A prewashing experiment

I know there are still MANY of us who prewash all our fabrics - for various and sundry reasons.  For me, the main reason is an allergy to at least one of the chemicals used to process fabrics, as well as getting excess dye out of the fabric.

Those of you who are prewashers - I'm sure you hate the stringy mess and twisted together fabrics that come out of the washer as much as I do.  I was hoping having a front loader would solve that problem - it didn't.  Supposedly cutting off the corners works - it doesn't.

So, I'm trying a little experiment.  I always pinked the seams of most of the garments I made when I sewed clothing to prevent seams from ravelling.  (For you younger folks, we used "pinking shears", which cut a sawtooth edge instead of a straight edge, were very expensive and almost impossible to sharpen.)  So I stopped by JoAnn's after my morning Starbucks and bought a "pinking blade" for my rotary cutter.  I used it to cut my 11 yards of "Baltimore Autumn" background fabric into manageable pieces before washing.

Here are the results. Next to no strings.  No tangles.  No knots.  Of course, this was just three large pieces of fabric.

Now I'm pinking the edges of a bunch of fat quarters.  With raw edges on both the crosswise and lengthwise grain, they will be the true test.  I have my fingers crossed.

For your information - just in case you want a pattern enlarged

I am very conscious of copyright rules, and try to never infringe on someone's copyright.  It has always been my understanding that by buying a quilt pattern you have permission to make one copy for personal use only.  This makes sense - who wants to mess up an original?  Sometimes this is clearly stated on a pattern.  Sometimes the copyright notice on a pattern doesn't state it clearly.

That is the case with Pearl P. Pereira's "Baltimore Autumn" pattern.  Here is what it says:

"No part of this pattern may be reproduced in any form, including electronic copying or mechanical photocopying.  The contents of this pattern are intended for personal use only and are protected by federal copyright laws."

I drove several miles to our local Fed-X/Kinko's copy store, and was turned down..  OK.  Not a problem.  I emailed Ms Pereira via her website, told her that I wanted to make a larger version of her quilt, and asked her permission to have enlargements made.  She graciously responded within the hour, giving me permission in straightforward, easy-to-understand language.

I printed her email and returned to the store.  This time I was told an email - obviously from the copyright owner - was not sufficient.  A form needed to be filled out and signed by the copyright owner before they could make the enlargements.  I asked why I wasn't told that the first time, and got a shrug for an answer - after the person at the order counter checked with three other people.  (The person who helped me the first time wasn't where I could see him.)  They said I could put in the order, they would email the form to the designer, and when they heard back they would make the copies.

I went to have coffee and do some shopping - batik fat quarters on sale at Craft Warehouse! - and then called the store to see if they had heard from the designer.  They had, and were working on the job.  She also told me they "figured out another way to do it in case she didn't respond".  I drove back to the store and sat in the parking lot reading a book until my order was ready.  The email they'd received from Ms. Pereira said she'd never had to fill out a form when giving permission before this, she was on vacation, and was having to do this on her phone.  She did manage to send back the form.

A HUGE thank you for Ms. Pereira for taking vacation time to do this for me.  What a classy lady!  So, be aware that printed permission from a designer to make a copy of a pattern may not be enough for some copy shops, so be prepared.  Especially if it is a Fed-X store!

The final irony is this - when she rang up the sale the printer spit out a "how did we do?" form for me to fill out, with $5 off my next copy order of $25 or more.  Yes, I will be filling it out.

Now I'm really all over the place!

Week before last was the Pacific West Quilt Show in Tacoma, WA - a little over 2 hours north of us.  I've been looking forward to this show for a LONG time.  Three of my Tangled Threads friends and I headed north for a wonderful day . . . the other was totally envious as she had to go to a wedding. 

The group, formerly known as the Association of Pacific Northwest Quilters, includes the states of Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington,and Wyoming in the US, and British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and the Northwest Territories in Canada.  The juried show is held every other year, and is always spectacular.

This year was no exception.  Amazingly spectacular quilts, including several from our guild, Clark County Quilters in Vancouver WA.  I took lots of pictures, but I'm going to include only a few.  I was so enthralled that I forgot to take pictures of the labels, and I really don't like to post pictures without giving the maker credit.

The reflections are created with scraps cut with pinking shears!

Made by Helene Knott, Portland OR

I've already set myself a new goal - to have a quilt juried into the 2015 show.  Wish me luck!

Of course, I did some damage in the merchant mall.  I bought more batiks to add to my growing collection, and I bought another pattern.  It is one I've loved ever since I first saw it.  Every fall I tell myself that this is the year I'll actually start a fall quilt.  This year I'm going to do it.  Come September all that calls to me are yellows, oranges, reds, greens, golds, and browns.  So what did I choose?

