 21 x 24 inches.  It has a TON of seams so it will be a different experience.

But all in all, I'm OFF the floor!!  Now I need to find a fun, new laptop skin.