Sewing

Several years ago when I was doing a lot of quilting I participated in a modified Dear Jane block swap.  Wow!  I just looked at the copyright on the DJ book and I guess I should change that to Many years ago as the book was published in 1996 and this swap was about 2 years after the book hit the market.

As a result of the swap I received 200+ blocks.  Each block was to be 4-1/2" square using civil war reproduction fabrics with natural muslin as the background fabric.  Here you can see some of my blocks sorted in baggies by color.

 I decided I didn't want to make a large quilt with these.  I have made several pincushions using a few of the blocks and given them as gifts.  I have struggled with what to do with these little blocks and since I needed to do some mindless sewing I added some sashing and borders and came up with these little quilts.

These measure around 14"x20" and are the perfect size for table toppers, doll quilts, a cupboard tuck, or to hang on the wall.  Here they are after adding the binding.

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Since taking those pictures I decided to toss them in the wash so they could get that older crinkly look.  It seems that someone didn't prewash their fabrics because look what happened.

 Ugh!  This same fabric was in 2 of the quilts and as you can see that red bled terribly.  Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I might correct this?  I used sythrapol in a cold water wash and this still happened.  I suppose if I can't fix it I can still gift it to some little girl whose dollie won't mind if the red bled or not.  :o

Ziggy says he would be happy to give them a home in his cathouse!