Friday, October 20, 2006

Threading a Needle

Today after getting my hair done & running errands, I went downtown to the Anchorage museum to help with a group of 50 Brownies (the Girl Scout kind, not edible), to learn how to quilt. The did a very simple applique', postcard size quilt.
It was fun, & Pat, the gal running the class is a very experienced quilter. She's been quilting since the 70's. She had the girls threading embroidery floss on to their needles, short pieces & tying a knot at just one end. Of course they were having trouble not pulling their needles off the thread with the very 1st stitch. Which is the biggest reason I always hated sewing that way, until I took a little handwork class this past March with a little Korean lady.She taught me a different way to thread my needle, to keep from having the thread slip off. I'd actually learned to thread it this same way for silk ribbon embroidery, but never thought to apply the same method to regular thread. In her class we used very fine, #100 silk thread. I took pictures using a large needle & yarn to show you how it's done.


That's it, just 1,2,3, simple as can be, & you never have to lose your thread again. Even Pat hadn't known about this, so I thought there may be a few of you out there that might like this technique.
Warren took the summer screen door off the front of the house, & I decided to have him put it in the corner of the living room, rather than out in the leaky garage, where it'll get damaged. I went to Michael's today, & got some fall silk leaf bundles. They were all 50% off, then put together a wreath, to decorate the door. We did a little furniture rearranging this week too. Just traded the couch & love seat around & moved an end table to spread the table lamps around a little more evenly. It made a big difference in how the living room feels & looks. It's more open & comfortable.

5 comments:

Melodie said...

I like the room that way! On that needle technique, is the thread wrapped around the needle or is the needle woven into the thread?

Anonymous said...

Whall, whaddya know. What a cool trick! Thank's a million for sharing!

Deb Hardman said...

You just carefully poke the needle throught the middle thread a few times, & it hooks it on to the needle without creating a knot. It's not real easy to do on really fine thread, but it can be done. You want to go right through thr thread itself, not between twists, because those will just unravel.

Shirley Goodwin said...

Cunnung trick. And you looks SO different in the new photo, Deb! I had to look twice to see who it was.

Lei Lei said...

Who, besides Aunt Bee would of thought to use the countrified front door as decor in the living room? Very Cute! "Over achiever!" (I got that word from my mom!) love you!