Hello, my friends! I’m back this week with six more finished quilts, finally wrapping up the backlog of charity quilt tops sent to me by friends. I no longer accept donations personally and encourage you to find somewhere local to you for future donations. All quilts shown will be donated through Project Linus in Albuquerque during an upcoming visit with Jewells!
I also share a couple of other odds and ends, including some Cricut crafts.
I was loooking for a link to the homemade spray starch recipe I use when quilting and realized that though I’ve mentioned it many times over the years, I’ve never given this super simple recipe its own post.
When I first started quilting, I exclusively used Best Press because that’s what my LQS told me to use. It is a wonderful product, but it’s pricey when you sew as much as I do and, for total honesty, I have allergies that are easily set off by artificial and strong scents. Best Press is no exception. When I first started quilting way back in 2003 or so, I could never get my hands on the unscented, which is much easier to find now. Real lavender doesn’t set off my allergies, and I love the way it makes my sewing room smell!
You can find variations of this recipe all over the internet. This version has been tweaked and adapted for my own personal preference, light scent, light starch. You can add more scent or none at all, as well as more starch if you want your fabric to be crispier. If you don’t have vodka on hand, you can buy a 2 oz single just for this recipe, or a small bottle of “bottom shelf” which will work just fine. I don’t recommend flavored vodka. I haven’t tried it so have no idea what it might do to your fabric.
Despite my best Googling, I can’t find a definitive reason why vodka works in this recipe, but I can tell you from my own personal experience that it really does. I make two 32 oz bottles at a time and I use the spray liberally when pressing my fabric.
Update: I asked my favorite scientist, and they that vodka is also not only a starch, but it is a disinfectant as well. It will also help the moisture evaporate while it’s being ironed. There was a lot more detail, but I am a quilter, not a scientist and cannot repeat it verbatim!
Hello, friends! I’m back this week with eight more charity quilt finishes, two of mine, and six from other TTMTers. All of these quilts are destined for Project Linus in Albuquerque, NM during an upcoming BFF visit!
The first two quilts were made by me from donated orphan blocks, Mermaid quilts were made by Kristel, baby animals by Susan P, and scrappy quilts by Sarah in Houston.
All 8 quilts were free-motion quilted by me on my Grace Q’Nique 15R. My little Singer 301 got a workout doing binding, so much so that I’ve had to order a part for the bobbin case!
This week I share the matching sewing machine covers I made for my sewing room. I LOVE how they turned out and am so happy I finally tackled this project. Believe it or not, it’s been on my To Do list since 2019! Mark this one DONE. ♥
The machines I made covers for are a Brother PE770 (2016), Baby Lock Celebrate (2022), Juki TL-210Q (2015), and a Singer 301 (1952).
In which I share all three of Abbie’s finished Raggedies! It was such a joy working on them. Abbie made it easy by having so much done already. The two small ones were more of a UFO project than a rescue, but still very fun! The lanky girl was my favorite to work on, a true restoration, and extra special to know I was working on Abbie’s own doll!
This week I share my finished Alpine Raggedy Ann & Andy rescue! I spent about 12 hours on these guys and am absolutely delighted with the result. Since these came from my husband’s childhood home, these will go to my sister-in-law for her grandkids.
I used my grandmother’s 1990s McCall’s Crafts Raggedy Ann & Andy pattern for the apron and bloomers.
Second time’s a charm! There was an issue with my first upload of this video so I’m trying again.
I’m exhausted and my hair is wet, but I’m here! Today I share a quick post-weekend trip video with fun goodies from Jeanie and a surprise find from my husband’s childhood home in Alpine, TX.
In which I share three small-ish finishes. These were super fun, super fast projects, which was just what I needed this past week!
Iliad had surgery last week to remove a bladder stone. It’s been almost a week now and he’s doing much better. He has one more week of cone-wearing. The hardest part for both he and Ramses has been the separation. As soon as the sutures are out, they can be together again!
Sewhooked 