Not always. She cuts her seams after they've been sewn, and she presses her seams open, both of which are only suited to machine-sewing.
I've gone for the 15cm (6") mirrors. I suspect that a lot of the time a smaller mirror will be more useful, and if and when I get to the stage of making fancy kaleidoscope quilts, having already played around with smaller mirrors will give me a better idea of which size I want for the larger ones. And they're cheap, so I don't mind ending up with two pairs if need be. I asked my friends at knitting group if anyone knew how good acrylic mirrors were. One friend said that she'd used them to see her baby's head. I absent-mindedly asked if the reflection was nice and clear. She pointed out that her mind was on other matters at the time, at which point I suddenly realised what she was talking about! |
My cheap door mirror got broken in a move. DH cut 2 8x11 pieces, bound the edges and hinged the pair with duct tape. this works fine.
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I went to the local hobby store - purchased a package of small rectangle mirrors - maybe 2" x 3", got out my ruler to use as my template to tape them by for the correct degree, some cute duct tape, wah lah - handy dandy OBW / Kaleidoscope mirror to see if any given fabric will offer the twist on designs. I saw no reason to spend any more than a few $ for this. You can develop an eye for OBW / Kaleidoscope fabric but the mirrors will certainly give you a more direct visual of what you're going to get! Would love to see what you end up making!
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As a hint .. you do not need a template or mark to get the correct angle .... just stand the mirrors on end, then adjust the spread between the two, til you see the 4, 6 or 8 reflections (or more) you are wanting to check the fabric for.
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I asked my friends at knitting group if anyone knew how good acrylic mirrors were. One friend said that she'd used them to see her baby's head. I absent-mindedly asked if the reflection was nice and clear. She pointed out that her mind was on other matters at the time, at which point I suddenly realised what she was talking about![/QUOTE]
Oh my gosh, I just spit water all over my laptop! This is too funny! I'm planning to do a OBW, my first. Before yesterday, this thread wouldn't have made a bit of sense to me, but after choosing fabric yesterday using the mirrors at my LQS, I plan to purchase some from either the dollar store or the local craft store. The mirrors made it so much easier to imagine what the quilt will look like. |
The mirrors arrived this morning, and are fab. They're 6" acrylic, and the reflection is nice and clear. A strip of duct tape to make a hinge and I was away. I didn't need to bind the edges, as they're not glass. Here are a couple of shots of a random fabric I have sitting around. This is going to be so much fun.
http://imageshack.us/a/img843/1148/ln1m.th.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img836/4636/lotl.th.jpg |
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