A FROGGING QUESTION, THE QUILTING METHOD

RESULTS OF HINTS RECEIVED IN RED AT BOTTOM OF BLOG
Edit addition in blue

Merrily we quilt along,

Chain piecing as we go,

Sixteen pairs finished,

A froggin' I'll now go.

Wrong edges joined together,

Luckily, stitches were not tight,

But when I went to frog them,

Thread remains, were a sight.

Is there a way to extract them,

Faster than tweezers in my hand,

Any way but this,

Would seem really grand.

For this info you'll impart,

Eternally grateful I will be,

This project's grown interminable,

With the addition of the froggin' I see.

I've never had to Rip out an extensive amount of stitching so the use of seam ripper and tweezers was not a tedious job.  This morning I was joining 16 pairs and when I finished I went to press them open and discovered I had joined the wrong edge to the right edge.

I separated the stitches and went back to pull the seam apart and found I had tons of little threads embedded in all the old seams.  Is there a quick fix to this dilemma?

An answer from an internet friend in cold Vermont:   An old clean tooth brush.  A friend  who does alterations told me this.

From Nevada Joyce (an internet friend I've personally met):  Try some clear packing tape.

Joanne (an internet friend I've personally met):  "Seam Fix Seam Ripper", For years she had a quilt store in Montana, she is a very quilt knowledgeable person.  She highly recommends this product.  

Another internet person, I've personally met (Sharen From Florida) first told me of the product, but didn't have a name for it.  I Google'd and found several very good descriptions but can't post the links because I didn't want to play favorites of one business over the other.

Lynn in Missouri (yes I know her personally)  didn't meet her on the net.  She's a Guild member:  She says a Credit card and eraser works too.

I didn't go out and purchase a "Seam Fix Ripper" But I did try all the other  methods.  I found you literally need a tri-fecta of the methods.  For best results this is what I did:

Went over the seams with tape/slash lint roller to pick up extraneous loose threads.  Then I tried lightly rubbing some remaining threads loose with the credit card and the eraser.

Went over the seams again with tape to pick up the jarred loose threads.

Then took the tooth brush and back to the tape.

The most stubborn required the tweezers.  In any case I needed the tape to follow up as a final step to clean up the threads.

Looks like the only way around frogging is to be a perfect seamstress (Not me).  The seam fix ripper might be the new wonder tool for the sewing basket.

The seam ripper which is a necessary help, has another use which doesn't require ripping of any kind.  When basting my RED WHITE AND BLUE CHALLENGE I found it is perfect for placing in front of the needle to help it pop back up through the top (a grapefruit spoon works too).  I forgot to take a picture to show the seam ripper functioning in a different capacity.

http://gloriouscreations.blogspot.com/2014/11/a-quilt-challenge-red-white-blue.html

Part of the moral of this story is the wonderful friends, World Wide, I have been able to meet and greet through the years.  People I would have never met if there was no internet .  

more blogs by me:

http://glosgarden.blogspot.com/

Where I have blocks about cats and pets

A blog about the courtship of my husband and I

and a blog about my most embarrassing moment.

A "Soap box" blog: where I do air my opinions.

 http://organicinstlouis.blogspot.com/

blogs about the wildflowers on our farm

Organic methods we use, some cooking and some poetry,

blogs about Seed sprouting, insects, and garden pictures

Blog about an endangered beneficial beetle

http://pitbulladog.blogspot.com/

Chronicling our adventures with a dumped Pit Bull Pup,

 who has become a hidden treasure.

All recipes, pictures, and writings are my own.

I give credit for items which belong to other people in my blogs .

Please do not copy without permission