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Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Dyeing Vintage Linens


After the wedding I had a substantial pile of vintage linens and lace table cloths. Most were bought on the cheap in thrift shops. One can, in fact, have too make cream linen and lace table cloths so I decided to dye a couple (the family heirloom pieces were spared this experiment).

I also tossed in a few napkins and doilies.


 I used Rit Dye, both the powder and liquid and I used my sink kitchen sinks. One to dye and one to rinse. This worked for most pieces except the bottom linen cloth. It was probably too big and a little heavy after wet and hard to rinse.


First up, the pink.

The darker tablecloth had a soak time of about 20 minutes and the lighter one was 5 minutes. I washed and dried all items in my machines so this is the final color.


The doilies were soaked for about 5 minutes and you can see there is some variation in color.


These napkins are the exact same yet very different colors. Interesting.


I didn't have much luck with the Teal or Aquamarine (both liquid versions).

The linen cloth on the left is Teal. The final color is very light.

The next lace piece is Aquamarine but turned out purplish. I might try and over dye it with pink some other time. 

The last piece is the Aquamarine again. The color looks pretty good here but it actually very pale.

I think I will stick to the powder versions of the Rit Dye. My local shops didn't have much of a selection so I might try and buy online for a better selection.

I might try dyeing white tone on tone fat quarters just to see what happens.

Have you tried your hand at dyeing?

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Pink Little Houses Quilt


My little pink houses quilt is done. I didn't realize how wrinkly it was until I saw it held up for a pic. I think I may need to wash it before I list it for sale. Washed quilts have a great crinkly, vintage feel to them anyway.

I used a scrap pack of pinks, a few yellows, and a bunch of Moda Essential Dots in a pale pink (I don't think the dots show up here but, take my word for it, they are adorable).


The pattern is Suburbs by Cluck Cluck Sew
 
I quilted across each row and going up, over, and down each door then quilted the vertical rows.

I think I will wash it up and share a new picture later. I want to see if there is a noticeable difference .

Monday, August 10, 2015

Quilt in a Day


I woke up one day last week and had to make a quilt and it needed to be finished in a day. My teen was telling me about a friend of hers and I knew I needed to give her a quilt.

I searched my quilt closet first (I have a few finished quilts ready to gift) but none of them said teen girl to me.

I ended up using some of my scrap charm squares. When my scrap bucket gets a little full I spend a bit of time cutting out charm squares, mini charms, and 2.5" strips.
 

I took out red and navy charms and ended up with a soft sherbert pallet.
I quilted in the ditch and attached the binding by machine.

I ended up liking this quilt and the sewing process I made a similar quilt with low volume charms.

This year I set a New Year's resolution to give away 10 quilts this year and I am up to 6.

You can find Heather and I on Instagram

Heather @thequiltbarn
Tara (me) @tinyglutton

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Monday, August 3, 2015

Sharing Vintage Quilts


I visited a friend and got a chance to take a look at some family quilts. Above is a very bright  (I think the fabrics must have been kept out of the sun) quilt using half square triangles and dresden plates. While this is a traditional quilt it looks very modern too. The top middle square's use of bright, sunny yellow is a fun departure from the expected.

This quilt also happens to be backed by another quilt. There is no binding and one quilts wraps around to the front. My friend says she has peeked through an small open seam and says there is a third quilt inside as batting!

I would love to know what the hidden, inside quilt looks like. As you can imagine, this quilt is very heavy. A winter quilt I am sure.


Another well loved quilt. The large missing piece (bottom middle of quilt) almost relegated this family quilt to the donate pile, or worse, the garbage bin. Thankfully, my friend saved it (it was her husband's mother's quilt).

As you can see on the backing, this quilt was heavily hand quilted. I would guess inch spaced lines.

Big thanks to my friend for letting my fondle her quilts and take pics. I have a few more to share and I have taken notes on a few so I can attempt to recreate the blocks.

If you are ever in Riggins, Idaho, stop by her antique shop on Main St, Two Ladies Antiquities

Check out our machine quilting services. You can mail your top and backing in to our shop and we will mail your quilted to back to you

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Tara (me!): @tinyglutton

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