December 10 – 22, 1998
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These restored messages come from the Quilt History List, an online forum where quilt historians, collectors, researchers, appraisers, and enthusiasts discussed antique quilts and related textiles. The archive dates from 1996 through approximately 2016 and is being restored gradually. Sign up in the form at the bottom of the page if you want to know when a new page is added. Original spelling, opinions, formatting, and inactive links may remain unchanged.
Primary topics of this QHL Digest:
- Quilt Storage Debate — Lively discussion on storing quilts in plastic bags vs. acid-free tissue, with perspectives from conservators and collectors in varying climates. (see the article on caring for antique quilts)
- Oral History Reliability — Members discuss how family stories evolve over generations and the importance of careful sourcing when recording quilt-related memories.
- Rolling vs. Folding Quilts — Museum practices for quilt storage are debated, including the pros and cons of rolling quilts on tubes vs. flat storage.
- Quilt Heritage Film — Members share reactions to a film shown on public television and discuss its depiction of quilting traditions.
- Red Dyes and Crocking — Discussion of natural red dyes, cochineal, and practical advice on preventing and treating color transfer (crocking) in antique and new fabrics. (see the article on natural dyes)
- Fabric Washing and Pre-Treatment — Members debate pre-washing fabrics before use in quilts, color fastness products like Run Stop, and handling fabrics that have already bled. (see the article on cleaning antique quilts)
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 22:04:52 -0600 (CST) | From: akcruz [at] ix [dot] netcom [dot] com (Alfonso & Alice Cruz)
About 2 wks ago, I was able to attend a talk by one of the co-authors of this book, Jackie Tobin, in Fremont Nebraska. Her co-author is Raymond Dobard btw. It was hosted by the Prairie Piecemakers, a local quilt guilt. Jackie is a native of Fremont & chose her hometown for the first stop on the speaking tour. I don’t know if I have spelled names correctly – my apologies if I have not. I did take a few notes that night, but most of this is from my memory, jogged by those notes.
An interesting night, which has me looking forward to actually being able to read the book! Of course, in just 1 short speech, she could not possibly tell all the details. Or want to – else we would have no reason to buy the book <G>. Her story is that of a woman she met in South Carolina, who told her about a code hidden in quilt blocks. This code was used by slaves to help them escape to freedom in the north via the URR. One small but important point – the subtitle of the book is A Story of Quilts and the URR, *not* THE Story…… Ms. Tobin emphasized this. She feels that this story is one of many & hopes that the publication of her book will encourage the telling of other stories that have been kept secret to this point. Her story came from a woman named Ozella McDaniel Williams.
She was born in the 1920’s (my estimate from ages given) & died quite recently. Her story was of 10 quilt blocks, how they were put together in a certain way and the code told in the form of a story. The quilt blocks & the code were not intended to be used as a map, but as memory triggers. It seemed to me that this quilt (tied, not quilted) would have been made at the site where the slave lived, but not carried along on their escape. It might have been used to teach other slaves the code, sort of a primer on escaping, the route to take, where to go. Ms. Tobin talked about tying multiple knots & the number & the location of the knots being significant, but I did not understand this at all. “leave on the 5th knot of the 10th tie” is the way I remember it & it *still* doesn’t make sense! I hope the book gives the detailed explanation required to understand this part of it. She did talk about how the ties on the back would form a grid, which would bea good basis for a map, but didn’t go further.
The authors did quite a bit of research to connect specific African tribes to slaves in the So Carolina area. Then they used African culture, traditions & a well developed textile knowledge to explain how the slaves could communicate with symbols in cloth. Tribal secret societies were quite common & they all had their own codes & communications, many in textiles. The escape route used would have taken the slaves to Cleveland, Ohio, then into Canada. Ms. Tobin saw a slave quilt in Dresden, Canada. A log cabin (red centers) which we saw in a slide. She gave some detail about the authenticity of this quilt, which I’m sure is in her book.
Those pesky black LC centers were mentioned as being a sign of a safe house by Ms. Tobin. She seemed to accept this as fact, but she also pointed out that in the African tribes, “black cloth” was usually not black, just a very dark indigo, but it was referred to as “black” in color. All in all, it was a fascinating evening & I am looking forward to reading the book when it comes out.
Alice Cruz
The Quilted Chile akcruz [at] ix [dot] netcom [dot] com
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 00:41:49 EST | From: JBQUILTOK [at] aol [dot] com
<< when you make a quilt, it’s given away to be spit up on, slept under and have done to it what will be done by its new owners. But it was kind of a shock to have so many hours of painstaking work almost doomed by being relegated to a nursery school naptime quilt!
