Remember that the quilt you are making is YOUR quilt. The sample for this class is nothing more than a guide. The blocks can be as big or little as you choose, or they can be individual pillows, or nothing at all. You choose. Have fun. I intend to.The following hints should be taken in small doses. Don't overdo. P.S. This quilt is 7" x 9", hand and machine appliquéd, not fused.

• Wash and dry materials before you use them, unless it is for a wall hanging that will never, ever be washed and dried if you have a breath left in your body. If you don’t do this, and one or two of the fabrics shrink and/or run all over the rest of them, you will be an unhappy camper.
• On the other hand, it's only a problem if one of the other colors will absorb the dye one of the other fabrics bleeds. To test this, cut a small swatch from each fabric and put them in a jar of warm, soapy water, and see if any of the fabrics absorb colors from any of the others (put in a swatch of white, too, just to see). If the fabrics bleed, but none of the other fabrics pick up that color, it doesn't matter and you don’t have to pre-wash. If one of them does bleed and one of the other fabrics absorbs the dye, prewash the problem fabric and retest. If it's still a problem, try soaking the fabric in vinegar. If it's still a problem, get another fabric.
• If you absolutely cannot wait for the fabric to be washed and dried, soak it in warm water for about 10 minutes while you have a cup of coffee and a doughnut, then wrap it in a towel to sop up the extra, then blow dry it with a hand held dryer or iron it dry. The fabric, not the doughnut.
• If you use unwashable fabrics, or use bleeding fabrics in a wall hanging, just tell everybody to treat the quilt like they would an oil painting or watercolor and vacuum it if it gets dusty.
• There is a new product called Quiltgard available from Craftgard Co., PO Box 472, Tustin, CA 92781, call toll-free 888/878-1212, that is supposed to repel dust, reduce fading, maintain liquid repellency on all fabrics, and not cause fabric to deteriorate over time. (Right, and I'm the tooth fairy. Just kidding. I haven't tried it, so can't speak for it, but I bought some.)
• Another reason for all of the above is that most fabrics have chemicals in them that produce potentially harmful vapors when heated with an iron. The downside is that if you do wash the fabric, the sizing is washed out, so you have to use spray sizing when you iron it to return the hand or the fabric, and that puts a hole in the ozone and puts more vapors in the air. Catch 22. Personally, I only prewash and predry fabrics that are going to be used in a garment or bed quilt.
• Art should move you from where you are to someplace else.
• All quilts are art. Art is something that is more than the sum of its parts. Art is like "hearing dark green, catching a glimpse of a musky scent, or seeing the tinkle of golden bells." (James H. Schmitz. He was talking about relling vatches, not quilts, but I still think it applies.)
• If you're not living life on the edge, you may be taking up too much space.
• It helps to spray starch or spray size the fabric for the back of a quilt you are machine quilting. It also helps to polish the surface of your sewing machine and the table the quilt is resting on.
• Raise up the back of your sewing machine in some way, shape or form, an inch if possible. That way, you can see to back up without crouching over. There is a product available from Bernina (I think) that is clear plastic will do this. It costs about $50. I have my machine set down in a sewing table, so I just put books under the two back legs. Some people put doorstops under the back of their sewing machines. Either way works just fine and saves your back.
• "We can do no great things, only small things with great love." (Mother Theresa)
• Even if you don't like whatever it is that you've made, finish it up somehow. It doesn't matter if it becomes the center of a tablecloth that you sit a vase on, or a dog blanket. If you don't finish it, the mental energy that is drained off will keep you from starting anything new. If all else fails, follow Mary Ellen Hopkins' advice and put it in a silver box with a bow on it and a card that says "To my son's future wife", and put it on the top shelf of your closet. Problem solved.
• Never, never, never make a knot that shows on either side of your quilt.
• Make ¼" seams or the quilt police will come and get you; unless, of course, you are doing needle turn appliqué or reverse appliqué, when 1/8" or less seams are perfectly permissible.
• Don't use sheets for the backs of your quilts. The fiber content is too high to comfortably hand quilt through. You can successfully machine quilt through it, but why make quilting any harder? There is 100% cotton muslin in nice big widths in several colors at the fabric store, so you don’t ever have to seam the backs of quilts if you don't want to. I do, because I always make two-sided quilts, but hey, I'm compulsive.
• If you run out of a certain fabric, improvise. Piece it, dye it, use something else, find it on the Internet or put up swatches in every fabric store if you must, but don't let it keep you from finishing your piece. Often, that one piece you had to make a little bit differently is the making of your quilt. The old-time quilters always left one error in every quilt, so they wouldn't seem to be trying to imitate the perfection of the Almighty.
It's not a quilt until it's quilted.
• Press carefully. It's entirely possible to iron a nice, straight, square into a very crooked trapezoid.
• Keep in mind WHY you are making this quilt. Are you making an heirloom quilt? A snuggle blanket? A dog comforter? A tablecloth? A wallhanging that you hope will take first prize at the county fair? A competition quilt for a major national or international festival? A baby gift or teenage quilt? All of these things are possible. Just remember that Fluffy doesn't care how big your seams are, and put the effort where it will be appreciated.
• In my next life, I want to be Barbie. That girl's got everything.
• Don't try to match up all of your colors perfectly. Sometimes a little off color or a little good clashing livens up a quilt. Sort of like life.
• Sew with a light colored thread unless all of your fabrics are dark. Natural colored thread is stronger because it hasn't been bleached, and goes with almost everything. If you sew with a dark thread, it's too easy to get tails hanging around that show through just when you’re putting the last quilting stitches in.
• If your colors are just not working, take out your favorite fabric. I swear it works.
• Use colors you like, not colors you think will go in a certain room or match somebody's sofa. Chances are, by the time you get the quilt finished, the room will be a different color, anyway.
• When in doubt, drag in a passing small child, teenager, or adult male to tell you what they think about your color choices and overall design. You will probably hear yourself saying, "Of course, I have to change this corner, don't you think?" This is because you knew you should change it all along, but didn't want to go to all of that work. They will reply something very direct, such as "Yeah, I don't get that part. By the way, don't you think it's kind of too dark all over?" Out of the mouths of babes, the truth will arise. They don't know what they're talking about, but they're almost invariably right.
• Never use a selvage. They draw up and shrink and are altogether nasty.
• Don't sew a very heavy fabric to a very light one if you want the quilt to hold up through washing. This is fine for wallhangings, but heavier fabrics pull on lighter ones and eventually weaken and rip the fine ones.
• Thread has grain. Always knot the end you cut.
• Batting has grain. The lengthwise grain is stronger, so run it from top to bottom in a wallhanging or quilt.
• Fabric has grain. When cutting long strips, cut them lengthwise.
• Whenever possible, iron the seam allowance toward the darker fabric.
• Make wearable art that talks about who you are. In Rachel Kinsey Clark's immortal words, "If you've got it, decorate it."
• The Almighty never subtracts from a life the time it takes to make a quilt for a child.
• Always close your rotary cutter every time you set it down. I have actually met the woman whose rotary cutter got jostled off of her cutting table and cut her Achilles tendon. Not good.
• Remember that the quilt you are making is YOUR quilt. The sample or the picture on the front of the quilt package is nothing more than a guide. The blocks can be as big or little as you choose, or they can be individual pillows, or nothing at all. You must charge everything you do with the breath of your own spirit.
• Have fun. I intend to.

Linda Schmidt
E-mail shortattn@attbi.com
Web Site http://shortattn.home.attbi.com