Saturday, February 11, 2012

Results of my test block

I am pleased with the results of my test.

Erin Russek has a BOM .... last year's was My Tweets. a beautiful quilt with a center block that you purchase a pattern for from her. It is called Miss Kelly. then there are 12 more 14" blocks that go around that. and a great applique border. the whole thing is applique...in bright, fun colors....peacocks and flowers.

I wanted to make it with wool felt since i just used that for my home and harvest wallhanging and loved how it was so easy to applique. but everyone says you can't use wool felt with cotton fabrics on a large quilt .... you can't put it in the washing machine, etc. but i still wanted to do it. 

So, i made a test block. after the applique, the block measured 15" square. i used a thinish flannel for the background.


I quilted it with Warm and Natural batting, regular cotton fabric on the back, Glide thread on the top, and So Fine thread in the bobbin. after quilting it measured 14.5" square.

I threw it in the washer with some tshirts with hot water and then threw it in the dryer...high heat. after the first round with the washer and dryer it came out beautifully still....colors still vibrant. no problem with the stitching. but it now measured 13" square. and all kind of puckery...like washed quilts get....i like that.


I did another round with more shirts in the washer and dryer...same as before. it came out that time still measuring 13" square. so i figure it is done shrinking. that is acceptable to me. i am going to make my quilt with hand appliqued wool felt and thin flannel background. i will make it a bit oversize (add to sashings and borders) so that when it gets washed it will still be a good size. now, i don't know how much a queen size quilt will shrink down. perhaps a larger quilt won't shrink as much as a single block. i don't know that....but am willing to take the risk.



I just love that pattern and have to do it. if you want to see the whole quilt.....or make one yourself...go and visit   http://erinrussek.typepad.com    she has the pattern for the middle block for sale and the patterns for the blocks are still on her blog. but i know she is working on the new quilt for this year.....so you might want to go check it out NOW...don't want you to miss out.

I still have 1 more border to applique on the home and harvest wallhanging so i won't be able to start My Tweets till

Later

1 comment:

Freda said...

That is fabulous Shirley. I say go for it! You might want to give Suzy another talk about the skunks. lol

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