the quilt I sent for the swap has arrived

This is the little quilt I sent to JoAnne:

Not great lighting for the picture  
(at least it stopped raining long enough for me to take an outside picture), 
but it finished at 17 inches square; 
I used some of my favorite scraps for the four-patches, 
and reproduction shirtings for the setting squares.

Because I was late in sending it off, I added a little something extra 
- a little pincushion that I made:

I made a small block with scrap fabrics, stuffed it with cotton wadding, and put it into an individual, antique salt cellar, then made a decorative pin to go in it.
The picture, below, shows a corner of  the backing of the quilt and 
one of the corner pockets (for hanging) with labeling:

(I guess that's the only shot I got of the backing that I used.)
Finally, here's a shot that shows my hand quilting just a little better:

I haven't hand-quilted in quite a while, and though I was certainly rusty, I did enjoy the hand-stitching time.  
I was down to my last hand-quilting needle 
when I started the quilting, 
so when it bent toward the end of the quilting process, 
I had to switch out to a needle that was bigger, 
and I was worried about the hand-quilting stitches 
in the center of the quilt
looking different from the outside, lastly stitched areas.  
But, JoAnne wrote on her blog that my hand-quilting stitches were
"tiny", so I guess I shouldn't have worried. :)

I so enjoyed participating in this swap again 
(thanks, Lori for coordinating over 70 quilters and the swap!).  
I didn't realize when I first was assigned JoAnne as a swap partner
that I was already a regular reader of her blog: The Patriotic Quilter.  
If you have a minute, click over to see JoAnne's blog and see the quilt that she made to swap, too.

Happy Monday!

there were crackling noises and smoke!

The grandkiddos are back to their own beds 
since their parents are home.
It was a fun 10 days.  Tiring, but so much fun.
After they left, I started the laundry,
and then went 
directly to my sewing room!
The gentle hum of the sewing machine equals relaxation...Yay!

My sewing routine is to:

• plug in the iron when going around the end of the sewing desk to sit down at the sewing machine.
• plug in my sewing machine and turn it on
• turn on the desk light 
• turn the radio or TV. 

Iron, check.  Machine, check.  Light, check.  Radio or TV, check. 

Reverse order when leaving the room for the day.

• radio or TV off, check.  
• desk light, check.  
• sewing machine unplugged, check.  
• iron unplugged, check.

I always unplug the machine, as we have power surges frequently and I'd rather not power surge the electronics in my sewing machine.

I don't know why I always unplug the iron, but I do.

Do any of you regularly unplug when leaving your sewing area, or is it just me?

So anyway, after 10 days of NO SEWING OR QUILTING,
I've entered my sewing domain, plugged in,
gotten comfy, and breathed a sigh of  relief.  'ahhh'

And then there were crackling noises and smoke!

Yes, my iron is outside on the stone-paving courtyard.

Though it's no longer smoking or crackling in this picture.

I am so glad I was right there beside it 
when I first heard the crackling noise
and saw the smoke start rolling out of it!
I grabbed it, unplugged it
and ran like a CraZy persoN
from the sewing room,
down the hall,
through the great room,
through the kitchen,
through the sunroom,
and out the back door to the stone covered area.

That is NOT the first favorite little iron that's done this though...
I had the exact iron before and it did the same thing!
So the first time this happened, 
I smelled the smoke, then heard a faint crackle.
I looked around, not knowing where it was coming from.
And I did the same 
run through the house/crazy person routine then, too.
This first iron was only a couple of weeks old when it happened.
So I took it back to the store where I had purchased it and warned them of the hazard.  They gladly replaced it for me.  I thought it was just a fluke, not a flaw in the manufacturing.

This second, replacement iron I've not used much.  Maybe only a handful of times.
But it will be going back to the store also.  
And I guess I should probably try to find a new favorite iron.
Or as least another same iron but from a different manufacturing batch!

My question to you, is:
Do any of you have a favorite, small, pressing iron to recommend?
I'd like it small, point-y, and lightweight.  
I don't use steam, don't want auto-timer shut off, and want it to get HOT.
Oh, and I'd like it to have a long cord.
Don't ask for much, do I? :)

Now I'm going back to the sewing room to settle in again.
And try to relax.  With some fabric piecing and the gentle hum of sewing.
Without the crackling noises and smoke.
And think about getting a new iron.