Saturday, April 28, 2012

Quilt Drying on the Deck



Yesterday, Caleb headed downstairs, and then cried,
“Mama, it’s leaking down here, and your quilt is all wet!!”

Sure enough. There was water pouring from the ceiling, and it was flowing all over the quilt I had lopped over my quilting frame, all over the carpet, and barely missing my quilting machine.

So that’s why the upstairs toilet kept running and running, no matter how many times I took the lid off and readjusted the float/plunger/rubber flap thingy. Turns out, it wasn’t leaking in the tank, it was leaking at the valve. A few times during the day, I’d just turned it completely off – so that prevented more of a flood. And those few times I carried stuff downstairs to put away must have occurred during the times I had the water turned off, so I never noticed anything wrong.

Trouble is, where the water dripped onto the quilt, the reds ran into the whites!!! Why, why, why? – when I’d washed all that fabric in hot water with plenty of detergent, before ever cutting it? I then dried it in the dryer… nothing ran or bled at all. But now cold water drips onto it, and it bleeds, and the off-whites are pinkish red.

I threw it into the washer – no, I struggled and struggled to put it in and then called for help from Caleb and Victoria (that thing is heavy! – especially when it’s all wet) – and put in some color-catcher sheets. One time through the washer didn’t solve the problem; it was still pink in the off-white fabric. I rewashed it, and today I took it out on the deck to dry.

There were still pink spots.

The problem is, it’s so crammed into the washer, there isn’t room for it to slosh around, so the color-catchers can’t really do their job.

I tried spraying Resolve on those few spots, then pouring water on them...

The pink grew and darkened and spread, quite a lot like the Cat in the Hat's pink ring in the tub.  And I didn't have Thing One and Thing Two to help me out, either.


Sooo... I gathered it up, put three more color-catcher sheets right on top of those pink spots, folded it so that the sheets would stay put, and Larry helped me cram it into the washer.

The next time I pulled it out, all the pink spots were nearly entirely gone.  Whew.  But I'll doubtless have to use the color-catchers every time I wash it.  Why did it do that, when it hadn't done it at all when I first washed all the fabrics?

Siggghhhhhh… At least it’s just our quilt, and not a customer’s!



And here's the funny-looking back of the quilt.


There's Tabby back there...

Here he comes --

But Teensy beat him to it.

Here he comes, walking right across the wet quilt.

Ewwww!  (shaking one rear foot...)


Friday, April 20, 2012

Pillow #6 & Revamped Pillow #3 for Jewel Box







All done! -- the very last pillow is done.






And here is pillow #3, gussied up a bit.  It was just too plain to suit me.





Saturday, April 14, 2012

Pillows #2 & #3 for Jewel Box





The next two pillows are done.  The background of the small rectangular pillow should have been off-white rather than tan.  Will I never learn that lack of contrast makes a quilt block blah?!

But I'm not going to take it apart; it'll just have to fend for itself amongst the other, brighter pillows.







Pillow #1, Button Added



I decided this pillow wasn't quite done after all -- it was in need of a big button.  I picked up one of my button boxes that's full of old buttons that used to be my mother's, and there was the button, right on top.  Furthermore, it has a twin, so the other same-size pillow will have a matching button. 




Thursday, April 12, 2012

Jewel Box Log Cabin Quilt is Done





Today, after interruptions by Easter sewing, services, and company, I finally put the binding (very dark burgundy velour) on the Jewel Box Log Cabin quilt and put together the top for the first of six decorative toss pillows. 


I weighed the quilt:  it's a hefty 13.5 pounds.  It measures 120" x 120".














Pillows to cover