Shirley Cushing is this week’s winner of the Clover embroidery threader. It is great when you need help threading larger needles (like a big chenille needle) with larger thread (like perle cotton). It is a very nice tool to have in your kit! Click here
Eileen K. is this week’s lucky winner of a pair of socks, guaranteed to make anyone’s feet happy.
If you are not Eileen, click here for women’s socks (and click here for men’s socks) and buy the socks you know you want :-).
I keep learning new things! The last time I wrote about fabric washing was in August 2017. (Click here, and on the link in that post, to read about why I always wash my fabric.) Since then I’ve made changes to my washing routine. FYI: I never use laundry detergent or fabric softeners on my quilts or quilt fabric.
Retro Wash is a powder. The instructions on the package are clear. Use 1 tablespoon per load in a top-loading HE machine. I don’t mix it with water first, but you probably could. I use the same amount of Retro Wash, no matter the size of the load, which might be wrong, but it works for me.
The label says is to use 1 teaspoon of Retayne per yard of fabric in a HE machine, with warm water. It turns out that I wasn’t using near enough Retayne before! I mix the Retayne in a half-cup of water and pour it into the detergent receptacle.
Click here to find Retro Wash and Retayne.
Color Catchers catch the excess dye from the water. (I very much suspect that they have Synthrapol in them, but I don’t know that for sure.)
Since I changed my washing routine, the Color Catchers are coming out white, even in dark loads. I am happy!
When I wash quilts, I will use Retro Wash, at least 1 Color Catcher, and Synthrapol. Synthrapol keeps dye that has migrated into the wash water from re-depositing into the fabric. I haven’t done that yet — I’ll let you know when I do.
I do have one more bit of (mildly disturbing) news that I learned from a student who works for US Customs. There’s not a nice way to say it, so here goes: ships, and the containers on them, are often infested with vermin. Who leave droppings. ICK!!!!
I don’t know how fabric is wrapped for travel inside the container. It starts on rolls and later is folded, wound onto cardboard bolts, and then shrink-wrapped in plastic. That might happen here in the US, or overseas. Either way, the contamination is probably small. But still, that got my attention. (FYI: Most of our clothes are also imported so I’m now washing new clothes before I wear them.)
Do any of us have enough zippered totes? I think not! This Sew-It tote is perfect for we who sew! Theresa Duval is this week’s lucky winner. If you are not Theresa, you can buy this one (or another style) for yourself and/or for all of your sewing friends, click here.
Pam Rubinos sent me an email with two finished quilts. Both are just fantastic!
First up, Aunt Millie’s Garden:
Pam says:
I finally finished my Aunt Millie’s Garden quilt. I recently entered my Backyard Birds in our Palmetto Quilt Guild quilt show and received an Honorable Mention. My name for this quilt is Not Your Everyday Backyard Birds! because I had so much fun being creative with my birds. Loved making each quilt. Thank you for your inspiring patterns!
Here is Pam’s version of Backyard Birds. I love everything about both quilts. Thank you, Pam, for sharing!
Vickie is this week’s lucky winner! If you are not Vicki and want to order charms for your very own scissors, click here.
I use a scissor charm on all my scissors, especially the serrated scissors. And you know what? These are cute enough to use on more than scissors… bags, purses, backpacks, the list goes on.
Piece O Cake Blog 