How NOT to pre-wash your fabrics

Let me say first that I am a pre-washer when it comes to anything fabric related. I have my pros and up until now not so many cons. Now that changed Today. I bought some really nice yellow kona cotton on sale  the other day.

I also ordered an EQ7 through the internet as a present from Fiance for my recent birthday. It was on sale on www.quiltinaday.com $138.66 and if I compare it with the deal that they offered me at Electric Quilt Co. to update my EQ5 to the EQ7 for $150.-, sorry folks, loyal or not, but Eleanor Burns still steals the deal. So when I was checking out I got a notice that if I buy more stuff for $11.34 I will get free shipping. I thought to myself a little more fabric can never hurt so I went for it and ordered some with blue flowers  (Floral Diamond by Westminster Fibers) 

and another one  called Garden Tea Party by Audrey Jeanne Roberts in a beautiful green color. 

They arrived last Friday and let me say it, they're gorgeous! They even threw a fat quarter in just for fun. 

Today I got some time on my hands so I decided to wash them. Since I wash my fabrics before I use them it wasn't a big deal. So my method of pre-washing includes rinsing them first in somewhat hot water to see if there's any bleeding. First I rinsed the yellow, put it in a plastic bag, then came the blue, green, etc. When I finished I took the bag down to the washer and turned the machine on to run the water and started to load the machine. When I got to the bottom I was horrified. The yellow fabric was too hot and some of the blue print transferred over. I'm not sure if it will come out or not. If not then I'll try to wash the yellow fabric by itself with some Oxyclean, hope that works. The blue fabric is punished and will be washed separately. 

So my conclusion for the future is: 

When I rinse for pre-washing I'll use warm water instead of hot, and when I put two fabrics together after rinsing I'll make sure not to put the suspicious blue with lighter fabrics even if it didn't bleed in the water before.

My reasons for pre-washing:

• I like to know that the fabrics won't bleed after the done quilt is washed (i would hate to see my work ruined to be honest)
• Since I only use 100% cotton fabrics I like to pre-shrink them because sometimes they don't shrink the same way (e.g. regular cottons vs. flannels which shrink more)
• I like to get the chemicals off the fabrics before i start working with them
• I mostly make usable quilts which will be washed anyways so it's nice to know that the fabrics are colorfast
• To remove excess dyes

I have to say that I did not do any research on the subject, I can only talk from my experiences good ones, and like now, not really good ones.

Well, life happens even to the best of us :)) If worst comes to worst I can always cut it out, right?

Let's get started!

It was a cold, snowy day in the Northeast.

What is a girl to do? Dishes of course! And then came my Aha! moment. I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while, but I could never find the perfect name for it. Or at least a name I would like... until now :) I came up with a name and told Fiance about it and he immediately came up with 3 different ones which would have been better. I was thinking about it and realized it was too negative (instead of catchy) so I just registered this same old blog name.

I learned to quilt watching Simply Quilts, haven't taken any lessons in quilt making. Except one in machine quilting with Debby Brown @ http://debbybrownquilts.com/ last October, that was my first class ever (and have to say I LOVED IT!). I like to make traditional quilts and until Today my finished quilts are all baby sizes. I know, I know, I have some machine and hand pieced tops that are queen and twin sizes waiting to be  quilted. Just started to explore new techniques, for example making chenille, and I made my first ever pieced border on a baby quilt Yesterday. Yaaay! :)

I wanted to get into blogging hoping to get a little more inspired to finish the things that are in my sewing room begging to be finished. Santa was good to me and  brought me a Singer 201 sewing machine to help me get out of the hole that I was stuck  in and kicked me in the behind to get off my butt and quilt those quilt tops. Here's my beauty:

We'll see how it goes, I'll keep you posted with pics. Hope You'll join  me on my journey to explore more techniques that are out there and keep making those quilts in different styles and sizes.

Come to visit again! :)