Finished: Sunkissed Rectangles

This is a quilt that was completed during the last days of the dog (hence the crappy photos) and ya know what...I had to post this before January hits.  I don't want any bad stuff lingering into next year. 

This quilt was made with leftovers of a Sunkissed Layer Cake.  I just sliced them up the middle and sewed 'em up.   Pretty anti-climactic after months of mulling over possibilities.  In the end I went with simple because this baby has been born a while and I seriously need to get this DONE.  I sewed together a few rectangles a day until poof...it was done.  I did Amie's trick of photographing my layout on my phone so I didn't get confused over the many days of construction.  I also downloaded a photo app that allows me to see the quilt in black and white...instant value check!  The app is called CamWow and it's pretty obnoxious but it IS free and the kids enjoy using the other features like facial distortion or tie-die effects. 

 

I echoed each seam for the quilting and machine bound this quilt...yup, I did.  I really love hand binding but I just wasn't feeling it for this.  Just too much going on in life.  I backed it in some cotton flannel from Tuesday Morning ($1.49/yard...woop woop).  I  used white flannel for batting. I like the drape and living in Houston a lighter quilt is probably even more useful than a heavy one. I bound it up in a solid fat quarter and some scraps

Hopefully now I can deliver it to the baby while she is small enough to be bundled in it!

Finish: The Skinny 4-patch

Alrighty, folks...I have finally finished the second scrap quilt I actually like.  Well, sorta finished.  If a section of that binding looks a little fat it's because it's not hand sewn to the back yet.  SHHH...don't tell.

I really like this design for scraps.  It would work perfectly with a jelly roll for the 4 patches and a solid honey bun for the sashing. 

I decided to try a very bubbly  quilting that is sort of like the pumpkin patch quilting I tried from Leah Day's Freemotion Quilting Project.    I wasn't as happy with this on the backside:

but ya know, it did give a really neat texture and I get very bored with just stippling.  I want to be good at quilting, not just piecing.  To do that, I have to practice.  I am giving this to a very sweet person who won't judge my imperfect quilting.  If you are giving quilts to people who will judge you, you are giving quilts to the wrong people!

I really like the fact that this is kind of I-Spyish since this will be going to a baby in a house full of children.  I think it will be fun for them.  I can picture mom nursing the baby under the quilt while she asks the big brother and sister to find pictures on the quilt. 

2 announcements...

The Mini Quilt Kit & pattern giveaway is now closed. The winner is:

MissMary said... 159

Best gift? Lord of the Rings trilogy in book form, bound in red leather. Fabulous!
December 13, 2011 9:53 PM

On to the second announcement:

If you didn't win the pattern giveaway, there is now a new way to purchase Tulip Patch Patterns. As of yesterday, my patterns are being carried through Pink Chalk Fabrics. They also have a huge (I mean HUGE) selection of solids which is great since my patterns tend to be very solids-friendly.

Thanks to all who have played along. Here's hoping you each have a very merry Christmas!

the hard goodbye.

Almost 10 years ago, I married my college sweetheart and moved to Texas.  A few months in, I had my first birthday as a married woman.  My birthday wish was a Scottish terrier.  I had fallen in love with one in a bridal shop as he stalked me like an inch high private eye.  We found a breeder a few hours away and set off on our merry way to get a pup.    When we arrived, my husband sat on a sofa as puppies nipped at our feet and yelped.  Many puppies were already spoken for, but I saw one little Scottie pup with a  flopped over ear who had been passed up because his ears were not standing yet.  He played alone and when another pup came to play with him, he simply gave up his toy and found something else to do.  My heart went out to the flop eared pup, and I knew we could give him a great home where nobody would nip at him or steal his toys.  I knew he could make it with a childless couple with no other dogs.  

 Within a couple of years we started having children.  He adjusted like a pro.  For a long time I felt guilty that he wasn't as pampered as before, but now I understand he just settled into his adult personality.  Scotties can be a lot like cats.  That independent pup grew into a very independent dog.  He had the duty to watch over our house and took pride in barking the minute someone stepped on our property.  He also relished harassing the squirrels and yippy dogs next door.  He loved escaping from the front door and going to our neighbor's fence and marking that area just to taunt them.  Just like before, making his own entertainment and living a secret life. 

