A finish & a prewashing tip for stiff fabric

This week after I finished piecing my Christmas project I decided to make a little quilt using a few leftover Frozen and Olaf scraps.

The pattern I chose to use is a variation of the Villa Rosa Main Street pattern. I own a lot of Villa Rosa patterns but not this particular one.

I could tell by the finished size it likely used 5″ squares. I wanted mine to be a bit smaller so I could back it with a “width of fabric”. The Frozen fabric is also more popular with younger children so the smaller size felt more appropriate. I used 4 1/2″ squares.

Looking closely at the pattern photo I could see that it’s simply a modified 4 patch block.

Each 4 patch block has:

• one square background fabric (I chose purple)
• one square print
• two squares print, each with a snowballed corner
  
  To layout the quilt top, you just rotate the blocks – alternating the blocks using the background print as your guide. Block with the background in upper right corner, next to a block with the background in the lower left.

Most of us already have way too many specialized rulers, right? It’s just part of being a quilter! I’ve had this Trudie Hughes 3 1/2″ x 12″ Rotary Mate ruler for at least 30 years, and I can honestly say it was worth every single penny! The lines are super thin, which means I get really accurate cuts. Lately, I’ve been using it a lot more with my Go! Cutter half square triangles. I just love how everything lines up perfectly without those annoying “dog ears”.

I’ve also been prewashing some of those JoAnn’s fabrics I’ve been going through and as I’m deciding how much to keep versus how much to de-stash. Several of them are pretty stiff so needed some special care to wash out the sizing.

The method below works well.

• Use pinking shears or zig zag edges to prevent fraying.
• Open the fabric before washing.
• Wash in warm or hot water with 1/2 cup baking soda (no detergent).
• Add 1 cup vinegar to the final rinse (do not mix the vinegar with baking soda or they’ll be ineffective – wait and add it to final rinse).
• Throw some wool balls in the dryer with the fabric to help soften it even more and reduce wrinkles.

A pre-wash of about 8 yards is what I aim for—because who wouldn’t want to launder enough fabric to create a parachute?!

My sewing room is turning into a fabric tornado, but sometimes progress means flipping everything on it’s head and rebuilding. I can totally deal with the creative chaos because my ideas will have the space they need to flourish!