If the quilt was made with energy to sustain the boy, why object to it going to nursery school? Those are some long, lonely hours for a child in the midst of turmoil at home. The heirloom is now safe with Daddy and he gets to use it what, every other weekend??
My step daughter distroys everything that reminds her of me – so when I had her 5 yr old son for 3 months this summer the quilt we made when together fast. He helped & it was my first attempt to machine quilt with my new Bernina. I hope that if it doesn’t survive, the memory of helping make it will!
Janet
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 08:06:23 -0000 | From: “Sally Ward” <sward [at] t-ward [dot] demon [dot] co [dot] uk>
Have to agree with Janet that even if Mum meant sending the quilt to nursery school as an insult, I would have taken it as a compliment, as its far more use to him in that stressful environment than it is at Dad’s house. The quilts our group have made for the childrens hospice are wearing out fast – we take that as a sign they are doing their job. (and which of your old teddies do you love more – the pristine one or the disintegrated one? <G>)
Sally
Date: Thu, 10 Dec 1998 23:35:27 -0800 | From: “R Carroll” <Robert.J.Carroll [at] GTE [dot] net>
Hello! I have heard that some museums are returning to storing textiles in plastic bags. They feel that in a controlled environment there are more advantages than disadvantages. Protection, from insects, and excess dirt being two. Several years ago a friend of mine had an awful year with three deaths in the family. It fell to her to deal with the contents of two households. She inherited a couple of dozen quilts along with boxes and boxes of other things which she shipped home from the Midwest. They filled her garage, her spare room, and she had to store some outside on her covered patio. It took her several years to deal with all of this stuff and she finally got to the boxes on the patio. My friend is a longtime quilter who loves quilts and she was shocked to discover that there were quilts in these boxes! They had been misplaced and mistakenly left outdoors several years. But when she had shipped them she had placed them in large plastic trash bags. Well the bags had protected the quilts all those years, because when she removed them from the bags they were in perfect condition!! Laurette
Date: Wed, 9 Dec 1998 20:25:53 -0500 (EST) | From: quiltsnbears [at] webtv [dot] net (Roberta Geanangel)
Maury…excuse me for a belated WOW! I recently managed to read my Nov/Dec issue of “Piecework” and the needlework on page 72 is awesome! I cannot believe someone could do this. Is this going to a museum? (Just curious.)
For those of you who haven’t seen it…you really need to do so. And if this was mentioned previously I apologize, but I’m a few months behind in my mag reading.
Roberta
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 08:24:01 -0500 (EST) | From: quiltsnbears [at] webtv [dot] net (Roberta Geanangel)
A reseacher has to be careful of “memories” that are passed down through generations, the spoken word is often embellished upon. (I recently retired from the field of research).I am often reminded of the following: my DH spent a period of time in the 1960’s at the bottom of the Grand Canyon with the Havasupi. He had recently been discharged from Army Intelligence and was “breathing free”.
A friend was there teaching and writing (“Life In A Narrow Place” by Stephen Hirst) so my DH was free to wander during the day. He spent time observing and listening to the natives.Finally, he decided to ask why the stories of their customs which they were telling “outsiders” differed with each telling. This was the response:”We tell people what they want to hear. We don’t know what these things really mean anymore.”
Sometimes, in our zeal to recreate the past, we cause people to “put words” into their own mouths! A true story teller will always “play to his audience”.The danger lies in our believing them. Many books have been written based on false assumptions and incomplete memories. Just a word of caution.
Roberta
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 08:52:22 EST | From: CToczek [at] aol [dot] com
Advice please…not too long ago I caught a quick note about getting wax out of textiles. Ironing or something? Of course I passed over it and now need it. Candle wax spilled onto a new, quilted table runner. Any suggestions would be welcome.
On a funny note, my four year old son was looking through quilts and patterns with me yesterday when he saw an interesting one. “What’s this, Mom?” he asked. “It’s called Broken Dishes,” I replied. With the dignity and maturity of a proud pre-schooler, he gently corrected me. “No, Mom, those are triangles!”
