Plan Ahead - St. Patricks Day

There are certain things that one can put off - but not whittling Leprechaun Pins for St. Patricks Day.  You see I spend March in a beach house in the Panhandle of Florida.  Way out in the middle of nowhere.  Just a couple of establishments within 8 miles, where one may purchase an adult beverage.  I've been known to trade one of these little Leprechaun Pins for a pitcher of beer.

Pins, Pins, Pins!

Several years ago I watched as a young Amish woman was putting some final touches to a large quilt that was made up of 100's of small squares and triangles.  I looked real close and could find no corners of the pieces that did not meet another corner perfectly.  I asked how she did this quilt.  She said that she pieced it with a treadle machine (Singer).  I made some comment about her secret to getting every pieced corner to match up.  Her answer,  "just pin the snot out of it".

Recently,  at a quilting class at the senior center, I noticed that every woman that was sewing strips together on a machine, had matched the strips and the pieces and kept them in place with a pin.  The pins were placed in the seams of the two strips.

Next, as I observed, they placed the strips on the machines and began sewing a 1/4 inch seam.  When they came to the pins, instead of pulling them out, they sewed right over the top of them.  After the two strip were sewed together, they removed the pins and had each corner of the stripped squares matching perfectly.

 

I was always told to removed the pins before you ran them through the needle.  I was under the impression that if you sewed over the pins and the needle struck one of the pins that you could damage the machine or at least break a needle.

 

Any comments?????

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! and I'll say Happy New Years too.  I don't do resolutions, but I will try to get more posts going in the new year.

Here's some really quick little projects/gifts that were last minute.  Hot pads and Santa tree ornaments.

Pegasus Completed

Ready for paint

Painted black, because it is black in the story.

Proud carver!  All carving was done by the carver.  None by the "instructor".  All I did was cut out the blanks, and supervise......

All carving was accomplished with a Dremel and a small sanding drum and sleeve.

Back To Kids Carving

"Tom, can I carve a Pegasus"? 

We got started this afternoon after school.  Attention spans of kids are not very long.  So we're taking it slow.  We started by roughing in the blank.

We'll round the piece off some more and add detail during the next 15 minute session.  This is what was done in our first 15 minute session.  The wings will be done separate and attached.

We are working out doors with a big box fan to move the dust away from us.

 

Gnome Door Tutorial

From time to time I'll post a tutorial on how I make some items.  This is one of those times.  In order to make a Gnome Door you'll need the following materials and tools:  1/4"x2 7/8"x4 1/4" birch plywood (2),  3/4 x 2 7/8" x 4 1/4" pine (1),  Popsicle sticks (2),  wood axle peg,  stain/wax,  scroll saw, scratch awl/nail,  knife,  drill, glue, compass, and some clamps.

Here's what we're making.

Step 1.  Scribe lines on one of the pieces of 1/4" plywood, 1/4" apart, with a knife, from top to bottom.

2.  Layout and cut arched door frame on the piece of 3/4" pine.  Leave 1/4" sides and top to the door frame.

3.  Place the scribed piece of plywood behind the cut out arched door frame.  Trace the inside of the arched door frame on the scribed piece of plywood and cut this "door" out.

4.  Trace the outside of the arched door frame onto the remaining piece of plywood, and cut.  This is the back.

5.  Assemble the back piece of plywood and the arched door frame, and glue up as one piece.

6.  Mark, cut, and fit door cross members from Popsicle sticks, and glue them onto the door.

7.  Locate where to drill hole for the door knob, and drill to fit wood axle peg.

8.  Glue the door inside the door frame.

9.  Use a nail or an awl to poke small indents where nails might be placed in the door cross members.  Glue axle peg into hole.

10.  Apply wood gel stain, strain, or one off the stain wax combos to the piece, and wipe off, leaving stain in the scribed lines and "nail holes".  Pain the door knob white.

There are several options.  You can carve hinges from the Popsicle sticks, paint and glue on the door.  You can use twigs as a door frame.  You can change the Gnome door shape too.

 

 

 

 

 

Gnome Doors

I whittle at a diner where I eat breakfast every morning.  When I'm not whittling Santa's I do three inch Gnomes.  It got out of hand!  I now have 24 gnomes standing around.  I decided that they needed some little Gnome doors.  These will be part of my stuff at some shows coming up.