At about 8 years old, he started having accidents all over the house.  The vet found his liver seemed to be failing, but could not find the root cause.  We were sent home and told to return if things got worse.  For a year and a half we cleaned up accidents...a lot.  One day my husband spotted blood, so back to the vet we went.  The vet thought it was kidney stones.  We agreed to a surgery thinking he would live several more years if we could learn how to feed him food that wouldn't trigger kidney stones.  Unfortunately, the kidney stones turned out to be cancer tumors.  We were given some pain medication and a grim prognosis.  We bought new toys, new treats, and gave lots of love  Unfortunately,  things went downhill quickly.  I made an appointment for last Friday but wrestled with the decision.  I prayed for peace and on Friday morning I saw him with new eyes.  He was suffering.  He had moments of energy but I knew I couldn't wait until all those moments were gone- he was suffering right now.  He had McDonald's for breakfast and lunch.  My husband played ball with him...he could only manage 3 "fetches" before he was exhausted.  We took the kids to a neighbor and rolled through McDonald's one last time for ice cream..  We rolled the windows down for one last ride to the country vet.

It was so hard...incredibly hard.  I hated having the decision over life and death.  Still, he deserved to go peacefully before complete misery set in.  

We came home that night and made a Scottie Dog Superman Angel ornament...we have a scottie ornament every year and this year we will have our tribute to Ewan.

The next day I cried as I had to wash up his water bowl.  I looked up from the kitchen sink and saw 2 squirrels having fits of ecstacy in our oak tree.  I laughed at how Ewan had protected our backyard so fiercely, it was like an all-you-can-eat acorn buffet just opened up in the middle of winter.  I'm tempted to open the backdoor and jingle his collar just to taunt them...I think he'd like that.

Thank you Ewan...for being a child when I needed children and a vacuum cleaner when I had children. 

Thank you for guarding our home and our yard...if only our hearts were as protected.

Giveaway Time! {NOW CLOSED}

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED- Thanks for playing!

It's giveaway time!

Today I'm giving away a tumbler mini quilt kit cut using my accuquilt GO!Baby.  The fabrics are from Momo's Just Wing It line for moda fabrics.  Included are 72 tumblers are a 12"x27" of Momo dots that I thought would be a cute binding.  You could also use these to make tumbler wreaths, tumbler dresden plates (working on that right now!), a lantern light mini quilt, or a bow tie mini quilt.

But wait...there's more!
I will be giving a free PDF pattern download for one of my patterns.  You can have your choice of:

 Tiger Tails (lap size)

Houndstooth Magic! (lap)

 

Shadowboxer (lap) 

Helix (baby, lap, twin)

Dance Steps (baby, lap, twin)

Ok, 2 chances to win:
1)Leave a comment on this post telling me the best Christmas gift you've ever received.
2) Bonus comment if you are a follower of The Tulip Patch (not required, just an extra chance for those who visit here).

Giveaway closes at 5pm, Dec 16, 2011.

Linking up to the other great giveaways on Sew Mama Sew.

Merry Christmas y'all!

Feedsack: Cleaning 101

Cleaning a feedsack can be a daunting task. How can an 80 year old textile stand up to today's modern chemicals and machines? The answer- surprisingly well.

Before you spend hours cutting, sewing, and quilting feedsacks, you will want to clean them. Why spend hours of work on something that is going to fall apart in the first wash, right? If you are dealing with feedsacks with advertising designs, you will probably have to try very hard to remove the design. The oldest feedsacks were printed with ink that wasn't water soluble. That meant as hard as you tried, your feedsack slip was going to keep the words "Pride of Dixie" right across your girls.

Even though the designs are safe from bleach and harsh chemicals, the fibers still need to be treated with care.  I used the following method to clean all of my feedsacks- print & white.  They were all stained in some way or another.  After this washing method, I only had about 2 stains in the whole lot of 20+ sacks .  One sack was still heavily stained (blood?) so I plan on only using it as a cutter for quilting pieces.  I could use peroxide if it is blood, but that will be really hard on the cotton so I will just cut around it instead of risking damaged fibers in my quilt.

