MAQF Around the Corner Again!

My goodness! The Mid Atlantic Quilt Festival is only a month away! As usual the MAQF has me reconsidering my current quilt progress and gets me motivated to work on my quilts and thus blog about them. I haven't made many recent entries because I haven't been quilting. I got distracted with my smocking projects and the holidays. I've also fallen behind in reading my quilt magazines so I haven't had anything to comment on. However, I've been catching up this week so I've got loads to talk about now ...So look out this has the sound of a monster blog entry :>

As part of my New Year's reflection I've set several deadlines for my sewing projects. I'm afraid they may be a bit unrealistic. I'm trying to finish Poker Roadtrip, a smocked dress, and smocked booties all before Valentines day. I've made fair progress on Poker Roadtrip. The prairie braid strips are hanging over my quilt room window so I can see how the random placement of fabric is working out.

The smocked dress is a darling pattern I saw in the magazine Creative Needle. It is titled Nicole and buttons on the front shoulder. I've gotten two rows stitched so far. I'm also planning on making booties to match.

The following are some pictures of projects I've finished the last few months.

First is a tied blankie I made in December for my new niece L-. I fell in love with the furry fleece I found in Walmart and went back to buy 5 more yards of various colors for other projects.

I finished the green bishop dress for A- and managed to make matching booties for it. She had a lot of her Christmas pictures taken in this dress.

I also smocked a cute reindeer overall for M-. I intended to make a matching jumper for A- but it never got done. I did make a quick applique dress for L- though and that is what you see pictured below.

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I wasn't very pleased with the overall I made for M-. It was too tight in the torso for him because I didn't fit the pattern first. The smocked insert buckled on the edges because I didn't back smock it. (The directions didn't tell me too.)He still looks cute in it though.

I've been researching wool bats again. I want to try one out in my Poker Roadtrip quilt. I'm nervous about using wool though. Apparently I'm supposed to use a cheese cloth cover to keep the wool from migrating in the quilt. I don't have anything telling me how to make this cover for the wool batting and I'm not sure how well it will hold up to washing. That is why I'm nervous ...But I never let trepidation stop me! :>

Conveniently enough the last two Quilter's Newsletter Magazines have had a 2 part article on battings. They reviewed 18 battings overall. I don't agree with their test procedures though. The test involved measuring for shrinkage. They cut 12.5 inch squares, quilted them, measured them for shrinkage, washed them, and then measured them for shrinkage again. My problem is with the way they washed them. They stated the samples, "were washed by machine on a gentle cycle using Quilt Wash ... After rinsing but before spin cycle, the batting samples were removed from the washing machine and placed on a clean floor to dry under a fan." Who would do that to a real quilt? Can you imagine taking a twin size quilt out before the spin cycle, all drippy and wet and laying it out on your hardwood floors or berber carpet under a fan! Knowing the shrinkage rate was nice but I would be far more interested in knowing how the different batts faired in the dryer. How much shrinkage occurred then? How much migration? How did the various samples fair under repeated washings and drying? While I found the test procedures lacking I still think the chart will be useful in selecting battings for future projects and appreciated the information provided. Thanks QNM! Now how about an article on how to use a wool batting? And what to keep in mind when shopping for a wool bat because there are a wide variety of places to get them online and my local quilt store doesn't carry wool. So what should a newbie to wool bats look for when purchasing one online?

Comments

[Pam]

Hi. I love using wool batts. They are soft, warm, and they drape beautifully. Also, if you want to hand quilt, they needle like butter. I've only tried Matilda's Own wool batt so far. It's a wool/poly blend which cuts down on the bearding. I gently prewashed and dried each batting before sandwiching it in the quilt. (that's what the package recommends) That cuts down on the shrinkage and also on any loose fibers that are still hanging around. I've also heard that Hobbs has a nice wool batting. I plan to try that one next. Hope that helps. I have a website and a newsletter that you might enjoy. Thanks for letting me share. Pam www.RealWomenQuilt.com

[Crystal Boudreaux]

Wow, your little outfits are lovely. You smock really well. I am also a smocker/quilter, and I thought I was the only one lol. I've just started my blog, but you're welcome to visit.http://upinstitches.blogspot.com

[Susan]

If you are nervous about using a pure wool batt, why not try an alpaca/wool batt? Over the Rainbow sells them. Laura has her own alpacas and this is the first time she found someone to do this for her. http://www.overrainbow.com just put batting in the search box and the right page will come up. It's needlepunched something like 30,000 times.I think the colors on your braid are looking good!

[quiltmommy]

My sister-i-law helped me obtain abotu 5lbs of pure wool. It isn't really a prepared bat and it isn't really wadding. i layered andf basted it with the Poker Roadtrip quilt two years ago. I started quilting it and regreted my decision regarding batting. My stitches are logn because of the flannel ued int eh quilt. I've experimented and am done with the project. (ie I don't enjoy working on it and have learned what i want to learn from it and don't want to finish it.) entertained finishing it on my machien but it's just too thick to fit under my machone's foot! i think I may have to pay someone to finish it for me becasue I'm not doing it. :/ But I'm glad I experimented and learned that leasson.