Tuesday, May 23, 2006

On the way to sweltering

This was one of my early attempts to use up some ugly fat quarters I had received in an on-line swap. (Yes, I learned my lesson about on-line swaps!) I decided to make a sort-of eye-spy quilt for my nephew. He was probably about 1.5 years old at the time. Imagine my surprise a few weeks ago when he (now nearly 7) came for a sleep over at Grams' house and I spied the quilt in his suitcase. This quilt has definitely been loved over the years!

We have had very unusual spring weather here in Alabama. Just last week it was cool enough (especially at night) to want a light jacket. Middle of May and it feels like late February? Not that I was complaining at all! I think Mother Nature has figured out that it is almost June and it is time to turn on the heat! The kids were bugging me at 9 a.m. yesterday to either find a pool for us to invade or to turn on the sprinkler. I told them it was going to be a very long summer if they didn't calm down!

My mom and sister did not consult me before making their vacation plans. They had the nerve to both go out of town at the same time. Now I am left at home with no one to call! Tried calling Nina this morning but she might be working today.

Yesterday I was trying to piece the backing for Nine's b-day quilt when my iron decided to die. I was ironing along when all the sudden it started dribbling water out of all the wrong places. Then I noticed it wasn't even hot. I could place my hand on the soleplate and not get burned. Tried unplugging it and starting over. Nope. Nothing. Nada. Tried a different outlet - same result. Waited till this morning to try again. Still nothing. We were going to Walmart last night in search of a turkey to deep fry (yummy!) so I went ahead and bought a new iron. Stacy used it this morning and did nothing but try to refrain from throwing it across the room. It too was dribbling water. So back it went to Walmart this morning and we got new iron #2 from Target. I really liked the old iron. Lots of steam - nice and hot. It wasn't even very old - I got it in maybe November. And it hasn't even been dropped once! Anyone have a nice cheap iron that they just LOVE? Want to share what kind it is?

Time to round up the kiddies and make them take a short nap. Then maybe I will sit down and sew for a while!

6 comments:

Paula, the quilter said...

I love the iron I currently use! I picked it up from Ace Hardware. Here's a url for it: http://tinyurl.com/n3ca6
I has a nice weight to it, no auto shutoff, lots of steam. My DS took my first one to college and then used it to melt wax on his snowboard. Needless to say, I didn't want it back. But I replaced it with the same model.

Leah Spencer said...

I'm still loving my Black & Decker Steam Advantage Iron. I've had it for almost 2 years now. It spew occationally... but usually because I forgot to make sure it was on! It does shut off after 30 minutes of not using it, but has an easy button to pop it right back on.

I believe I got it at target - before I read blogs, I had no idea people could have so much iron trouble! Hope yours goes away!

Quilts And Pieces said...

I remember when you got that iron - and believe it or not I"ve been mad at my irons also. I've had 2 rowenta's do that to me - Rowenta's! So I'm back to cheap irons,but my cheap one I loved is now dribbling water. Ughhh.

So I am so interested in what you find out.

What a surprise to see the quilt of your nephews. Guess it is time to make a new quilt for him!

Quiltgranny said...

I have two irons and I love both of them. You can stop reading now, if you don't want an auto shut-off. I need them, and one of them heats up so fast, it doesn't matter. the newest one is a Sunbeam 4243 DripFree - it has lots of steam, a dial to adjust the steam, and a button to get a burst of steam. I got it at Costco for about $28.00. The other one that I like is a Black and Decker First Impressions that has all the same buttons as the other one, but maybe not as much steam output. I got it at WalMart for about $25.00 a few years back.

Judy said...

Mine is a Sunbeam Steam Master...I love it because I love steam..lots of it! It does have the auot off, but it blinks for a while before it goes off and tipping it turns it back on. It also heats up super quick. It stays on all the time I sew, right next to me.

Swaps...some times they get ya. Good way to make it work for you!

Samantha said...

How exciting that the quilt has been loved all those years!

I am still waiting for my first ever onb-line swap package to arrive. It's international, so maybe that's the delay, but right now, no more swapping for me!