Best to all,
Carla Toczek
West Point, NY
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 08:32:57 -0800 (PST) | From: Marilyn Maddalena <marilyn [at] crl [dot] com>
All the information I’ve ever read about quilt storage comments that fabrics need to “breathe” and should NEVER be stored in plastic for any length of time. Storing them this way to protect them during a move or some shorter period of time, such as shipping them to a show, would be all right as it would protect them from whatever might come in contact with the quilt — liquids from other packages which might break, broken and flooding water heaters (!) or such — but to keep them in one of these bags with no air circulation would deteriorate the fabrics, not to mention the creases which would form and become almost permanent. I certainly would not recommend it. Marilyn in Sacramento
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 12:09:03 EST | From: JQuilt [at] aol [dot] com
I read that many of the young Samoan women…felt the same way about telling Margaret Mead, what they thought she might want to hear…so sometimes “legends” are just that…they have either been embellished or curved for the listener’s appreciation…that’s another reason anecdotal material isn’t used for medical tests..
However myths, fairy tales and legends have always been a major part of my world..so lots of times when I hear a tale of the underground railroad, or a pioneer tale..I just think of it as a fascinating story…. Most of what we read in so called history books, newspapers etc…is a slanted version of the event….following editorial policy…
jean jquilt [at] aol [dot] com
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 13:43:22 -0500 | From: Vivien Lee Sayre <vsayre [at] nesa [dot] com>
Hi All,
I have been following the ‘legends’ thread with a great deal of interest. Your posts are very interesting and right on the money. I do a series of communication seminars in the high-tech industry. The participants are from all job levels, ages and nationalities. One of the activities used is the simple telephone chain. In this case however, we begin with a visual image (picture from a Life magazine etc.) which is then passed on verbally. Invariably, the message is changed with the third person. I have used this activity with thousands of participants and it never fails to be changed with this person. After that, various embellishments are added, the number dependent on the number of persons in the group (7 to 10).
Try it sometime at a party or gathering and see what happens.
Vivien in Mass.
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 13:30:25 +0000 | From: Jocelyn <jocelynm [at] sw1 [dot] socwel [dot] ukans [dot] edu>
> A reseacher has to be careful of “memories” that are passed down through generations, the spoken word is often embellished upon. (I recently retired from the field of research)
Roberta,
Absolutely! And even within one’s life time– If you keep a journal, it’s fascinating to re-read it and discover how differently you recorded an event from how you remember it.
When you have a person who only heard the story, and didn’t live it, you have double-edge sword on the date they heard it. The younger they were, the more likely that the memory of the storyteller was accurate, but the less likely their OWN memory is. A person born in 1920 would be hearing about events that occurred 70 or so years before she was born. It’s possible that a very old (90+) person was telling a very young person (<10) this story…but more likely that an intermediary was repeating a story s/he’d heard. The question is, how far back is the original storyteller? Every time the story’s retold, it has a tendency to change. A story that’s told by Great-Grandma, who lived it, to Susie, is more reliable than if Susie hears the story from Mama, who heard it from Aunt Belle, who got it from Cousin Annemarie, etc.
The story about the counting textiles makes the most sense of any I’ve heard so far. OTOH, I’d have more faith in it if it had been recorded before the resurgence of interest in things African, that was inspired by ROOTS. For example, after Roots was aired, many families selected African names for their children. This wasn’t because those names had been handed down in the family, preserved throughout slavery, but because modern-day people researched their ancestors and chose names they might have used. Maybe slaves continued using their traditional counting textile techniques. But it’s also possible that this legend was a modern interpretation by someone who knew about the African tradition.
I still find it hard to believe that if this were a common practice, there are no period sources documentation. We know about slaves being secretly taught to read and write, and that was illegal. Was the history of slaves really so male-dominated that the quilts were viewed as insignificant?
Jocelyn
Jocelynm [at] delphi [dot] com
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 19:44:14 -0000 | From: “Sally Ward” <sward [at] t-ward [dot] demon [dot] co [dot] uk>
Is the old game of Chinese Whispers played all over the world? It is just the same as Vivien’s telephone chain, seeing how the message comes out at the end. The classic (probably apocryphal) illustration is the WW1 officer who sent the message from the front lines ‘Send reinforcements – we are going to advance’ which ended up with the bewildered generals at the rear as ‘send three and fourpence we’re going to a dance’. I know I am already altering stories of my grandparents because a) I like to embroider a good yarn but, more honestly b) I can’t remember the originals that accurately.
Sally
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 13:22:48 -0700 | From: “Jeanne.Fetzer” <Jeanne.Fetzer [at] integrityonline3 [dot] com>
I have to disagree that there are museums storing things in plastic bags. There isn’t a reputable museum with a good conservator who would ever suggest such a thing. There are generally two acceptable methods used. Both involve acid free materials – which also need to be replaced every few years. The first method is to roll the quilt on a large tube of acid free material that looks like a regular mailing tube. If a quilt is in delicate condition, acid free – usually unbuffered – may even be rolled inside the quilt to help protect it. A danger in using tubes is that the stitches can pop on a quilt as it remains rolled.
