Tagged by Su

Su tagged me last week while I was visiting in Fresno to show what I'm ironing with, so here it is.

Let me start by saying that until recently I was an advocate of buying cheap irons and replacing as necessary. Being a klutz by nature and having teens at home abusing the iron, I always went cheap. In fact, I used to buy them at Montgomery Wards and get the extended warranty. If the iron croaked during the first 3 years, I simply took it into the store and traded it for a new one. Is it any wonder they went out of business?

Fast forward a few years and I figured that I was ready for a quality iron since it would be set up in a location where it wouldn't be bumped into on a daily basis. Naturally, I bought a Rownenta and use the big boy when I'm ironing yardage or, heaven forbid, clothes on the ironing board. When I bought the big iron, I opted for a model from Macy's that was not the bottom-of-the-line model sold by JoAnn's. I'd heard horror stories about the JoAnn's models spitting and such, so I thought I had that problem licked. I have to say that while it doesn't spit, I'm less than happy with the performance of this beast because the auto shut-off clicks off at the drop of a hat and it doesn't' seem to get all that hot.

The little Rowenta travel iron is from JoAnn's because I was made aware of how much juice a full-sized iron takes when left on. I keep the little guy on my cutting table and have it plugged into a timer just in case I forget to turn it off when I head downstairs. It works well enough. I guess I'm just never satisfied, but cheap irons really do a fine job all in all.

Finally, the Mary Ellen's Best Press starch alternative. I love this stuff! The Caribbean Beach reminds me of a sachet or something from the neighbor's cedar closet when I was a kid and I just love it. It reminds me of playing dress-up with the neighbor girls way back when.

On the stitching front, I've been a busy girl. I started late, but am working on Bea's Quilter's Blessings BOM and finished the Owl and the Pussycat block for my Halloween BOM.


UPDATE: Mystery of the undersized Pampered Pooch charm pack is solved. Kathy and I were at Quilted Vine on Sunday and Lynda, the owner gave us each a couple of charm packs for free because they were "off" and she contacted Moda to no avail and didn't feel she could sell them. I laughed myself silly and told her about my blocks that didn't match. She wondered why I didn't bring it back, but I had 3 different packs, all purchased in different locations, so who knew? With the 2 charm packs she gave me, I have plenty to cut out the rest of my four patch quilt. Alls well that ends well~