Never Do This, Please

In my cutter quilt stash I have two pieces of an old crazy quilt made with heavy fabrics, including a fair amount of wool. They're not exceptional enough to preserve as they are, and I'd like to make them into something else; possibly a journal cover. The only problem is that they're both smelly and maybe soiled.

I decided to do what you should never do with a crazy quilt you want to preserve, especially one with wool patchwork: I soaked the smaller piece in cold water and a little bit of mild detergent, and gently pressed on it a few times (versus scrunching or wringing the piece.) The water turned brown, which meant it was soiled. Then I dried it flat on a towel. This could have ruined it by causing wool shrinkage, dye migration, fabric shattering, etc., and I was prepared for all that.

Here's the smaller piece after washing it, next to the bigger unwashed piece for comparison:

The piece wasn't damaged at all, which means I got very lucky. The smell is gone, and the piece is clean, which was what I wanted. Now I'll do the same with the bigger piece.

Let me repeat what I said before, though: never do this with a crazy quilt you wish to preserve. Ever.

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Stuff

After finding this Caron one pound skein of lovely peach yarn in my thrifted lot I raided my stash for two cakes of Mandala in Pegasus, which matches it perfectly. For practice and hand therapy I'm going to make another Worth Street Afghan with this free pattern , but this time I'll use the yarn that was recommended for it plus the one pound skein. I'm not quite ready to do the vintage/recycled linen quilt I had planned (still a bit too nervous about the idea), so I'm going to use some color therapy and make a quilt from these thrifted green fat quarters. I considered doing another Yellow Brick road patchwork pattern, but I might go with a split rail fence like this one.

Better than Fried

I cut some chives from the kitchen garden to make garlic-chive baked fries for dinner. This is a great side dish for veggie burgers. Click here for the recipe from Taste of Home.com.

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Our strawberries are taking over the kitchen garden, but I don't mind. This week I want to make some strawberry banana nice cream (a vegan version of ice cream) and maybe a chocolate cake with berries and cream for the topping. There's thyme in the garden now, too, which I'll dry and jar for cooking along with the chives and the oregano. Next we'll plant cucumbers, as I use a ton of those in our salads and for snacks.

Rayen

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