I've never dropped the feed dogs either, but I do loosen the pressure on my presser foot so that the fabrics move quite freely under it.  

There is an article in the December issue of Reader Digest / New Rule for Laundry it's about saving time and clothes.  The part about sorting made me think of quilting, 4 or 5 piles: whites, which includes pastels, blacks, cool colors, warm colors, the fifth pile was work out and fleece.  It also said ALL washing should use warm water as most household cold is to cold to properly dissolve the soap even cold water soaps.  No fabric softener or dryer sheets, use wool balls and a baseball size ball of foil to control static, replace when gulf ball size.  Something about mixing vodka and something to remove odor so an article of clothing could be worn more than once before needing washed.

Has any one used the foil trick for static in the dryer.

Jo

Several months ago, Pink Door Fabrics offered an EPP kit (pattern, fabrics, templates) of the most AMAZING quilt ever.  It's called Inner Cube and I've shown it here before, but because it is SO AMAZING, I'm gonna share the picture with you again.  This is not my photo!



Well, the kit has arrived!   It is amazing.  I am inspired, eager, and intimidated.  I've done a fair amount of English Paper Piecing before and, generally speaking, it's all rather straight forward.  Even the *fantastic* "La Passacaglia" quilt that Kathy Shunn has done is fairly straightforward, even given all the fussy cutting you need to do.

But Inner Cube?   HOLY MOLEY.  This is going to be the most challenging quilt I have ever attempted.    In looking at the photo, I wasn't sure if the circles were part of the fabric (and fussy cut) or if they were applique.  I was kinda dreading the potential applique of 15,000,000 circles.  But fortunately, THANK GOODNESS!, it was white dots on black fabric and black dots on white fabric and you fussy cut the dickens out of it.  Whew.

I've been looking over the cutting and assembly instructions.  HOLY MOLEY.  Whoever thought of this pattern is certainly one twisted, sadistic individual.  I had originally thought to jump right in and, at least, start with the simple shapes ... those fussy cut circular dot stars.  But after reading the instructions .... even with *diagrams* ... I think I am now going to wait until January when the support user group starts up!   I think this time, I would appreciate the hand holding!

Normally, when I get fabric, the very first thing I do is launder it.  I do this for 3 reasons: 1) remove the surface dirt/grime and manufacturing chemicals 2) shrink the fabric as much as it want's to before I cut into it (I don't want it shrinking at different rates AFTER I've sewn the pieces together) and 3) remove excess dye (I don't want it bleeding after construction).  Although there is some yardage in this kit, most of the fabric pieces are sub-cuts.  I have read many times not to launder sub-cuts, as you may not end up with the size you need.   I contacted Pink Door Fabrics about this and they said NOT to launder the fabric, as they amounts they sent do not take shrinkage into account.  OK .. fair enough.   But they didn't address the potential color bleeding problem.   I asked on a FB quilting group and have been advised to simply use a messload of Color Catchers when I do laundering.   Well, I had intended on doing that anyway, but I'm still anxious.

When construction starts, you may be hearing a lot of grumbling going on.  When I cut my hexie fabrics, I cut the fabric in squares.  I don't bother with cutting *hexie* shaped fabric.  That is waaaay too time consuming and who cares that the seam allowance on the back isn't a strict 1/4" (or 3/8", whatever your preference is).  No one is going to be looking at the seam allowances!   Because I am now Very Concerned about making sure I don't run out of fabric, I don't dare cut squares for the shapes.  I'm going to be cutting *shaped* fabric pieces, per the instructions.  O.M.G.  I think I shall go mad.  So, y'all have been forewarned.

I've already sorted all the pre-cut paper templates (part of the kit) and made custom container boxes for them.


So, now I'm in a state of waiting for the support group hand-holding.  :-)

In the meantime, my applique book has arrived .. hooray! and I can continue with the applique border for my EPP project, "Forget Me Not".   (You might remember that I finished all the vine applique during our recent road trip to Tucson.)

And I can continue working on my 4-unit hexie Forever Project (as yet unnamed), which is simply swaths of color blocked hexies all smooshed together.  I have NO idea how this one is going to turn out.  :-)  Here's a progress photo on that one:

What we have here is yellow/orange in the top left.  Below that is tan/brown.  Below that is purple.  To the right is pink.   Those of you with sharp eyes will note there are voids.  That is because each of those color blocks were sewn independently and then shoehorned together.  The voids are where I need to fill in with appropriate hued hexies.

I still have the red, blue, and green color blocks to stitch and join with their brethren.   This is going to end up one weird quilt.  :-)

BUT, both of those projects will take up the slack time until Inner Cube begins!  

how about you just don't launder it?

Ever?????

If this is going to be a wall hanging it does not ever need laundering.

You are so right.

The advertised finished size of this quilt is 69"x83" .. which is decidedly weird dimensions.   One could add borders to size it up to something more "standard" but then you'd need to figure out 1) what kind of border(s) would do justice to this amazing quilt 2) what colors to use .. and which fabrics ... which you'd need to buy cuz sure as shootin' you're not going to have a whole lot of leftovers on this one!

I'm not sure I will have the brain power required to do all that kind of thinking!

It seems to me, dear Pirate, like you are trying to jump on a horse and ride off in all directions with this new Inner Cube kit.

Thank goodness you have the sense to wait for the hand-holding that will take place at the first of the year.

You and the other quilters are all breathing fire, pawing at the ground, ready to race to the finish line.

Whoa, Nellie, whoa ....   

judyinohio said:

It seems to me, dear Pirate, like you are trying to jump on a horse and ride off in all directions with this new Inner Cube kit.

You've got that doggone straight, Judy!   It's the NEW! BRIGHT! SHINEY! syndrome.  :-)

But waiting for the hand-holding gives me time to jump on the applique border horse.  LOL!

Pirate (PIRATE_SR) said...

69"x83"

Perfect for a cuddle quilt!! :D