Batting tests

I mentioned in the last post that I wasn't happy with how stiff the wool/poly blend batting went when it was closely quilted, so I've been doing some testing of different battings. The first one (blue) is Matilda's Own 60/40 Wool/Poly blend (before washing and after washing). I drew around my 6 inch square before quilting and then marked around it again after quilting to see how much the close quilting drew it in. After the piece was washed I marked around it again. As you can see the quilting brought it in about 1/4 inch and the washing nearly another 1/4 inch. So 1/2 inch over 6 inches. That adds up to quite a bit over the size of a large quilt. Washing did soften it a bit but not a great deal. Nice loft. The quilting stands out well even after washing.

The next batting I tried (green) was Matilda's Own needlepunched Polyester. A bit less loft than the wool/poly but drew in about 1/4 inch after quilting and a further 1/4 inch after washing. So almost the same and the wool/poly.


The pink sample is Matilda's Own Cotton Batting. Quite flat. The quilting didn't stand out as well. Still drew in after quilting and more again after washing but not as much as the previous two. Had the usual distinctive cotton batting crinkled look after washing which can look quite good for traditional quilts but not really my preference for the quilts that I do. Softer drape than the others.

The last one I tested was thin polyester Pellon. About half the thickness of the others. Quilted up fairly similar to the cotton. Very flat. Really didn't show off the quilting and crinkled up much like cotton after washing. Quite soft but seemed too thin. Pulled in much the same as cotton. I thought I would like this one but when it was done it was a bit too thin. I want to try some Bamboo batting but I suspect it will be similar to the cotton.

So, what did I learn?

Surprisingly they all drew in about the same amount from quilting and from washing. If you're going to do heavy quilting it's probably best to wash the quilt before you sew on the binding or you could end up with a rippled edge. If you're going to do heavy quilting don't just do it in some areas and less in others or the quilt will probably distort badly. The more quilting you do the stiffer the quilt becomes.

What will I use in the future?

I really like the wool/poly for quilts that don't have really close quilting. For the heavily quilted ones the search continues. I would really like your ideas on this. Let me know what you like to use for these types of quilts.

Real Age

Are you in good shape for your age? I did an interesting quiz today. Occasionally I watch Oprah and the other day they were doing one of their medical type shows with Dr. Oz. They had members of the audience do this quiz with lots of questions on different aspects of their lifestyle, health, diet, exercise, cholesterol etc and from this they determine your REAL AGE not just your calendar age. Quite a nasty surprise for some of the audience members. Someone may be 45 but due to being overweight, smoking or not eating right their real age could be closer to 60. Or, your real age could actually be less than your calendar age.

Well I was quite surprised to find out that my real age is 45, 6 1/2 years less than my calendar age. I'm 5'5", 61kg (134lb), I exercise, don't smoke, hdl:ldl ratio is 1:1, BP is on the low side of normal, low stress, rarely eat junk food or take away, and I'm very careful about what I do eat. People usually say I don't look 51.

Try it http://www.realage.com/. Helps if you've had a recent blood test and know your cholesterol etc. In Australia we use mmol/l and in the US mg/dl. Just multiply by 38.67 to convert cholesterol and 88.57 to convert triglicerides.

So?....watcha been doing for 2 years? Part 2

OK its Part 2. Don't groan. I said I'd give you the abridged version. Then we'll get on to the quilty stuff. I suppose the most memorable bit of 2008 was ending up in hospital for a week in December for a bowel resection. I have Crohn's Disease and although I haven't had a flare up for over 2 years some previous bouts had caused some problems and the surgeon needed to remove about a 12" section. I seemed to recover from it very quickly and even got back to the gym after a few weeks. Nothing too strenuous.


I managed to get quite a bit of hand sewing done while I was in the hospital. I've been doing this very traditional Grandmother's Flower Garden (English Paper Piecing) for most of last year. It's my 'take to meetings' project when I can't get to a sewing machine. It might get finished in another year or so. It needs to be about twice as big as it is.

So?....watcha been doing for 2 years?

I noticed the other day that this is the 2 year bloggerversary of my last post and as good a reason as any to get back to blogging.

Quite a few things have happened since then and I've been sitting here trying to remember them all. Don't worry. I'll just give you the abridged version.

I suppose the main change has been that my mother moved in to live with me at the start of 2008. (remember I told you - only child of an only child of an only child.....) She turned 90 last week and drives me insane most days. She had been living on her own since my dad died 7 years ago and in mid 07 had a pacemaker fitted. A couple of months after that she had a fall and broke her wrist. It became clear that it wasn't really a good idea for her to be living on her own. This necessitated the recently relocated studio in bedroom 2 to relocate again to bedroom 3 so that she could have the bigger room. And Daniel (son No.2 age 24) to relocate himself entirely to his fathers house, a few kilometres away, instead of living in both places.
Daniel spent a month in Greece with his girlfriend in July 07 and then went to Scotland for a couple of weeks.
I'll tell you some of the other things next time.
Only a modest amount of non work related sewing was accomplished. A few quilts, including this one using my own hand-dyes.

Dipping my toe into cyberspace

Welcome to my blog. Well, the self confessed luddite has gone over to the dark side :] I'd never even heard of blogs 2 months ago and now here I am dipping my own little toe into cyberspace.
Over the past few years my quilt making and other creative activities have been put on the back burner while I dealt with a few life altering events - divorce (and resultant poverty!), relationship breakup, death, chronic illness/pain. I feel a bit like I'm emerging from a long dark creative black hole. I've got ideas for quilts buzzing round in my head. Lots of ideas....and I haven't felt like that in a long time.

This is a quilt I made a few months ago after being inspired by Louisa L. Smith's book Strips 'n Curves. I don't usually make quilts so similar to something I've seen. I almost feel like apologising that it's not my own original design idea.