Baltimore Autumn by Pearl P. Pereira

 The blocks are 12", which is smaller than I want, so today I'm taking them to Fed-X today to have them enlarged to 15".  That will give me a bed size quilt instead of a wall quilt, and the applique pieces won't be quite so small.  I've bought my background fabric, and have plenty in my stash for the applique.  Once I bring my enlarged patterns home I don't know if I'll have the will power to not start it right away!

An added aside:  When I showed my purchases to my friends I learned why the quilt looked so familiar to me.  One of them already had the pattern, and two more of them are getting it as a block of the month.  Makes me smile - so often our group has similar tastes!  No one has started making it yet, however.  I plan to be the first to start.

Give away drawings later today!

I'm still lacking email addresses for the following people:

L Carolyn Ghearing and Kathryn Knox

If you know either of these people please tell them to send me their email address so they can actually win if I draw their name.

Thanks everyone!

Update: I have found Carolyn Ghearing.  Now if only Kathryn Knox would answer the comment I left on her Google+ account!

Unexpectedly early

I anticipated my next post would be Saturday, August 31, because we planned a 5-day camping trip to Mt. Rainier.  We expected to see something like this, as we have had a beautiful summer this year.

Well, we've not been very lucky with weather on our camping trips, and this was no exception.  We did not see the mountain.  We didn't even drive up to Paradise, which is where this picture was taken.  We didn't eat a single meal outside.  We didn't go for a hike.  We had only one fire, and that one was enjoyed for only a short while.

I'm sure you can guess by now - we saw rain, rain and more rain.  We checked the weather forecast before we left, which called for partial clouds and some showers.  They certainly failed on that forecast!

We left two days early and got home about 5:30 that night.  We were both exhausted, as the rain was so loud on our camper roof that we didn't get much sleep.  I didn't even unpack the cooler until this morning, as their was plenty of ice left to keep everything cold.  I slept 10 hours last night! 

We have one more trip planned - a stay on the ocean in September.  I'm really hoping we will finally have sunshine.

I'm going to do the drawing for patterns later today.  So if you know anyone who hasn't entered yet please let them know.

How to tell if you are a "no reply reader".

 A commenter asked me how to tell if she is a "no reply reader" (which she is).  If you leave comments and bloggers don't reply then it is likely your email address is unavailable to the blogger.

I love the back and forth conversation that can be created by answering a comment left on my blog.  I am always sad when someone leaves a comment that I can't reply to because they are a "no reply reader".  I'm discovering many people don't know that they are "no reply".  I'm hoping this will allow you all to fix this.

1. Go to Blogger and sign in if necessary.  In the upper right corner of your screen find your name.

2. Click on your name and choose "profile", then edit profile.

3. The second item under "Privacy" says "show my email address".  If there is no check in the box then you are a "no reply reader".  To change this simply check the box.

When you create a blogger profile the default is "no reply".  You must check the box to change this.

THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE WHO HAVE ENTERED THE DRAWING ARE "NO REPLY".  I HAVE NO WAY TO CONTACT YOU SO YOU CANNOT WIN.

 Kathryn Knox

Marti M

 Marsha B

I Carolyn Ghearing

Sharon Hughson

(Once again, I'm not yelling - I just want to make sure you check to see if your name is listed.)

Giveaway - "no reply" readers

One person has already left comments on my give away posts.  She is a "no reply reader".  I hope she sees this message.  Many of you don't realize you are "no-reply readers".  "No reply" is the default when you register on Blogger.  If you didn't specify that your email address is available, then you are "no reply".

IF YOU ARE "NO REPLY" I HAVE NO WAY TO CONTACT YOU FOR YOUR SNAIL MAIL ADDRESS.  THEREFORE YOU CAN'T WIN!

You need to know whether you are "no reply" or not.  If you are, you need to leave me your email address in each comment if you want into the drawing for that pattern.

(I'm not yelling - just trying to catch your attention!)

Last Giveaway for Now

If you are interested in winning this pattern, please leave me a comment on this post.  If you are a "no reply" reader, please leave your email address also.

I will do the drawing at the end of this month.  Anyone is eligible to enter, but due to the high cost of postage overseas I ask that any winner outside the US reimburse me for postage.

"Jack at the Gate" - pattern for this quilt.

Another Giveaway!

If you are interested in winning this pattern, please leave me a comment on this post.  If you are a "no reply" reader, please leave your email address also.

I will do the drawing at the end of this month.  Anyone is eligible to enter, but due to the high cost of postage overseas I ask that any winner outside the US reimburse me for postage.

"Frosty and Friends" - pattern for this quilt.

Giveaway!

If you are interested in winning this pattern, please leave me a comment on this post.  If you are a "no reply" reader, please leave your email address also.

I will do the drawing at the end of this month.  Anyone is eligible to enter, but due to the high cost of postage overseas I ask that any winner outside the US reimburse me for postage.

"Where Liberty Dwells" - pattern for this quilt.