The latest quilt is the result of a combination of problems. I planned to make a "summer quilt" using the "Tradewinds" quilt top I recently made. In the local quilt store I found a perfect fabric for backing, lightweight cotton in a lovely purple shade. I bought 3 meters, took it home and washed it, using a "colour catcher" sheet to check if this material bled. WOW, it sure did! I washed it five times, and each time the colour catcher showed it was still losing lots of colour. I can't use this for the backing of a good quilt, it would ruin the quilt.
I went back to the store and told them what had happened and showed them the 5 colour catchers. They will contact the rep of the company they bought the fabric from and explain the problem and be reimbursed. But, they said, we need to reimburse Louise too. I had thought much about this and told them my plan. Since the fabric cannot be used in a quilt, I thought I'd get another 3 meters and use the fabric on both sides of a light weight summer quilt. That way it will be washed only, ever with just that fabric, so if it bleeds, it won't ruin anything else. They immediately agreed to give me the extra 3 meters. That way all my material is half priced, and I'm satisfied, and they've compensated me for that situation.
Over the weekend I washed and ironed the two pieces, which at 108" x 117" each, are very large pieces to deal with. Then I laid out some 100% cotton batting bought a few years ago on the floor downstairs and smoothed one of the pieces over it, spray basted and smoothed everything out. When I went to put the other purple on the back of the batting, I found out something strange: it was 2" wider than the bottom piece. That's from selvedge to selvedge--from the same bolt. Hard to understand how that can be. So I rewashed it in warm water and dried it in the dryer twice. It's still almost 2" wider than the first piece, but had shrunk in length by 1". Well, whatever!
I made the three piece "sandwich" and marked off the quarter sections with masking tape to help me keep oriented when doing machine quilting. So here's the great big quilt on the table. Half of it has been quilted.
I went back to the store and told them what had happened and showed them the 5 colour catchers. They will contact the rep of the company they bought the fabric from and explain the problem and be reimbursed. But, they said, we need to reimburse Louise too. I had thought much about this and told them my plan. Since the fabric cannot be used in a quilt, I thought I'd get another 3 meters and use the fabric on both sides of a light weight summer quilt. That way it will be washed only, ever with just that fabric, so if it bleeds, it won't ruin anything else. They immediately agreed to give me the extra 3 meters. That way all my material is half priced, and I'm satisfied, and they've compensated me for that situation.
Over the weekend I washed and ironed the two pieces, which at 108" x 117" each, are very large pieces to deal with. Then I laid out some 100% cotton batting bought a few years ago on the floor downstairs and smoothed one of the pieces over it, spray basted and smoothed everything out. When I went to put the other purple on the back of the batting, I found out something strange: it was 2" wider than the bottom piece. That's from selvedge to selvedge--from the same bolt. Hard to understand how that can be. So I rewashed it in warm water and dried it in the dryer twice. It's still almost 2" wider than the first piece, but had shrunk in length by 1". Well, whatever!
I made the three piece "sandwich" and marked off the quarter sections with masking tape to help me keep oriented when doing machine quilting. So here's the great big quilt on the table. Half of it has been quilted.
The line you see at the back of the quilt marks the middle. There's that much fabric hanging down the other side. It's really big. Not as big as I had planned, though. I was aiming at 105" x 105". The fabric was supposed to be 108" wide. It is actually 98" wide. That's o.k. though, because that cotton batting is also just 98" wide.
Here's a close up of the meander machine quilting:
On another topic, our junipers are suffering a massive infestation of juniper/saskatoon rust. This is a fungus that spends part of the year in junipers and part of the year in saskatoons. To get rid of it we'd have to get rid of our four rows of saskatoon bushes in the shelter belt. We just hope it doesn't damage the junipers too badly!
Yesterday S. planted the corn I'd grown in 4" pots in the greenhouse, starting the last week of April. It was nicely rooted and vigorous looking. Providing we have some warm, sunny weather it should do very well.
Not a whole lot, just 39 plants, but a good amount for fresh eating. There is NOTHING more delicious than an ear of Peaches and Cream corn, picked, tossed into boiling water for one minute, taken out and served with butter, salt and pepper!
And we're trying this for a deer repellant:
Two aluminum pie plates hanging across one entrance to the vegetable garden, gently swaying and clanking in the breeze. Since these were hung up there we haven't seen any deer in the garden. I really hope this does the trick!
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