UFOs currently in progress

Have You Seen My Button?

Hey yall! I have a button now! This is pretty exciting for me, mostly because I made it all on my own and I am NOT good with that kinda computer stuff. Put pick it up and put it on you page, just copy and paste the image above or below and add my URL.  Share the love yall! If you pick up my button just let me know and I'll put yours on my page too.  It is always so nice to help each other out. So do you like the button? Any critiques or tips on how to improve it in the future? I am always up for improvement.

  Also I'll be posting soon about my WIPs/UFOs and my recent trip tp Boston. And pics of my new sewing room are due to be up before you know it!

Quilt Care Series Part One: Washing Your Quilt

Quilts are a very delicate and loved heirloom that must be treated with care. Although you should wash your quilt as little as possible (once every six weeks is ideal if you can get away with it), there will come a time when that musty, dusty piece of artwork must be washed. Here is a simple guide to help you through the daunting and sometimes scary task.

I will share two options to wash your quilt, machine washing and hand washing. When choosing how to wash your quilt, make sure to pay careful attention to the details of the piece. Is it hand or machine sewn? Is it in relatively good condition or has time, use and wear made it more delicate than it was in its early years? Questions like these will help you decided if you feel it is safe to machine wash your quilt or if it needs the special care and time of hand washing. The following tips will be useful in either style of washing.

Washing Tips and Rules:

1. NEVER use bleach.

2. Use a gentle laundering soap that is fragrance free, color free, and if at all possible free of fabric softener.

3. Wash in warm, not too hot, not too cold water.

4. Never put non diluted laundering soap directly on your quilt.

5. NEVER use bleach.

6. Always double rinse your quilt with cold water to make sure all soap is washed out to prevent damage.

Image via Wikipedia

Machine Washing:

1. Fill the washing machine with warm water and recommended amount of laundering soap. Make sure soap has COMPLETELY dissolved.

2. Add Quilt to wash. Completely submerge into the water.

3. Choose a gentle, warm wash cycle and cold rinse.

4. Once quilt has finished its wash cycle start a new, cold rinse cycle to make sure the quilt has completely rinsed.

5. Dry. (Drying Part soon to come!)

Image by MyEyeSees via Flickr

Hand Washing:

1. Make sure the tub you are using is completely clean and rinsed of all cleaning agents.

2. You may use your bath tub or any washing tub of your liking.

3. Fill tube with warm water and laundering soap. Make sure soap has COMPLETELY dissolved .

4. Completely submerge quilt in the water.

5. Gently “swirl” the quilt with your hands under water and let sit for a few hours.

6. Drain water from the tub and refill with cold water with your quilt still in it. Let it soak for a few hours.

7. Drain.

8. Dry. (Drying Part soon to come!)

Too scary for you? Not quite ready to make the big jump into washing your quilt? Maybe it’s just not as dirty as you thought… Try vacuuming it. Put the vacuum on the gentlest suction you can. Using the dusting attachment, hold the vacuum an inch or two from the fabric and suck out all the dust and dirt you can. Whatever you do though, no matter how afraid of washing your quilt you maybe, NEVER use fabreeze or similar items to freshen up your quilt.

Any one have any other tip or tricks when it comes to washing your quilt? How do you keep them fresh and smelling good?

Read More:

(Coming soon!)

1. Choosing a Detergent.

2. Drying Your Quilt.

3. Storing Your Quilt.

4. Shipping Your Quilt.

5. Repairing Your Quilt.

Anything else you would like to hear about? Just let me know. :)



Projector Give Away!

Hey everyone! Check out Twice Lovely's blog to enter in her giveaway. 



Good Luck everyone!

It's Been Too Long and I'm Gettin' the Itch...

The Itch to Quilt that is!

Wow! It has been way too long since I have posted and since I have quilted.  I recently made the HUGE move from Charleston SC to upstate NY near Albany.  My husband and I packed up over 6,000 pounds of stuff our dog and three cats and headed north to his new station.  Luck him he just had the dog in the truck with him, I was stuck with ALL three cats for almost 20 hours of travel. 

Chief in the truck on one of our breaks.

We stayed the night with my grandparents for a night in VA on the way up.  It was great to see them and I inherited some wonderful peices from my Gran.  I got her sewing table and dinner table.  I could NOT have been more happy.  The sewing table isn't anything spectacular but just the fact that it was my gran's thrills me! It is perfect in my new little sewing room.

A picture I took on the drive up here.  I couldn't resist, it was so beautiful.

That brings me to another reason I haven't posted in so long, my new sewing room! It has taken me a while to get around to unpacking it and it is about one fourth of the size of my old one so I am having trouble making it just right for me. It is coming along nicely though and should be done soon.  The freezing cold weather here (which I am NOT accustumed to being from FL and never traveling much norther than VA) Makes me want to do NOTHING but quilt.  All I can think about is sitting down with a hot cup of tea and make beautiful quilts to keep me warm and to hang on my walls to help insulate my new house.


I have a couple of projects I have been working on recently as much as I can and I will keep you all updated as much as I can as I work on them.

Moving!!!

My husband recently got orders to relocate.  We just found out that we will be moving to upstate NY to finish his training.  Although it is going to be a huge change and EXTREMELY different from what I am used to (I was raised in the south and went to highschool and college in FL) I have decided I am very excited for the change and adventure.  The first thing I did went my husband told me the news was jump on the computer and look up quilt shops in the area.  I was ecstatic when I found out there were so many shop nearby since here in Charleston there really aren't any quilt shops.  With this big change I have decided to add some changes to my quilting life to make it more productive.  We will only be in NY for about 8 months so I feel like that is the perfect time period to set some short term goals.  My goals are roughly as follows:

GOALS:

1. Take at least one quilting class a month.  Each class should be based on a new task I should be learning or perfecting.
2. Finish my Gran's quilt by Christmas.
3. Participate in a Quilting Bee.
4. Participate in a Siggy Quilt swap.
5. Make at least ONE Brown Bag quilt from the Stash Manicure Brown Bag Quilt Contest.
6. Make a "Baby Jane" Quilt top.  Do a certain amount of squares per week until I get the whole Quilt top done.

Christmas Quilt 1

So this post is a little late due to some personal issues I was having. But here it is :).  I am doing the Christmas in July Blitz by Monkey Dog Quilts.   I am making a quilt for my Grandmother (on my father's side) for Christmas this year.  Since she has done so much for me over the years I figured it is the least I can do for her.  It will be a signature quilt with a block for each of my cousins, aunts, uncles, father, and sister.  My grandma is very proud of her Scottish heritage and immigrated to America when she was 19.  I have decided to make the Quilt purple and green because those colors remind me of her home.  These are four of the fabrics I have picked out.  I still need to get two more that are green.

Below is a picture of inspiration.  Although my quilt will be somewhat different it will still have the same type blocks.  

I Have drawn this rough sketch to see if it is how I want the quilt but I am not quite sure yet.  I think I really like it, what do you think?

Right after I picked the colors for this quilt a found this quilt being done for an ill mother.  I plan on using my left over fabric to make squares for it.  Maybe you could help too?