Tips and Techniques

— for quilters and fabric lovers

Having trouble getting your mini-iron hot enough?

While we were at the Desert Quilters of Nevada 2004 Show in Henderson, Nevada, we watched Pearl Pereira of P3 Designs demonstrate her method for applique.

As part of the process, Pearl uses a mini iron to press the edges of her applique pieces. I've never been pleased with the results that I get with my iron because it doesn't seem to get hot enough.

Pearl explained that when you turn on the iron and use it right away, the heat dissipates and the iron never reaches its full potential.

She suggested that we go home and plug in our irons, put them in a safe place where no one can touch them (the top of the fridge maybe?) and let them heat for 8 hours. The next time you turn on the iron, it will go to that level of heat and you'll have a hot iron!

That tip alone was worth the two-hour trip to Henderson for the show! You can view Pearl's products and order a video for her applique technique at www.p3designs.com.

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