Washing fabrics, fabric sales and summer fun!!

Now that summer is officially here for a week and the weather is nice, Carter and I started our swim lessons.  I was pretty nervous about the first lesson for a few reasons.  First of all, Carter hasn't really been "swimming" since last summer, which to him is a lifetime away.  Secondly, it is Monday through Friday evening, which isn't always Carter's most cooperative time of the day.  Surprisingly, Carter had a fabulous time on Monday and Tuesday! He enjoyed all of the fun water games they played including singing new songs, and seemed  to make some new friends.  However, Wednesday it was back to work at the Quilt Basket and someone refused to take his afternoon nap.  Of course this meant he fell asleep on the way home and regretfully I woke him up to attempt swim lessons...let's just say we did not attend swim lessons and the rest of the evening was interesting!  Thursday he once again refused to sleep but I talked to him in the car to keep him awake until we got to the lake.  Although Carter did not exactly win the participation award, at least we were able to attend.   


We do not have lessons today because of the holiday but I am hoping next week goes a little smoother, especially since I signed him up for 4 weeks straight! 

Everyone seemed to like my "Quilting Tips" section last week advising how to clean your rotary cutting boards, so this week I have a new tip for you!  I received quite a few phone calls and in store customers inquiring about whether or not to wash their fabrics before quilting with them.  We have found in the last few years the suggestion to always wash your fabrics prior to working with them has been removed by some of the manufacturers.  In fact, some actually recommend not prewashing your fabrics.  The only exception I find to the rule is if I am working with any kind of hand dyed or batik style fabrics.  These fabrics tend to run and I would hate to find out after my quilt was all together! I do test a corner of the fabric to see if they actually will bleed, if not I leave them alone.  

This leads me to tell you about my tip of the week... I have been asked many times about the difference between Retayne and Synthrapol.  To be honest I used to have to look it up a lot because I would always forget. So here it is!

Retayne is a color fixative for commercially dyed cotton, linen or rayon fabrics that bleed.  In other words, Retayne is the product to be used in order to STOP your fabrics from bleeding.

Synthrapol removes excess dye from hand dyed fabrics.  It can also be used to remove sizing prior to dyeing fabrics.  In other words, Sythrapol should be used once you realize you forgot to test your hand dyed fabrics or batiks and they bleed onto other fabrics.  

In summary, when your fabric is still in yardage, wash it in Retayne.  Once the fabrics are sewn together and your quilt is complete, wash in Synthrapol. 

We have been having a blast with the Row by Row this year.  We have had so many new customers come into our Pawling Shop.  Not only have they enjoyed seeing our Frog Row, but they have also really liked our Cutie Packs and Patterns.  The most common response once we explain and show them the collections is  "Oh how CUTE!"  I guess we picked the right name for our collections!!!

We still have opening for our Summer Kids Pillow Case Class!! Next Friday 7/10 10am–12pm

Class Fee is $25 which includes a kit with your choice of fabric. Please come in to choose your fabric prior to the class.  Let us know as soon as possible if your child or a child you know would like to learn a little about quilting and go home with a finished product!!

 

This week's QBF is celebrating Christmas in July!!!!  Enjoy a 25 percent discount off all Christmas Fabrics.  Enter code JULY4 to obtain the discount.  Offer valid 7/3 through 7/7/15

 

 

 

Please remember we will be closed Saturday July 4th and Sunday July 5th for the holiday.  We will reopen on Wednesday July 8th.

If there are any tips you are interested in learning more about, please let me know and I will be happy to find out for you!

Sarah