I first filled my garden size tub about 4-5" deep with warm water.  I don't recommend doing this if you have curious toddlers in the house since you will need to leave a good amount of standing water in your tub for a long period of time.  Mix in some oxygen cleaner.  I used 5 scoops of Clorox Oxi Magic.  It was a newer product than oxiclean and was priced much cheaper.  Oxiclean would probably work just as well, that's just not what I had.  I spent 50 cents each on my feedsacks, so I figured why start being a big spender with the giant tub of oxi clean?  Once your powder is well mixed with your warm water, dunk your feedsacks and let them sit overnight.  Put the worst ones on the bottom so they remain submerged.  After this step my water was BROWN with nastiness.  I did about 15-20 feedsacks per soaking- Once for white, once for prints.  It was amazing.  Amazing and disgusting.

Transfer your wet feedsacks to your washing machine.  I do not have an agitator.  If you have access to an HE machine, I suggest you use it.  I set my HE machine on "whitest whites" for both sets of feedsacks.  That is a 100 minute cycle of hot water.  If you have an agitator in your machine,  I suggest using a delicate cycle.  I chose hot water because I used BIZ with my detergent.  BIZ needs heat to activate.

Let's talk about BIZ for a second.  BIZ is an enzyme cleaner that eats anything organic.  Blood, poop, urine, dirt, baby formula...you name it.  BIZ is used by museums to prepare bones for exhibit.  It eats all the tissues left on the bones.  It's amazing and will always be found in my laundry room.  With 3 boys I am a self appointed stain removal expert.  I'm tellin' ya...this stuff is irreplaceable.  My only complaint is that once I used it in a "BIZ BOIL" on the stove to remove ink stains and the BIZ infused steam irritated my mucous membrances so badly I could barely speak for several days.  Treat it with caution like you would treat any cleaning product.

Back to the feedsacks....I washed the feedsacks without an agitator in hot water with 1/4cup or so of BIZ and my regular detergent.  What came out were fresh smelling, beautiful feedsacks that I can feel confident will stand up to washings once placed in a precious quilt.   I also feel safe selling these to people should I go that route.  I'm a little crippled with fear at cutting into them, especially the intact ones.  I am considering selling them but I really really want to create with them.  I could buy my husband a really awesome Christmas present with the money from these, so I'm completely torn.  I am gonna marinate on that decision for a while.  I'd love to hear your thoughts on exactly what I should do with them. 

PS: If you would like to try the BIZ, they have a $2 printable coupon on their website.

Identifying a feesack..

Today I want to talk about how to identify a feedsack.  There are many conditions you can find a feedsack in.  Some might be cut up into smaller pieces, some might be sewn together to make tablecloths or utility throws.  Some might have the stitching removed and some might be completely in tact, just like they day they were first emptied of the grains or sugar they contained.

The above is one of the completely intact feedsacks I own.  It is a pillowcase shape.  You can't tell much by the hand of the fabric.  Some sacks contained chickenfeed and could be a looser weave.  Some that carried flour would need a tighter weave to hold the small flour particles.  The thickest bags I have once contained fertilizer.  The one thing that will remain constant is that they will be made of cotton.  Most people who have been quilting a while can easily tell the difference in cotton and a blend by touching the fabric, but there are more scientifc tests if you aren't sure.  Unfortunately those can be damaging the the very fabric you want to test.

In an intact feedsack, you will have one corner that is slightly curved.  This is the edge where the stitching is.  The other edge is just the natural fold of the fabric so that if you remove the chain stitching you will have 1 large continuous piece of fabric.

Here is the top of the bag.  You can see the thick white string that is keeping the bag together.  That is the chain stitching. 

Here is the inside of the bag where the stitching is visible. 

Here are my 4 intact feedsacks.  I have laid them with the left edge matching up and as you can see, there is a huge difference in size.  This is due to the different materials they contained.   Most of my full feedsacks are about a yard worth of fabric. Size isn't a great indicator of whether or not something is a feedsack, but it can definitely rule out something that is one continuous piece of fabric that is many yards long.    The most accurate indicator is the stitching.  Since most sacks will not be intact like the ones above, let's look at the holes left by the stitching.

 

Along the edges (except the top) you can see a line of holes where the stitching once was.  At the bottom corners you can see the holes follow a curve instead of a ninety degree angle  Each hole looks like you poked through the fabric with something about the width of a thumbtack.   

