Stilettos - Your opinion is invited and a giveaway

My brother is a woodworker and over the years he has made an assortment of treasures for sewists. For Christmas last year he made seam rippers for Mom and me.

I love my seam ripper and when I saw him making a scratch awl for cabinet making it reminded me of a sewing stiletto so I suggested he consider making me a stiletto! Well really I did ask him to consider it - I asked him to make one for me! He has made two stilettos and as you can see in the picture above he likes to use exotic burls for the handles so in addition to being functional they are also very beautiful.

These are the first two stilettos he has made and he is asking for my input and in turn I'm asking you for your input! To make it exciting, if you provide input you'll be entered in a draw for a giveaway (keep reading to find out what it is)!

The stiletto on the left is very much like a sgraffito or a scratch awl. The wood handle measures 2 1/4" from the base to the base of the needle at the brass ferule. The needle also measures 2 1/4" so the total length of the stiletto is 4 1/2". The stiletto on the right measures 5 1/2". The needle is 1 1/4" from its base to the tip. This stiletto is convertible so the needle can be removed and inserted into the wooden handle when not in use.

I also wanted to share a comparison of the needle tips. The stiletto on the left has a rounded blunted point whereas the stiletto on the right has a sharp needle point.

So here is where your opinion is needed: what features do you think are the most appealing? Do you like the longer stiletto or shorter? Do you prefer a convertible stiletto where the point can be tucked inside or do you prefer the non convertible model. And what about the point - blunted or sharp?

If you leave a comment you'll be entered in a draw for one of my pincushion scissor fobs! I'll custom make the fob for the winner! This is a picture of some scissor fob pincushions I made to sell at my Guild's quilt show. I'll announce the winner at 9:00 am October 8th. Please be sure that you are not a no-reply blogger because if you are I have no way of contacting you. I reply to every comment so if you don't get an email from me in response to you comment then you are a no reply blogger.

I'll be off tomorrow but Friday morning will post Block 13 in my Value Proposition Hexagon Quilt Along. Until then, happy sewing!
Karen H

Procrastination is about to end, sewing treasures and more crazies

I procrastinated all day yesterday and there was neither basting nor quilting. But I wasn't wasting time because I did manage to install a new printer however it took all afternoon. There was lots of frustration and I was close to tears more than once but in the end it was connected and I can now print to my heart's content. When faced with this type of challenge I often recall an old Star Trek episode when Dr. McCoy (aka Bones) was asked by Capt. Kirk to treat a silicon-based alien (it looked like a big heaving rock to me). His response was "Dammit Jim I'm a doctor not a bricklayer". When faced with IT problems I often think "I'm a quilter, not an IT specialist"!

Since there is no quilting to show how about a few sewing treasures that I've collected over the years?

 

 

So what are all of these things? The following item was picked up at a garage sale by a friend. He knew it was for sewing but wasn't sure what you do with it. It is a wooden sock darner. You can tell from all the nicks that it has been well used to mend may socks.

 

 

This next little item was found it a shop that sold tchotchkes. It is a little wooden needle case that would have been turned on a lathe.

 

 

The top come off and inside are some pins. Looked at the lovely threaded top and rim! Beautiful work.

  

The third treasure was picked up in the same shop and it is a French ivory button hook. French ivory is celluloid and it is a manmade material that was made to resemble ivory.

 

 The last treasure is a wooden stiletto that my brother turned for me on his lathe. In addition to being functional it is beautiful. It is made of curly maple (also called fiddle back) and it is loaded with beautiful iridescent figuring. It is a handy little tool with loads of uses from feeding points under a sewing machine needle to poking out corners!

 

I'll leave you with two more close-ups of some of my hand embroideries on my miniature crazy quilt. These little blocks are 3" square.

 

A tiny little frog

A pansy and a bumble bee

 

Right - time to get back to Lazy Punk.....let the basting begin!

 

Until I post again, happy sewing!