Sunday, April 20, 2014

new addition to the pack....

We had a spring surprise last week that has thrown a wrench into my quilting plans...

a local animal rescue group called "Stinky Kiss" was given a terrier puppy and we were lucky enough to adopt him!  So meet my new quilting buddy - Watson!

He is only 14-16 weeks so we are dealing with lots of chewing and house-training.  So far he and the cats have come to an agreement.  Brownie spends lot of time with him...he behaves her better than me!

We almost have him on a schedule so I hope to be stitching again soon...

Thursday, April 03, 2014

American fabric update...

About a week ago I posted about some new fabric being made entirely in the USA.
(a few more vintage thimbles from the action last weekend...my friend stayed for the entire auction and bid on these for me!)

Well my order arrived this week and yesterday I ran some through the wash.  Here is what I thing (my opinion only....)

1.  The colors are really nice.  Slightly softer than Kona.  No bleeding nor fading after a washing in warm water with regular detergent.

2. The weight is a bit lighter than I expected but is ok...somewhere between Kaffe Fasset double shots (lightly woven) and Kona solids (dense weave.)  It did :thicken a bit during the wash.  It would work well for paper-piecing or applique (but not the base/bottom piece of applique.)  I do not think I would use it for a back nor a binding.

3.  There is shrinkage...a lot!  Almost an inch for the width and length of a yard piece.  This isn't a problem but is nice to know when you figure out how much you need.  Also that is more than most current fabrics so if you mix it unwashed with others it may cause more puckering/wrinkling after the quilt is washed than you expected.  (since I wash every piece of fabric coming into the house this isn't a problem.)

Today I'm going to iron these and do a test run in a paperpiece block.  let you know how that goes!

Got a great book in the mail...

So want to get up to Boston for the exhibit!  If you love lots of photos of quilts this is a book for you...I only have one little tiny "issue" and that is the color choice for some of the print...made it difficult to read a few pages.  That is such a small thing when you see all the wonderful quilts though!  Everyone is sure to find some inspiration on these pages!(heck they had me at the cover!  just hit me...the new American fabric line has all the colors in this quilt!)