The Washing Debate

A few people have blogged about this in the past, but a little 'whoops' last night bought the issue back to mind. Quilt washing; do you do it? how do you do it?

You see, I've never washed one of my quilts. Besides the fact that they aren't used heavily enough to need washing, I find the whole idea a bit scary. Who would want to spend weeks/months on a quilt, only to have the colours run, ruining all that hard work?

Usually I would pre-wash all my fabrics, but with the invention of charm packs and jelly rolls, this isn't really possible anymore. I'm also told that the quality of dyes these days is good enough that dye-run should be minimal.

My whoops? I was getting ready for bed last night when some water sloshed out of my glass and onto my Verna/Wild Thing quilt. I quickly yanked the quilt off the bed to shake off the excess water, but I wasn't quick enough. Immediately, there were a few small patches of pink clearly visible on the white fabric. In the light of day, the water has dried and it's not so bad; a few tiny pink spots that you wouldn't notice unless you put your face right up to it.

The culprit is the whirly-gig second from the bottom on the left side.

If I get dye run from the tiniest amount of cold water, am I right in not wanting to wash any of my quilts? I'd love to hear your thoughts...

Wild Thing

Wild Thing is quilted, bound, and already in use as a couch quilt as the weather turns cold. After more than 120 days, Melbourne has finally had a day under 20 degrees, and it seems that winter is on the way.

Snippets

An end of the week wrap-up...no major achievements, just lots of little ones...

Summerwind now has it's fourth border on.

I'm hand stitching the binding onto Wild Thing.

I'm admiring my new quilt kit, Port-de-France from the Fat Quarter Shop. Love the Martinique fabrics, and this kit seemed perfect.

Mini Jelly Filled now has a new name: Sweet Treats.

I'm annoyed that I managed to get a paper cut under my pinky fingernail, and that Bella is trailing me around the house and grooming like a cat possessed.

How has your week been?

Wild Thing

Finally found a break in the weather for a quick photo...

And this little munchkin keeps stealing my seat when I'm not looking!

Fabulous Friday

I've had a full 12 hours to myself today which has given me time to finally make some progress in the sewing department, as well as the kitchen.

I finished quilting Red Velvet and got the binding on; now I just need to hand stitch the binding to the back. I also assembled Wild Thing, it just needs a border to be considered "done". Just a little sneek-peek until then.

I've also been doing a bit of bread baking; a white loaf and a fruit/nut loaf. Pics a bit blurry sorry. But the fruit bread tastes fab toasted and smeared with homemade strawberry jam!

A Linen Cabinet and a Little Progress

I'm a sucker for a bargain. I love getting something I've wanted for ages on sale. Who doesn't? Ikea have a clearance sale on at the moment, and mum and I decided to brave the madness over the weekend, and I'm glad we did! I managed to snap up a cute linen cabinet that will be perfect for storing quilts in. However, it will remain in its box until I move into my own place, but it's something to look forward to.

Quilting/sewing progress has been a little slow this week. I've only got two sides of Red Velvet border left to quilt, but I've been procrastinating and working with Verna instead. I've sliced and diced all my charm squares and stitched them to the background fabric. Now to trim and assemble the blocks!

Verna

Everyone needs a little Verna in their life; this fabric is absolutely gorgeous!

Despite already having quite a few quilts on my to-do list, there was no way I was passing up this line. I'm using it for a full sized Wild Thing; I loved the mini version so much I wished I'd made a bigger one, so this is my chance. However, it will be a touch smaller than the pattern as I am excluding the inner border.

I've got a gorgeous deep pink for the border, a lovely swirly pink for the backing, and a cute stripe for the binding. I purchased mine from Quilt This!; they currently have this line on sale for anyone interested. And they included a little card with my parcel with the comment "such exquisite choices-just spectacular colourways!'. I'm a little chuffed :-)

For more info on Verna and its designer Kate Spain, check out her blog The Drawing Board.