Feedsacks were not made with near the quality of today's quilting cottons.  If you pick up a feedsack or feedsack pieces that have the same silky quality as a current quilt shop cotton, you're being sold a reproduction.  These fabrics are widely reproduced even though it isn't always advertised as such.  Many of the Flea Market Fancy prints are 100% feedsack reproductions.  Many other designers use feedsacks as a jumping off point or they just copy outright- Denyse Schmidt, Amy Butler, Glenna Hailey, Judy Rothermel, Sandy Klop, and many many more popular designers.  This isn't considered unethical in the fabric industry, but what IS wrong is when a reseller takes those reproductions and tries to pass them off as originals.  Arm yourself with knowledge so you can enjoy either the originals or the designs they inspired without getting taken advantage of.   

Next up...cleaning your feedsack finds!

feed{sack}ing frenzy...

I have always held a secret dream that one day I would own a massive hoard of feedsacks. I love seeing the weird little designs and I really love thinking about getting a bonus of free fabric when you are buying boring stuff like groceries. I think if I got cute fabric every time I got a new bag of flour or sugar, I'd be as busy of a baker as I am a quilter. In my mind, I owned 2 feedsacks:

 Well a few weeks ago I decided to pop into a local junk-tique store because one of the vendors always carries vintage fabric and she is always very affordably priced. I made a bee line to her booth and noticed a basket brimming full with...

 Feedsacks!

Now every antique store in America probably has a feedsack or two at least, but are they...FIFTY CENTS???

 And I scooped up every last one of them!

A week later I visited my family in Alabama and visited their junk store.  Armed with my new feedsack spotting expertise, I found a cute printed feedsack and several white feedsacks with faded designs that had been sewn together to make a ..tablecloth?  This was a great find because, according to a more experienced quilting friend, ideally you should sew older fabric to older fabric. 

 Inside was this sweet feedsack slip. 

Across the bosom it says very faintly "Pride of Dixie."  Move over, Victoria's Secret!

 Most of my bags are just white, but I did have a few advertising slogans.  Unfortunately, this was is for fertilizer!

 And the cutest one is for bird poop fertilizer!  Unfortunately I don't see myself making those cute shabby chic pillows with these bags o' bird poop. 

I went back through my old fabric stash armed with my new found spotting ability and found 2 more feedsacks:

Later this week I will give you some feedsack identification tips as well as tips on cleaning them so the only thing funky about them is their design!

Tuesday Morning...your friendly neighborhood quilt shop???

 *First off...let me say that I have no sponsor arrangement with Tuesday Morning nor have I communicated with them.  I just love sharing a deal!

I do not have a quilt shop in my area. I do have several around my area but carving out the time to do it and the budget to make the drive worthwhile are big issues for me. I get a lot of notions at Hobby Lobby and Tuesday Morning. Yup, you heard me...Tuesday Morning.  My friend Vicki says they are so disorganized they should be called Monday Morning (see, told ya I wasn't getting paid).  I've found some of my favorite notions there:

I've gotten those big 6.5"x24" rulers for $5.99!

They also have TONS of Fons & Porter stuff.  I found an Ott Light on clearance for $9.99.   It's hit or miss on selection, but when they have something, it's usually about 80 percent off. While making my semi regular check on quilting supplies, imagine my surprise when I found this:

It was a full fat quarter bundle of Olivia's Holiday by Tina Givens!  This line is a few years old but still very cute.  It was $34.99 for the 33 fat quarter bundle (except somebody swiped one).  Mine did not have a tag so they wouldn't take my word that it had been $34.99 the last time I saw it, so they charged me $24.  When they actually rang me up, they charged me $7.99 but I had to go back and correct them because I didn't want the cashier to lose her job over that.   A bunch of hoo-yah...and I even had to explain what a fat quarter was.  They also had charm packs ($3.99) , small strip rolls($5.99), and smaller bundles by Kaffe Fassett & his protege Brandon Mably.  I keep going back hoping to find some Amy Butler, who also designs for Westminster.  Anyway, if you have one of these stores nearby, I wanted to give you a heads up!  The latest ad shows that they will also be carrying a Singer that MSRPs for $499 for $199 if you are in need of a new machine at that price point.  Happy shopping!