Nearly Spring

Our dogwood trees are just about to bloom.

This tiny white wildflower blossom will soon be joined by others - just barely visible under the dry leaves.

Unusually warm temperatures have lured me to the garden the past four days. But the 70s and 80s won't last; Friday is forecast to be 46 and rainy. I'll be back at work in the studio by then.

Waiting for Spring

Even though we just had snow followed by temperatures in the teens, our weather is forecast to be very warm - 73 degrees - this weekend! It's time to start thumbing through the gardening catalogs! I'd love to have a lilac like the one we had on the farm in Illinois. Maybe I can find one which can do well in the south.

A Southern Snow!

We had just over 3" of snow in Charlotte last night. Above are a few images captured this morning.

Laundering a Quilt

The wedding quilt saga continues. After trying unsuccessfully to remove pencil marks made by the quilter and snarling and fussing for three days, I took the plunge. I actually washed the quilt!

Yikes! Double yikes!!! I was a nervous wreck, standing in front of the commercial machine with its ever growing mound of suds, watching for a tell-tale sign that some fabric somewhere had run. But all is well. Sigh! Double sigh of relief!!! The quilt came through fine with just one tiny spot of blue dye where it shouldn't be. I can easily fix that and am not concerned.

Agitation from a regular home washing machine is what tears up quilts. I went to a laundromat with extra large front loading machines which gently toss loads. I used Orvus paste I'd dissolved in warm water at home, a little Synthrapol and a cold water wash/rinse. The pencil marks are gone and colors preserved. I'm happy.

Preserving Points

I changed my mind yesterday about making bias binding for the NY Beauty wedding quilt. Because the pieced outside border has many bias edges, using a straight grain binding will have a stabilizing affect. The leftover long strips of blue fabric, cut lengthwise, worked perfectly.

Early in my quilting I developed a couple of tricks about adding borders/bindings and such to an edge containing lots of points. When I learned to sew, I was taught to place the fabric being added on the top - next to the needle. But because that method covers the points, it's like sewing in the dark. Even with a perfect 1/4" seam, it can lead to disappointment (chopped off points). To avoid this, here is what I do:

Step 1: Baste the entire quilt edge, making sure your stitches hit the points exactly right.

Step 2: Pin binding in place, aligning raw edges of it with the quilt edge.

Step 3: Turn quilt upside down so that the backing is on top, next to the needle. Following the basted line, stitch binding in place.

Step 4: Complete binding. Note: Refer to my January 25 and 28 posts for parts 1 and 2 of my binding tutorial.

Finished binding with sharp points preserved!

A point to remember (pun intended): Fabric has two straight grains: warp (length) which runs parallel to the selvedge, and weft which runs crosswise from selvedge to selvedge. Depending on the weave of the fabric, the crosswise grain can have nearly as much stretch as bias. For this reason, I cut borders lengthwise whenever possible. My thanks to Caryl Bryer Fallert who shared this tip in a lecture many, many years ago.

Studio Day

Puppy Shampoo

I was too tired last evening to do anything on the wedding quilt except trim the excess batting and backing. My original plan was to make the binding so I could begin stitching early this morning after cardiac rehab. I found my chosen blue fabric is all in long strips only 12" wide (leftover from cutting the border), not nearly adequate for making bias binding. This may force me to make a trip to Mary Jo's! Oh my.

In yesterday's post I did not mention that the quilting designs had been marked with pencil. It never occured to me to tell them to not use pencil as I really did not think anyone still used that technique. (I use chalk or a silver pencil which rubs off easily.) I called the quilter for guidelines on removing the marks. They recommend using a commercial drum-type washing machine, cold water and Cheer. Apparently they have this question a lot, as washing instructions were to have been in with the quilt.

Even though every fabric used in the quilt (including some very dark navies) was prewashed I am very hesitant to wash it. An on-line search about removing pencil lines was not reassuring. I've come up with an unconventional method for getting the marks out: Mix a couple of drops of puppy shampoo (the mildest thing we had in the house) with lukewarm water. Dip a corner of a white wash cloth into the mixture (don't get the cloth too wet) and gently rub the pencil marks. So far, so good!

I hope there are a couple of good movies on tv - as this will probably take me all day! But I'm very fussy about this type of thing.

It's Home!

A small part of the New York Beauty quilt.

