Rhonda Bracey: At Random

I had a devil of a time with a small spool of 100 wt Wonderfil Invisifil thread — it kept getting caught in the slot on the spool that secures the thread, or wrapping itself around the vertical or horizontal thread spool holder. It was the only spool of that colour that I had and it was perfect for the top stitching I wanted to do. But how to get it off the horrible spool and put it onto something that wouldn’t catch?

I had a lightbulb moment — I’d use the bobbin winder and wind the thread onto a bobbin then put the bobbin on the spool holder and I could use the thread without it catching every few seconds. Easy peasy. But not so fast, Batman…

Once I’d wound the thread off the spool and onto the bobbin, I was reminded that the Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen has a thicker rod for spools than it does for bobbins! (that’s a silly design flaw, in my opinion — if the spool rods were a tad narrower they could take both spools and bobbins, not just spools). That meant that I couldn’t put the full bobbin onto either the vertical or horizontal spool holder. And I couldn’t wind the thread back off the bobbin and onto a different sort of spool as the bobbin winder can’t do that. Thwarted…

Except the previous day I’d rigged up a temporary lighting system for my Sweet Sixteen 😉 Surely I could do the same for the bobbin so I could use it as the top thread? Off to the sewing room, the kitchen and the shed to see what would work. I came back with an artist’s paintbrush, a roll of painters tape, and a satay stick. Well, the satay stick wasn’t going to work as it was way too thin. But the paintbrush was an option — the bobbin spun nicely on it, until I set it up, when I found that the 100 wt thread just wanted to spool off the bobbin and get wrapped around the paintbrush. So that was no solution.

This solution didn’t work as the thread kept coming off the bobbin and winding around the paintbrush

The problem was that there was nothing to prevent the thread from coming loose from the bobbin and winding itself around whatever makeshift spool holder I had. I needed a cap of some sort… Just like on my domestic machine. My husband brought out a screwdriver that was the perfect diameter — my domestic sewing machine caps and felt pads fitted perfectly. It was then a matter of attaching the screwdriver to the machine with painters’ tape and off I went!

This solution was perfect — the felt pads and the caps from my domestic sewing machine kept the bobbin thread where it belonged, and the diameter of the screwdriver was such that the bobbin spun smoothly.

So now my Sweet Sixteen looks like some sort of makeshift Heath Robinson invention! I have an OTT Task Lamp tied to the left side with twist ties, a floor lamp on the right, and now this screwdriver spool holder for my bobbin full of the thread I wanted to use 😉

This option would not have been necessary if Handi Quilter had built these machines with slightly narrower diameter spool holders that would comfortably take thread spools and cones, AND M bobbins. Such a small design change would offer more thread delivery options to users.

I’d been using a temporary tray for storing my brush, oil etc. for my Handi Quilter Sweet Sixteen. I didn’t realise it was temporary until it started to split apart! So it was time for a different solution. The real problem with the shelf underneath the Sweet Sixteen table is that it’s narrow and shallow — 9.75 x 2 inches (24.5 x 5 cm) MAXIMUM internal dimensions. It’s deep, so length isn’t an issue, but the height and width of whatever you put under there are critical. And you still need to leave enough space for your fingers to grab the storage tray too.

I was in KMart (in Australia) and saw a neat little bamboo tray in the kitchen aisles. But as I wasn’t sure of the width of the shelf, I called my husband and got him to measure it. Unfortunately, the tray was too wide for the space. So I went looking a little more… And in the same KMart store, but in the stationery area, I found what I was looking for in the scrapbooking section — a tray with lots of fixed and removable dividers with lid that snaps closed.

I only added a couple of removable dividers — I sure didn’t need the 30 (!) removable dividers that were included in the box (though if you’re a beader or scrapbooker, then maybe they’d be super useful).

It’s a PERFECT tray for storing my oil, brush, small tools, spare fuse for the bobbin winder, and needles. And it cost me the princely sum of $5! Gotta be happy with that!

After watching Cindy Needham’s excellent Craftsy class (Design it, quilt it), I decided to try her method of basting a quilt, using a taped down pin to mark the centre of the table and quartering the backing, batting, and top. But as I’ve only been using an angled kitchen counter top for basting, that method wasn’t going to work.

So I combined three things to create myself a great basting and/or cutting table! A fold-up table from Bunnings (if in the US, try your Home Depot, Lowes or similar) with straight legs ($35), a length of PVC pipe (I think I got two metres) that slips over the legs without being too loose or too tight (cut into four equal lengths for free by the staff at the Bunnings trade counter; ~$6 for two 1-metre lengths), and four rubber feet to fit over one end of each of the four pieces of PVC (~$2 each).

It’s a PERFECT height for basting! I don’t have any clamps (yet), so I’ve been using strong masking tape to stretch and hold the backing fabric in place while I place the batting and top. Update: I’ve now purchased 8 hand clamps from Bunnings (at $2.10 each, so ultimately cheaper than using lots of tape).

All up, the cost of my table and its accessories was less than $60.

Here’s my table with a really big quilt on it that I’m basting: