The Joy of Volunteering

2015 is turning out to be one of those years. In a good way. A good and very busy way. At times I don't know whether I'm coming or going and catching up on missed calls and emails makes me wonder if it wouldn't be easier to just unplug my phone? March has come in a whirlwind and I keep pinching myself when I consider that AQC really is just around the corner now.

Yesterday I started volunteering sewing skills at a local school. It's been many years since I taught young children to sew and the the enthusiasm and determination they showed was really contagious. I just loved it. I've also started volunteering in a local women's group - just essential sewing and pattern skills right now, but you never know, I might make some quilters out of them yet!

Aren't these just great?! Such an achievement for beginners- these kids just loved making their own felt critters and really focused on stitching all the way around these shapes, I'm so proud of them.And I'm really impressed with their positive attitude too. Both the girls and boys really did so well. Just being around them recharged my battery. 

These days, in order to volunteer in a school setting you need a special working with children safety check. Here is a lone photo of me helping one of the children along, I had a little queue at my 'station' here but for privacy reasons, I've cropped them all out as I don't want to possibly  upset anyone or infringe on their privacy rights. When my own children were young it was normal to take photos of them with and around teachers and strangers in settings such as this one. My own caution reminds me just how much the world has changed since my own children were young and, most dramatically, since I was a child myself. I understand completely why these measures are in place now and I am in no way criticizing them -in fact I recognize that they are sorely needed. It's just that this recognition makes me feel a bit sad for society. Still, I do believe in doing what you can and it's been a real treat for me to share my passion for sewing skills with young people. 

And that's got me thinking about how to keep them engaged in sewing in a relevant and fun way. When I learnt to sew, it was all hard work and repetition but children are much too savvy for any of that these days! Luckily my DD who is a teacher now, is full of resources and has even set me up with a children's sewing inspirations Pinterest board. All I have to do now is work out how to import it into my own Pinning stream! So far I'm feeling the enthusiasm and just need to find some plastic sheets with perforation holes at a good price. I got really lucky with these felt critter packs - they were on sale at Spotlight and the special was that you when you buy 2x you get 1 x for free. A nice perk when you're stocking up for classes like this one. 

Goodness, its been such a long time since I received thank you letters. I think the last one must have been when my eldest DD was a Girl Guide.

Today I'm re-washing Lily Rose so that I can move on to quilting it next week. I've done a lot of reading up on dye running and think it's going to be fine. I'll let you know how it works out when I pull it out of my machine and can see the results for myself!

Over the weekend I hope to put down some serious hours for my LE2 hand sewing and when my hands can take no more and need some stretching, I'll be working on my workshop booklets and getting them ready for binding.

Oh March, slow down!

WOW: Hand Sewing My Heart Out!

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

I feel like my feet are barely touching the ground at the moment! Luckily I have a list and schedule otherwise I'd completely lose track of what I need to do. I'm offline most of the time now and am only checking my emails every few days. Drastic steps for busy times!

Here I am working on my LE2 compass: I'be been working on various elements over the last few months (its all in the preparation) and now I'm just sewing it all down. I say 'just', but being a perfectionist means hundreds of hours and beautiful workmanship - otherwise, what's the point? My LE2 is an heirloom just as significant as my original LE and I know it will be in my family for generations, so every stitch matters to me, even with looming deadlines.

Are you coming to AQC? Are you in my LE2 class? If any of you are still on the fence, there are a few spots left so it's not too late. As for me, it's more hand sewing today, I've got deadlines to keep!

What's Your WOW ?

An InLinkz Link-up

My LE2 Workshop at AQC In April

 April is just around the corner now.

I'm hand sewing my LE2 coverlet. This is the coverlet I'm teaching in a special workshop at AQC this year. Hand sewing gets me in a contemplative mood and has me asking all those mysterious questions all over again. Such as; knowing that the British were sticklers for records, surely there is an account of wealthy people throughout the country where the coverlet was first found?

And, having recognized and recorded the coverlet as such a fine example of work, why didn't Averil Colby say more about the quilt? Did she know more? Did she try to uncover more?

I just can't help feeling that the woman behind this quilt was remarkable - almost certainly in wealth, but also in textiles. And this narrows down the field even more. Was she a married to a mill owner? how did she have access to or afford so much chintz? If she was 'merely' wealthy and purchased so much of it because she could, this doesn't explain how she obtained or created the coverlet pattern.

And having created or obtained the pattern for the coverlet, wouldn't she have shown it off in her society circles? This pattern is really extraordinary and unique for its era. What does that mean? Did she make it personally? Or did she copy designs which she had seen outside of the UK? Was she a foreigner? So many questions, Love Entwined, so few answers.

I really hope I live to see this textile marvel and mystery solved in my lifetime. It really is a significant piece of work in the era and I'm sorry that it is languishing without it's maker's name. I wish there were more historical and archival textile hunters out there! The original is truly a national treasure. I hope it becomes recognized as such. And soon.

As for me, I have done what I could and now I'm focusing on sharing my love of Love Entwined in a larger centre based quilt exclusively for AQC this year. I'm really looking forward to the workshop. It feels doubly special to be presenting it in person too, especially as LE2 is such an emotive quilt.

I can't wait to meet my LE2 students in just a few weeks time. Are you coming? Have you prepared your background fabric? Are you ready for the workshop? In these weeks running up until AQC I'm making student contact my first priority, so please, if you have any questions - ask me!

My goodness, time is flying!

WOW: Real Opinions - Do They Still Matter?

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

I think they do.

Last week I shared my batting pet hate. Thanks to everyone who commented. I purchased the batting at a show and have no idea where to return it although I agree that it should be sent back. That got me thinking of the other products I have previously loved and trusted ... many have fallen short lately.

One of the advantages of having a blog is the ability to share real-life unbiased feedback. I love reading the real opinions of others and must admit that most of my purchases nowadays are based on recommendations and suggestions from those very same real life opinions. It's something I'd love to see more of. I get so annoyed when I trust in a brand and am then disappointed with the performance or quality standard. And its not just quilting or sewing products either- it's services too. Remember my post about QNNTV from December last year? It's now been 8 emails and still no reply. And no, I still can't get in. I lost $12 which is no big deal, but it's the blatant money grabbing set up I can't stand. And it just doesn't make sense. If there's no one there - who's running (or not) the website? That's just a minor annoyance - there are so many more where that one came from, and many much more significant too.

What's going on? 

Whatever happened to quality control? 

Whatever happened to customer service?

Yes, I actively seek out real reviews now before buying things and I think it's the way of the future. But I can't end this post without acknowledging that there are still some real service stars out there in the quilting community. EQ7 is one. I cannot fault their customer and technical service. Whenever I have needed advice or support, Penny has responded in such a friendly and helpful way, its made all the difference.  And often at the last minute too (from my end) because creativity just works like that, when you feel you need answers you need them straight away and I have always received them as quickly as humanly possible from EQ7. Thank you EQ7 for loving quilters!

And I can't forget Quilt Pro Systems either. I had purchased their HST Triangles Magic software for use in a HST quilt for easy printing out. Then I updated my computer (this happens twice a year in my household due to my DH's work requirements). Well, somehow I lost it. And then I couldn't remember where I had purchased it. Then I found the website in my favorites bar and contacted technical support to see if I could re-download it. Well, not only did they send me a new link to download it, Linda from Quilt Pro tech support found two other purchases I had made under my username (which I'll be honest, I had forgotten about) and re-sent me those as well. Talk about customer service!

See? It's completely possible!

What do you think?

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm back!

Last night I arrived back in Melbourne from back to back workshops and I am exhausted! Too much creativity for one week... if that were possible.  I was also offline for almost a week, so if you have emailed me - I'll be catching up in the next few days and you will hear from me.

I did think I would miss being online and catching up on WOW as I did last week, but I was so busy that I didn't really think about it. It's only catching up to me now as I have just realized that it's almost WOW again. What a week!

I haven't washed Lily Rose again yet. I am hovering over it thinking about the best way forward. It will have to be washed and I will blog it when I do. Today I started preparing my kits for AQC. Now that March is here, April doesn't feel so far away anymore and AQC will be here in a flash. I can't wait - but I do have to finish Lily Rose first so that I can display it at the show!

As you can see, I'm taking bouts in cooling off my fingers. I have a bad habit of touching the base of my iron to see if its hot. It's such a silly habit and it's something I know I shouldn't do... and do it anyway. Well, on my last day of teaching I touched a far too hot iron - one of those old seriously hot bases and scorched three fingers all at once. It's been ice water since. The worst thing is, I'm always telling people not to do it. Just like my Lily Rose Colour Run Disaster, I need to start taking my own advice!

WOW: Pesky Batting Pet Hates

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays

As you read this, I'm heading off to WA for a series of classes and I'm leaving Lily Rose behind on my design table with mixed feelings. The stain is out and I'm relieved about that, but as Sally mentioned in the comments yesterday - I'm going to have to make sure that no trace of the chemical remains in the fibres where it might damage them in the long term. What can I say, I should have taken my own advice and that was certainly a reminder to me. Testing for colour fastness is always a must. Why didn't I listen?! 

Speaking of Lily Rose, yesterday I unpacked my batting in preparation for quilting when I return home next week. Do you have a pesky pet hate? I do. This is an especially pesky annoyance of mine and it happens much too frequently in my opinion. When I unroll a new bolt of batting and it has an ingrained buckle in the weave. Can you see what I mean? This isn't a crease, it's an actual fault through the batting loft, its like an overlap - it's rough, higher than the rest of the batting and generally super annoying! This is Hobbs Premium Cotton Batting and its what I'm using for Lily Rose. There are always degrees when you find this kind of fault, usually they are very minor and can be simply ignored,  but this one is lumpy and hard. I have found that batting with this kind of fault never quilts or hangs nicely, there are always issues. I really wish Hobbs had better quality control, I really don't like having to fix things before I use them. 

I'll have to cut out this fault and lose quite a bit of batting doing so. And I just don't think I should have to. It's really annoying.

What's Your WOW ?

An InLinkz Link-up

Lily Rose: Colour Run Disaster

I am just so mad with myself! You'll know that I always recommend pre-colour testing all your fabrics and especially batiks. But did I actually go ahead and do that? No I didn't! I did a quick spot test with some water (not following my own method) and thought that would be fine. I took this image with a big sigh of relief, thinking I'd accomplished so much making this quilt in so little time.

Here it is being washed in preparation for those final finishing steps. I'd even purchased some Colour Magenet sheets to use 'just in case' as a back up.

But straight out of the machine, and all is not well. I notice some magenta in the water and cold rinse straight away. Then I lay it out flat on my table with some absorbent towels beneath.

Oh no!

The dye has run right in the focus of the light background. It can't be covered up and as the background is beige and printed, it can't be bleached out either. And the right side of the centre background has turned a pale lilac hue.

My heart just sinks. So much work potentially ruined with such a basic mistake. I can't live with this kind of smear on my quilt. Especially as its a wall hanging. I know this dye run will drive me crazy in the long term. My only option is to get it out. I even consider unpicking the bouquet, but I've stitched it down by hand really thoroughly and it will be next to impossible to do. And it will mean losing all my embroidery embellishments too.

I would normally never recommend using something I've never used before as a fix, but I really have no option and have to act quickly. I drive down to the shops to pick up some dye remover. The only one I can find is Dylon. Strangely, there are no instructions on the packet as Dylon assumes you will throw it in the wash. But I'm hesitant to wash my quilt again and worry that Dylon might actually release more colour rather than collect it. After all, its made to clean up garments, not fabric saturated quilts. I decide to mix a tablespoon into a glass with some warm water.

Experimenting mid disaster is not a good idea, but the fact is, I can't live with the stain above and really don't have any other options. In the car on the way back home I reason that I will unpick and salvage what I can of the applique and remake the rest on a new background (I don't have enough of the current fabric). So it's really a case of trying to save my weeks of work.

I start 'painting' my stained areas with concentrated Dylon. I saturate and immediately blot the area with a clean white, dry cloth. I also have extra dry white cloths beneath the quilt to absorb excess moisture too. I saturate and blot continuously. 

As I start cleaning up, I notice small pools of discoloration all over the background that didn't immediately show up as a stain but will certainly come through as the fabric dries. I saturate and blot these areas too. My batik vase is the cuplprit and you can see from the back that it has run a fair bit.

Over on the front, the released dye has created a halo around my handles and I can't get them cleaned up with the paintbrush alone as the Dylon is making the fabric bleed when it comes in contact with it. I'm so glad now I didn't throw it in the wash as per the instructions as it would have bleed much more. I have to unpick my vase edge details and the handles to clean up the stain properly. I will then restitch the handle pieces back down when the stain is removed.

The stains lift after 30 minutes of blotting and re-saturating the stained areas. I wait for the cleaned up areas to dry and check the back as well before repeating the process. If stains aren't thoroughly removed at this stage, they can ghost and come back after the quilt is quilted, ironed and hanging on the wall. This is why it's important to make sure the back is clean as well as the front. When I am satisfied that the fabric is clean, I stitch back my vase handles,

It looks like Dylon SOS has saved the day. I love this product, its a new 'must have' in my laundry now.I'd previously never used it before for anything so its been a nice surprise. To be honest, most products for the laundry which I have used for stain removal have been total disasters on my own shirt fabrics. I'm just so glad this worked.

It's definitely time for me to have a coffee and a lie down. I have a pounding headache from the stress of my own stupidity. I really should listen and take my own advice regarding pre colour testing.

Shortcuts are never so. I know that better than anyone.