The NY Beauty quilt came home today. It had been in PA since early December being hand quilted. The quilting motifs I selected worked out very well and look great. I'm excited about sharing with my readers but will not show the piece again until after my son and daughter-in-law have it. After all, it is their wedding quilt - just 3 1/2 years late!

IKEA Opens in Charlotte!

Yeah!!!!! We now have our own IKEA store - the only one between DC and Atlanta. People have camped out for the last three days hoping to be amongst the first few to receive a free IKEA chair. These shoppers were obviously experienced at waiting in line, as they came equipped with tents, heaters, sleeping bags and grills! A steady rain began about midnight and the temperature dropped, testing the mettle of those in line.

The situation is intense this morning, as reported in this news story By: News 14 Carolina Web Staff

"CHARLOTTE – The new IKEA store in the Queen City is open for business.

A long line formed as eager shoppers got ready for the opening, while Charlotte Department of Transportation officials prepared for conditions much like those seen on (NASCAR) race days.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are directing traffic at major intersections, and are advising people who haven’t already left for the grand opening to consider waiting a few hours to do so due to the extreme traffic conditions.

For those who will be attending the grand opening, drivers are advised to use Interstate 85 to get to the City Boulevard exit instead of North Tryon Street."

We don't plan to visit until next week when crowds have thinned a bit. We've had just one IKEA experience - last July in Minneapolis. My dh loved the furniture and kitchen gadgets; I went for the Marimekko fabrics and chocolate - divine! Thank goodness dark chocolate is good for the heart!

To Quiltart Members

Any quiltart listers out there? Contact me if you have sign-on information. My hotmail account, containing most of my business-related info, has suddenly evaporated - only to be replaced by something called live.com Even typing the hotmail URL brings up live.com. Very puzzling indeed. This is supposed to be an improvement! Lost are hundreds of emails, folders of family photos received and letters sent.

Also lost is all contact with the quiltart list. I desperately want to reestablish my account, but to no avail. Nothing sent to my hotmail account since last Friday or Saturday has gotten to me. I so hope someone from the list will post my new email plus a request for me to once again receive quiltart in the digest form. Thanks so much! Send mail to: ellenguerrant@gmail.com

It's Finished!

New York Beauty Top
Before Quilting

Matthew and Suzie's wedding quilt is finished! Mrs. Petersheim called this morning from Bird in Hand PA to say she and crew had completed the quilting and I should have it by the end of the week. Yeah!!! I can't wait to see it. Then all that remains is the binding! It has been a very long time coming.

For more information on Sylvia Petersheim, click here: http://www.sylviasquilts.com/

Happy Heart Day

Valentine Roses

My husband Bill gave me a huge bouquet of roses for Valentine's day. But more importantly, he joined me and 1500 other souls in the Cupids Cup 5K and Fun Walk early this morning. It was 46 degrees and raining. Additionally, my dh was in pain. His second bunion surgery had to be postponed last December because the surgeon was (and is) ill. To support me and help raise funds for cardiac rehabilitation, my dh soldiered on. Thank you, dear.

Late note: We cardiac rehab patients raised over $60,000! Thanks, everyone.

Dyeing 25 Years Ago

One of the early pioneers in fabric dyeing was Debra Millard - now Debra Millard Lunn. I bought her self-published book A Quilter's Guide to Fabric Dyeing in 1985. I have never seen another copy. Anyone out there have one?

I can't imagine how difficult it must have been to put this book together, as it contains actual fabrics, each one carefully positioned. Shown below are just a few examples. All photos are clickable.

The Color Wheel

Value Scale

Value Scale - Tints and Shades

Debra's book served me well as I learned how to dye my own cloth. I finally was able to study with Debra and her partner Michael Mrowka in 1994 at the Quilt Surface Design Symposium - back when it was held at the Josephinum in Columbus. It was after this class that I set out to find a wringer washing machine, regretting that we'd sold the two my parents once had. The techniques and equipment for fabric dyeing were much more labor-intensive back in the day! I still have a few of the five-gallon buckets gathered from the grocery store deli department.

I did finally find a wringer washer as well as a mangle locally. Of course this was just about the time low water immersion (LWI) dyeing was introduced!

I intended to properly press and cut my swatches - really I did.

I dyed these colors during my 'pink, blue, purple and mint green period.' I still use purple and blue. Pink and mint green? Not so much.