The second method ist to place them in acid free boxes with generous amounts of acid free tissue between any creases or folds – kind of rolled accordian style before putting into place with the quilt. The tissue paper acts as and additional layer of protection and adds height between layers.
I have worked with two excellent conservators – and though your friends quilts were okay in bags, the long term effect – I am talking decades – would be disasterous. Plastics do deteriorate and the chemicals will impact a precious textile. I think there are other better methods. Even in a flood situation. It would be better to wash the quilt after the flood.
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 13:23:25 -0800 | From: “R Carroll” <Robert.J.Carroll [at] GTE [dot] net>
I was asked where my friend lives. We live in southern California where the humidity is usually about 50%, although right now it’s very dry. And yes, the humidity does make a difference. My brother lives in North Carolina, and they have trouble with mildew on everything there, it doesn’t have to be in plastic! I want to make it clear that I’m not suggesting anyone store their textiles in plastic. Mine are all in muslin or new acid free paper. Just wanted to point out the exception to the rule. Laurette
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 13:58:40 -0800 | From: “R Carroll” <Robert.J.Carroll [at] GTE [dot] net>
Jean, the museum in question, is one which has had trouble with insects from time to time because they have carpets in their collection. I’m sure they are aware of the pitfalls of plastic. I have also heard that rolling a quilt over a tube causes the batting to shift slightly, and the fabric to wrinkle to one side which can become permanent. Has anyone else heard this? I took a quilt appraisal class and the instructor said that he had curated a show where the quilts had been stored like this and when they were hanging the quilts looked odd, with the tops pushed to one side. Laurette
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 13:56:00 -0800 | From: “Fall” <fall [at] teleport [dot] com>
Regarding the humidity in California issue:
I thought there was more to it than just humidity – I have always been under the impression that the plastic bags can chemically react with the fabric, or the plastic can break down releasing certain chemicals that can be harmful.
I would never store anything in a plastic bag – no matter where I lived. Acid free tissues and boxes are my choice.
Cheryl
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 17:13:12 -0700 | From: “Jeanne.Fetzer” <Jeanne.Fetzer [at] integrityonline3 [dot] com>
Rolling quilts has a couple of problems — the first is that they cannot be rolled tightly which could cause the kind of shifting that the exhibitor was talking about. The quilts also need to be unrolled periodically and somehow museum staffs sometimes have a hard time getting to that. I have suggested that our local guild offer to do that as volunteers – under the supervision of the curator or registrar. Though mylar can be rolled on top of the quilt on the tube- which I believe can also be acid free – it attracts dust to the quilt if not closed on the edges. Perhaps it would be a solution to keeping bugs out. Rather than putting things in plastic, I would probably have to seriously consider some way to keep the bugs out of the storage area. I know that I live in a dry desert climate without that problem, but I guess that other museums have figured out a way to deter insects.
I’m always glad for reminders of proper storage. Someday I’ll even get my own textiles in order!!! You know, it’s like the shoemakers kids with no shoes. . .
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 20:33:31 -0500 (EST) | From: JOCELYNM [at] delphi [dot] com
> Have to agree with Janet that even if Mum meant sending the quilt to > nursery school as an insult, I would have taken it as a compliment,
And who knows? Maybe she thought it was pretty, and her child loved it, and she thought it would be a nice thing for him to have at naptime. Maybe the child wheedled to take it, and she decided to let him, since it meant so much to him.
I know lots of people who would put a quilt on the floor for a child to nap on…I lie on the floor with MY quilts! When I was in KG, our nap ‘rugs’ were kept neatly folded on shelves when we weren’t napping, and muddy shoes were cleaned off before we re-entered the school! <G>
Jocelyn
Date: Wed, 16 Dec 1998 11:15:46 | From: Ricki Maietta <rmaietta [at] csrlink [dot] net>
Sally wrote >at the recent inaugural British Quilt Study Group
>Conference we had excellent lectures on Aspects of Turkey Red which included description of quilted petticoats made in paisley style discharge printed turkey red fabrics. There was so much to take in on that day that the details are now hazy (I am looking forward to the published papers)
I, too, would be VERY interested in the published papers on this topic. Sally, any possibility of getting a copy across the Atlantic?????
