Sunshine Quilts

Saturday, July 30, 2005

The Red Bear Paw from ______ (fill in the blank!)

I am not a patient person and this story blows my mind. I can't believe I did all this. Back in about 1998 I began a red and white bear paw quilt for my sister-in-law. I like Louis & Eileen a lot! This was my travel project and I never spent a lot of time on it unless we were on a trip. Finally, about 2001 I was making good progress and we visited NY to see Louis & Eileen. Well, they had remodeled their bedroom and she had changed the colors. I must've had this dumb look on my face because she went on and on about how happy she was to get rid of that red and white. I made them another quilt! But I kept thinking I should finish the red and white bear paw. So, I set it horizontal with some sashing. That was kinda boring. I thought maybe I'd set it in strips with wide white rows in between so I took all the horizontal setting apart. Re-did it and that was kinda boring too so I stuck it aside. When I looked at the AQS rules for the 2005 Nashville show, one of the categories was "Traditional Blocks" so I thought . . red and white bear paw. Got it out, took it all apart and re-set it with the blocks on point, and then set in rows with a wide white strip between the rows. Ahhh, heck! The wide white strips were too wide so I took it all apart, cut the strips down, put it back together again and it was great but it needed a border so I made a zillion half square triangles and made a border. Quilting was fun because I love doing that part. It was time to get the blue marks out of the quilt so I spritzed and . . oh, my gosh! I've just spent more than a full week quilting this thing and the red was running! I had washed all the fabrics but this red just wasn't willing to stay red! I began researching and decided synthrapol was my best shot but it said to wash in hot water. I had used Hobbs wool batting with a white Mountain Mist Rose on top so the wool didn't show through. The wool shouldn't be used in hot water. So, I called Hobbs and they said to go ahead and do it. I must've washed that poor quilt a dozen times in HOT water (sometimes even boiling in the microwave to be sure it was HOT). Then I'd wash it with the dye catchers. Went through several boxes of those. The red got lighter but it was still nowhere near acceptable. I happened to have a bar of Fels Naptha soap sitting near the washer so I rubbed it all over the quilt, washed it again and the runs were all gone. Whew! JL

Thursday, July 14, 2005

New Appliances . . blahhhhhhh

Whatever happened to quality? Or, is it just Whirlpool that isn't worth anything any more? Two years ago we bought a new washer and dryer. Both have been worked on already, the dryer has been worked on twice! Two years ago, we bought a new fridge. The ice maker has been replaced already. Now, the stove! We bought it 6 months ago. Nice stove! I was so happy to have it. Smooth ceramic top (which I love) with the 5th burner for warming, one burner has accusimmer, one burner can be both a larger or small burner. The oven is/was so nice. Has convection and accubake and . . self clean . . wherein lies the problem. Friday night while baking potatoes, one exploded in the oven. It was time to clean it anyway so Saturday morning I did the cleaning thing for the first time. Well . . it got finished and it clicked and clanked and groaned and moaned but it wouldn't unlock. Called Whirlpool Monday morning; tried every trick in the book. Only thing it would do was more clicking and clanking and groaning and moaning so they'll send out a repairman . . Saturday. So, I go a week without the use of the oven. It's really not a big deal but dang it, I spent a lot of $$ on that stove and I'd be so happy if something worked as it was intended! JL

Monday, July 04, 2005

July 4th

I've been working on the Quilts of Valor project today, getting quilts done for the injured soldiers. I love working on these. Today has been spent making pillowcases for the quilts, some of which are drawstring type bags for the soldiers who are on crutches to use for carrying their "stuff". Judy