Donation quilt deadlines...

Where is the time going? In only one week it will be August and that my friends is the deadline for having my guild's 2011 donation quilt top finished! Whoops....
So after spending way too much time in the doctor's office yesterday to get more and better drugs for my eyes I came home and got the courage up to lay the donation quilt blocks out on the bed...Now I love applique but the scariest moment in quilting has to be squaring up the blocks...eakkkkkk. Just think of it - hours and hours of work goes into each of these blocks and for the next couple of moments all that work will be at the mercy of my rotary cutter.
I have only ever made a "squaring-up-error" once...but that "error" was on a Baltimore Album block (which became 1 inch too thin) and has stayed with me for a long time. The "measure twice cut once" mantra has become "measure twice...get more coffee...measure and mark again...take a deep breath...get another pair of glasses...check the measurements...then cut...say a prayer...check to see if the block is the right size...if so, do a happy dance"...then repeat the entire sequence (with perhaps a glass of wine somewhere in the middle of the project....)
Each block was made by a different quilter in the guild and I am happy to say only one leaf and one bud needed to be moved. Phew. One quilter ran into some health problems with only a couple of stars left to put on so this morning that block will be handed off to another volunteer. If I don't have it together by the first of August the first week of August is a definite possibility....
This quilt design is from Simply Vintage by Alma Allen and Cherie Ralston of Blackbird Designs and used for the charity project with their approval. It is a good design for a group project since some blocks are very involved but other very accessible for new appliquers. Most of the fabric came from various members stashes and leftovers from a donation quilt made a few years ago. (We have found that applique quilts tend to raise more money than our pieced ones...just a local observation!) The donations go to Camp Rainbow, a summer camp run by the Medical Center of Georgia for children with critical illnesses.

Now off to try a new recipe for an upside down fig cake! A guild member brought a huge basket of figs from her tree to bee...Years ago I had a great cake somewhere in the Med (think it was Malta?) and am trying to recreate it...wish me luck!

Quilt block drama....

Each year my guild makes a donation quilt to raise money for a local camp for children with cancer. Usually the quilt involves a lot of applique and usually there is a bit of quilt block drama involved...

Last year it was a missing block - which only reappeared after it had been remade! Most often it is a block that gets stained, fabric bleeds, or the stitch-er uses a new pen, pencil, or other marker that ends up showing on the quilt block.
Most of us have been there. We get a new "toy" and want to try it out right away so we skip over the "try this on a scrap of fabric before using on your project" step. This year it was a green sureline marking pen (or is it a pencil?) On the backside of the block she traced the entire pattern then used the basting from the back applique method. All good until....When she was done the green marker was still visible in several spots from the front. She tried dabbing a bit of gentle detergent on the spots...no luck.

Now I have used the same sureline markers and not had any problems so we tried to brainstorm what had happened. It may have been the heat-setting before wiping any marking off. She had left the block in the Augusta heat (we have already been in the high 80's!) and had ironed the block several times while appliqueing. The good news is a paste made from a little Borax mixed with Woolite was applied to the spots with the marks (front and back of the fabric) and left to set for about 10 minutes then rinsed in warm water took the marks out. Looks good now, no?!
What she didn't do that made possible to save the block:
- Do not use harsh abrasive materials (like a toothbrush!) on the fabric. Even if the mark comes out the fabric gets a worn out look and the area jumps out at you.
- Do not use bleach unless you are willing to bleach the entire block...what a risky business since this block had some rich colored fabrics.
- Do not repeatedly wash and allow the fabric to dry...keeping the spots damp while you work on them seems to work best.
- Do not iron blocks with stains on them...it only makes the process more difficult.
Speaking of stains...everything around my house is covered in a fine yellow haze. The pine pollen this year is unbelievable! My poor car is a mess...not that I can see it very well as my eyes fill up with tears...where is the rain when we need it!