Ricki in PA
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 07:26:28 EST | From: Harr32 [at] aol [dot] com
I know everyone has been busy preparing for the holidays because there are not many posts to read! I, too, am trying to accomplish too much in too short time.
My husband took me to see Star Trek Insurrection and there is a BEAUTIFUL quilt included in a few scenes in the little “village”. Has anyone else seen it?
I didn’t get to read through all the credits, but I’d like to know if anyone read tham and who is credited with its creation.
I’ll try to describe it It’s watercolor in nature, features a waterfall in the center and embellishments. Appears to be a completed quilt from what I could tell, but I guess I’ll have to go back again to see that!
Happy Holidays!
Dana in cold southwest VA
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 07:37:19 -0500 | From: “Dee Stark” <dee [at] nf2g [dot] com>
I did, and it is beautiful! My hubby and I went to see it for our anniversary date 😉 Dinner and a movie!
There is actually a whole scene around the quilt. We always stay for allllll the credits, right until the end, and no, there was nothing there (I was looking for it).
Another good reason to see the movie 😉
dee dee [at] nf2g [dot] com
Victorian Handcrafts (Crazy Quilt Supplies, too!)
http://www.nf2g.com/vh
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 08:11:42 -0500 (EST) | From: quiltsnbears [at] webtv [dot] net (Roberta Geanangel)
Dana..I deliberately sat through all the credits and there is no mention of the quilt. This movie was not even shot on location..it is all “blue screen” and computer generated scenery. There is also a quilt in “Babe,A Pig in the City”…an old,ragged one that drew my attention more than the one in Star Trek! Go figure!
Roberta
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 22:02:04 EST | From: KareQuilt [at] aol [dot] com
published by Lark [ISBN 1-887374-17-5] about a month ago by Gosta Sandberg (Swedish), titled “The Red Dyes, Cochineal, Madder, and Murex Purple A World Tour of Textile Techniques.” First published 1994 in Sweden.
The jacket reads Gosta Sandberg taught textile dyeing at the School of Arts, Crafts, and Design in Stockholm and has taken a great number of trips to eastern Asia, Central Europe, and the Balkans for the purpose of documenting disappearing textile dyeing and pattern techniques. Based on his textile collection, his unique library, and his dye laboratory…” On page 143 he begins the history of the Turkey red dye.
Karen B. Alexander
AQSG member since 1981
Press Secretary, Quilters Hall of Fame
E-mail KareQuilt [at] aol [dot] com
Research Focus Quilts of the Shenandoah Valley of VA
Date: Fri, 18 Dec 1998 22:26:25 -0600 | From: Baglady111 [at] aol [dot] com (by way of “Kris Driessen, Hickory Hill Quilts” <oldquilt [at] albany [dot] net>)
I hope you will all check out a new web site..
http://idahoquilt.com/redwork.htm
TONI BAUMGARD has a great program on REDWORK..and her site will show you more about it..If you guild is looking for a program..THIS IS IT!!! She will be coming east next year and booking programs/classes all over the place..East Coast, grab grab her while you can..West Coast? Guess who is in YOUR backyard??
Jane of THE FEEDSACK CLUB
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 01:10:24 EST | From: Kathi2174 [at] aol [dot] com
KareQuilt [at] aol [dot] com writes
<< d “The Red Dyes, Cochineal, Madder, and Murex Purple A World Tour of Textile Techniques.” First published 1994 in Sweden.
Karen,
You may also enjoy Gosta Sandberg’s “Indigo Textiles Technique and History” Also published by Lark,ISBN 0-937272-40-2, 1989. Lark still has it in stock. I am growing madder in my backyard and would share some roots if you’d like to experiment.
A new quiltlistlurker,
Kathi Reyes
Date: Sat, 19 Dec 1998 10:06:47 -0500 (EST) | From: quiltsnbears [at] webtv [dot] net (Roberta Geanangel)
I believe he has also written a book about the blue dyes…if memory serves me correctly (which it never does)! When I have a moment I’ll look it up if you’re interested..or someone else may know the title.
Roberta
Date: Sun, 20 Dec 1998 14:31:14 EST | From: SudaNim [at] aol [dot] com
A friend of mine has a family quilt with bright red & green on a white background. It’s musty-smelling, and the white is dingy, so she’d like to clean it. I tried the water-on-Q-tip test, and the red was quite runny. Quilt appears to be all-cotton. Can it be dry-cleaned? If so, can anyone recommend a good quilt cleaner in the Dallas area? Quilt is probably from the 1970s; nothing special historically, but sentimental value. Thanks.
