The strange looking object on the table next to Pokey is my Keep-Kitties-Off-My-Fabric tool: a hamper lid. I get those strips all nicely ironed and cut and then Pokey and Lily in particular enjoy mashing them down flat.
I finally started sewing again after an allergy break (killer headaches from playing with fabric - really sucks) but I'm feeling a bit better now on a new medication. I did put away all my regular fabric though (is it old and so has more dust accumulated or just different chemicals used in the manufacturing process?) to just play with the shirts, which don't affect me nearly as much.
I don't know what the end point is going to be with this latest Hope quilt. Just trying to focus on the current step.
Very cool. Great layout of the block. Love the perky red with the shirt fabric.
ReplyDeleteI'm HOPEful that your new allergy med gives you HOPE of for fending off the dreadful headaches. There's no HOPE of giving up the fabric as an alternative no matter what the doctor HOPEs for, right. HOPE is what keeps us going!!!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful use of your sunny plaids and stripes! It's great that you can work with thrift store fabrics when the others bother you. I heard of a quilt maker who developed an allergy to cotton, so switched to using only silk. True story! Best wishes with the new meds.
ReplyDeleteI look forward to seeing the completed design! Sure hope the new meds work for you.
ReplyDeleteThe strips and plaids look good! Sorry to hear allergies were kicking your butt. No fun.
ReplyDeleteIn that case I reckon it's got to be the chemicals/dyes used in the fabrics. Really hope the meds work for you.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE the one on the wall behind Pokey. Do you really need an end point or are you thinking about the next UnRuly Quilter manuscript?
Oh I wish I could find shirts like that over here.
I've stopped blogging about quilting. Got too much on my plate and the Q4L quilts have built up to such an extent I need to get those out of the way before I can refocus on my stuff. BUT I've started a photography blog instead.
Love the new quilt idea. The shirts are a great solution to the fabric allergy. I'm starting to get into recycling fabric for my quilts, but I still have a huge stash of new fabric.
ReplyDeleteI hope you get relief from the headaches soon!
I was very curious to see the anti-cat fabric guard :D
ReplyDeleteI have been using lightweight trellis. It pulls out to be a useful barrier and folds away again very small. I got them in the £1 store, you might have a similar store in USA, that sells a mixture of inexpensive items for just one price.
I know what you mean about chemicals, some fabric shops make my eyes stream. I have been told it's the starch.
I remember Alex Anderson talking about pre washing fabric, which I'm a complete fanatic about. She said one time she had to make some quilts asap and didn't prewash and before she was finished these projects, she was reacting to the fabrics. I think it's the dyes and chemicals on the prints, apparently there is a lot of
ReplyDeleteOdd that the older fabrics bother you more than the thrift store shirts (seems odd to me anyway!). I won't even attempt to work with clothes from the thrift shops for fear of embedded fragrances. The men's ties I play with occasionally are risky enough. After laundering them I press them dry with an iron and often end up sick from fumes that are released by the heat. Sure do like what you do with your thrift store shirts though!
ReplyDeleteI love the HOPE quilt.
ReplyDeleteLovely quilt in the works, Tonya!
ReplyDeleteI love working with used material because it is so soft to your hands. I usually don't pre-wash fabrics but I should. The chemicals in unwashed fabrics dry out my skin a lot.
I am always in a hurry to put those pretty fabrics together :)
I love where you are going with your hope quilt! I too have allergies to the sizing in fabric. Anything new that comes into my house is washed, dried and put away as soon as possible. When I am getting fabrics ready to dye I wear a dust mask to keep from breathing the fibers in while I cut the fabrics down. I usually prepare about 100 yards at a time so I don't have to dust and vacuum as often.
ReplyDeleteSorry to hear about your allergies! I have problems with that, so I am a washer. But my clean stash doesn't save me on days I work at the quilt shop. Eight hours or more of measuring, cutting, folding, fondling...oy! Not just my sinuses, either...my HANDS! Just what are "they" doing to all that lovely, natural cotton?!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the new project! I have been playing around with your letters and they are fun, fun, fun!
In stitches,
Teresa :o)
Sorry to hear about your allergies. I have a friend who is badly affected, and have decided to prewash all my fabrics, out of precautions...
ReplyDeleteThe shirt fabrics looks delicious, I feel a bit of stash envy right now ; )
Love what is going on with your hope blocks. And I think Pokey just has to adapt to the new regime - a woman has to do what a woman has to do!
What a cute quilt!
ReplyDeleteI think that alergies sometimes accumulate. For example, my son can visit his friend who has a cat in the winter, but when the summer comes with its pollens etc. he starts wheezing almost as he enters her house. Maybe it's something going on in the atmosphere that's tripping you over?
ReplyDeleteHOPE is the perfect word for today, September 11th. How charged with meaning that word is!
ReplyDeleteI'm collecting shirts from our new Goodwill store as well for a project. Have in mind something for Christmas with the phrase, Peace On Earth and Goodwill To All ;)
ReplyDeleteWe are supposed to use the shirt fabric after we cut it up...darn it I missed that part!
ReplyDeleteLove the hope block! Hope you are feeling better...
Ooh, I like like like the shirt plaids mixed with the solids. Best of both worlds! I'm also really loving the way the stringy corners are making hope radiate. I can see this becoming the center to a scrappy, quirky medallion quilt. I hope the allergies don;t keep you down too long.
ReplyDeleteAren't allergies the pits?? Ugh. I'm glad the new medication is helping. I pre-wash all my new fabrics because the chemicals in the fabrics bother me. And some fabric/quilt stores bother my sinuses. I'm glad you can still play with the shirts. . .and they look wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI love your little Hope medallion! Your plaids are great - yes, stash-envy here too. I don't think I'd have a hope of finding such bright colors here in the NW - just dark, manly plaids!
Love your kitty-deterrent! That's a great idea! Mine much prefer freshly ironed fabric too.
Good luck getting over your allergies! Mine gave me a very hard time lately, too. I had to cut out a medicine I was taking and to stop eating cherries, pineapple, soy and on and on--but I feel so much better, so I hope that you are feeling much better, too.
ReplyDeleteLove your HOPE blocks! That is not good...fabric allergies...not good at all, dear Tonya!!
ReplyDeleteFabric allergies? That's just horrible.
ReplyDeleteThe Quilting Ninja
So glad to see you back, I have been peeking to look for posts :). I am sorry you haven't felt well!!! What a quilter's nightmare of an allergy. Love the HOPE block and can't wait to see where it goes ! And I can commiserate with the kitty challenge!!!!
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