Pressing matters

Hello everyone, and happy first day of fall! I'm feeling a lot better, although we've now reached the point in the year when I'm hoping the first freeze comes soon. Fall allergies are the worst allergies for me, so the sooner that all those nasty plants die and stop spreading their spores around, the happier I will be. Sometimes I get really bloodthirsty towards them and wish I had a flamethrower or something. Then I remember that a large part of California is in flames and I stop thinking that way. But I still want them all to die.

I've got a lot of things going on here, sewing-wise. I'm still making sections of the Ocean Waves quilt. There are a LOT of pieces.

Even though I had all the small parts made already, it's a little tedious putting them together, what with how they have to be oriented all "correctly" and everything. I might have to actually cut into some white yardage to get big enough pieces for the triangles because I'm running out of scrap pieces that are big enough. We'll see.

I'm also still making parts for the Burgoyne quilt.

This quilt may pass Ocean Waves as the next to be finished. It's just so darned happy and fun to work on.

One thing that is not fun is the constant stand-up, sit-down exercise involved in pressing all of those units. The 9-patches (and the 4-patches) are made of individual squares, so no strip piecing. I had a lot of these already cut, because 1 1/2 inch squares are the smallest pieces I save, so I already had a bunch. They're getting used up here, so a LOT of pressing.  I needed a satellite pressing station that I could keep by my sewing machine. My legs could use the exercise, of course, but it keeps breaking my sewing rhythm. So I made a pressing station.

I started with a wooden TV tray that came from my mother-in-law's house, so it's been around for a while and is quite solid. On top of the table I layered a piece of 1/4 inch foam, which I had left over from padding a bench, then a layer of Insul-Brite, an insulating fabric that I use in potholders and such.

Then I added another layer of thin polyester batting on top of the Insul-Brite.

I thought polyester would be better, but I see that my actual  ironing board has cotton. Huh. Well, at least I didn't waste batting that could go into a quilt on this.

What to put on the top? I didn't want to use any quilting fabric on the cover here, so I rummaged around and found this generous half yard of upholstery-weight cotton.

Not sure why I had this fabric, but it made a great cover! After a struggle with stretching and fastening everything, here is the finished ironing station!

The silly thing is perfect! It fits right next to me and doesn't take up room on the sewing table. Very helpful!

I mentioned struggling with stretching and fastening the layers. I saw a tutorial online that showed how to sew a cover for a tray table, but I wasn't going to do that. I'd rather sew quilts! I decided just to use my handy electric stapler and staple everything to the underside. Well. . .

Yeah, the stapler and the table didn't really get along. Not sure why. I ended up pulling out those staples and then using upholstery tacks and a hammer to fasten everything down. It took longer, but the hammering part was fun. Be sure to put an old towel or something on the table or bench (or the floor) under the piece to help hold it still.

For the rest of the week, my plan is to make good use of this pressing station and get closer to finishing one of those quilts. I'm close to ready to be done with fiddly little pieces, no matter how great they look. I also basted some things and am ready to quilt them up. Plus, today is my birthday and I see chocolate cake and a dinner out in the very near future. Wins all around!

Linking to Linky Tuesday, Fabric Tuesday, WIP Wednesday, and Let's Bee Social.  Happy sewing everyone!