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1998 07:43:01 -0600 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co [at] mail [dot] airmail [dot] net>
There are no reputable cleaners that I would trust with a quilt in the Dallas area…..Fishburns has been in business the longest, and they will if you request use a fresh batch of solution, and charge you for it. Tell her that if she wants to try soaking a small corner in the sink and put some of that Carnuba “Run Stop” in the water……I’ve used that after the fact when a client , well rather *several* clients have not prewashed their red fabric and then tried to wash the quilt after if was finished. The “run stop” worked beautifully to remove the dye from the white….BTW, what is the age of the quilt….are we dealing with 1850’s or 20th Century, that will make a difference……..If she is really nervous, I’d be happy to look at it and see what I can figure out.
Laura
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 98 19:42:11 EST | From: “Bob Mills” <decision [at] tigger [dot] jvnc [dot] net>
Thanks Laura Hobby Syler for the info on crocking. The fabrics that didn’t run when washed were the ones that I originally assumed would run. The reds and greens were colorfast, but many of the browns and tans ran a small amount when I tested them. Upon closer inspection, I realized that it had already been washed at last once, so I carefully rewashed it. Wishing a Merry Christmas, Happy holidays,Happy Kwanza and drive safely if you travel over the holidays.
Jan Drechsler in NJ
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 06:44:07 -0600 | From: “Sehoy L. Welshofer” <sw4quilt [at] bellsouth [dot] net>
Laura – does the Run Stop work if the color has run and then the quilt has been put in the dryer?
Sehoy
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 07:47:00 -0600 | From: Laura Hobby Syler <texas_quilt.co [at] mail [dot] airmail [dot] net>
YES!!!!!!!!!!!
I was really suprised! I had a client who had washed her quilt in the machine and then into the dryer….we figured it was distroyed so we had nothing to loose……red came out beautifully!
Laura
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 07:06:22 -0800 | From: “R Carroll” <Robert.J.Carroll [at] GTE [dot] net>
Laura, I’m so glad you mentioned Run Stop because I had never heard of it before. I have used Retayne with excellent results on new quilts. I am not a chemist, and I don’t know what the long term effects are but it does stop the running. I also have not tried it on an antique quilt. Thanks, Laurette
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 08:08:52 -0800 | From: Kathy Tavares <kmtavare [at] uci [dot] edu>
The messages in today’s digest were right on target for me. I was just re-thinking my methods of pre-washing ALL my fabrics before I put them into a quilt. I have heard several quilters in my area say they don’t bother anymore because the fabrics are so much better today than they were years ago. But on reading the messages today. I think I will continue to pre-wash my fabrics. Better safe than sorry. Or is my thinking wrong? I would appreciate any input from the list.
Also, I used Quilters Dream in a quilt for my grand-daughter this Christmas and washed the quilt when I was done, lot’s of yellow marking pencil. Anyway, the thing that really distrubed me was the batting shrank. Is there anyway to pre-shrink the batting? I am one of those who doesn’t like the look that results from the batting shrinking.
Sorry this is so long. I will back to lurking after this.
Kathy Tavares
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 13:51:51 -0800 | From: “R Carroll” <Robert.J.Carroll [at] gte [dot] net>
Kathy, I too wash all my fabrics before I use them. Not only does it remove excess dye but it also preshrinks. The quilts I have had problems with have been friendship quilts where people use unwashed fabrics in their blocks. The last friendship quilt I washed took me a whole weekend because one of the blocks ran onto the surrounding white. Had to wash it several times to remove the stains, then I washed it in Retayne. I would rather not use products I’m not sure of but had no choice. I’m sorry to hear about Quilters Dream, I’m quilting a quilt with it now. Never tried it before. No longer have my package to read the directions, but it does look a little fragile to preshrink. It needles very nicely, but I also do not like the over wrinkling that occurs with some cotton batts. Laurette
Date: Tue, 22 Dec 1998 17:32:49 PST | From: “Kim Heger” <kheger [at] hotmail [dot] com>
Holiday greetings!
On the topic of prewashing fabrics, I purchased some flannel fabric to do a quilt in, and was told by the shop owner not to prewash the flannel, but to be sure to wash it after the entire quilt was done. Last weekend, I purchased (from a different shop) more flannel for another quilt, and was told to prewash it but that it would shrink A LOT. I haven’t made either quilt yet, as I don’t know which would be the best method! HELP!!!
Kim Heger
Kansas
