Why Quilters NEED a Steam Generator

I recently received an incredible iron from the generous folks at Reliable to try out.

I’ve been using it for a few weeks, and I’m totally smitten. Both Mom and I like it better than either of my Oliso or my Panasonic irons.

Check out my Maven 120IS. It is a little different than a standard iron, but not so much that it is hard to use. It has an awesome tank that holds an entire liter of water. No more stopping to fill up the tank 28 times during one project. The water tank has a de-scale cartridge, too, to help prevent hard water problems.

So, what’s the real difference between this and my other irons? It has a big tank and a hose, so it puts out clouds of steam. Combine this with my wool pressing mat, and my seams have never looked better. Just one steamy pass and my most neglected, crumpled scraps are ready for cutting.

I’m a fan of pressing my seams open, and the Maven makes it pretty easy. The sole plate is thin, and also comes to a nice point. You do need to be careful of steaming your finger, but man, those seams are super flat. (I’d say flat like a pancake, but my pancakes are never this flat.)

• 

• 

Another feature I like is the little lock on the front of the iron base – if I need to move the iron around, I can turn this, and the flaming hot iron won’t fall off of the base and melt a hole in my carpet or my foot.

The hose takes a little bit to get used to, but just because it is something different. At 5′ plus in length, it reaches all the way across my ironing board setup, so it doesn’t constrict my movements, which is important when pressing long seams, backings, or making binding.

Have you ever made a t-shirt quilt? I’ve done a few. Attaching the fusible interfacing to the t-shirts takes FOREVER. The steam from the Maven 120IS makes that process much faster, and the bond is stronger. No more getting to the quilting, and finding bubbles of loose t-shirt fabric where the fusible let go, because I hadn’t ironed it well enough.

This iron has been a game changer for me. With it’s high heat and intense steam, it is making ironing much faster. It also heats up very quickly. This means I go from turning my iron on, to finished pressing in just a few minutes. The clouds of steam mean my seams get flat and stay that way. It also helps before I cut my fabric – pressing fold lines out of yardage, and wrinkles out of crumpled scraps takes just one pass.

Ready to get yourself one for your studio? Go to Reliable.com and check them out. As of this morning, they were on sale!