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Friday, October 7, 2011

Batting

One of the fantastic things about moving back to the desert is that I can return to Common Threads Quilt Guild.  I was very excited for the meeting last night.  I haven't gotten alot of sewing done, its been to hot here.  Over 95 for weeks on end and the air went in the front part of the fifth wheel.  We've been huddled in the living area trying to stay cool, but the temp in here was getting to be 90 or so.  The designer of this campground decided to have everyone's door open up to the sun all day long, and without trees, there wasn't any shade to speak of.  ugh.....

and now we've moved into fly season....ugh again.  I've killed over twenty flies in here today and just spotted a few more.  I absolutely hate flies!

Back to the guild.  It was nice to go back and see some friends.  I never was close to anyone in the guild.  I had small kids and lived on the base so I'm hoping to get more quilting friends now.

Last night the speaker talked about batting.  How enlightening it was to hear her talk about how long we take to pick out a pattern, fabrics, and sew and then quilt our treasures and we usually throw whatever batting there is inside of our quilt.  Wow, never thought of that before.

SHe had quite of few samples and I didn't realize that batting was now made from corn, bamboo, and recycled green water bottles!!  I always thought it was cotton, polyester, or a blend!  I did find out that for awesome hand quilting, I should be using wool.  Its a dream to quilt through she said.  I had no idea!!  I just phoned the local quilt shop and they don't have any in stock so I will have to order some from somewhere.  I think it would be a great idea also because the toy hauler area of the fifth wheel is getting to be pretty chilly at night.

I still don't have my sewing machine, so I decided to hand piece the girls' quilts.  I have one row done already and if I focus on it this weekend, perhaps I can get most of the piecing done.  I found some horse fabric with framed horses and some really cute barbed wire fencing, lasso fabric, and some other cute fabric.  I'm doing just squares of fabric, no real design because I wanted this to be quick to keep the girls warm.

I'm about 1/4 of the way through quilting TL's quilt.  I hope to have that done pretty quickly also.  Like I said, its getting a little chilly in here!  The temp drops about forty degrees at night and since its only in the 80s during the day, you can imagine how cool its getting.  At least the heat's working!!

Have a wonderful quilty day!

2 comments:

  1. It is very hard to keep a rig cool when there is no shade. It is like living in an oven. Is it windy there? 10 mph winds or more? If it isn't too windy - I prefer to have the sun hit the door side because I put out our large awning. Creating shade around the rig helps too. Since I am home all day, it is easy to monitor the wind and weather.

    Have you tried putting a fan in the hallway to push the cooler air into the warmer areas? That's what we do. You may want to invest in some good sun shades too. We have sunscreens that we can see through. I was amazed at the difference they made in our motorhome.

    I haven't heard of green bottles or corn batting. I'll have to check that out. I have tried bamboo, wool, and organic cotton just to get a feel for them, but I don't have a preference.

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  2. Hi Michelle, Can you do me a favor and send me an email? My email is in my profile. I can keep you up-to-date as we get closer to CA. I would love to meet you and your family!

    Oh yea! There are several parks that offer the small house/lots for lease, but Escapees is in our price range. The others are a little too high. There are also what I call "1/2 houses". They are long and thin so your rig can be parked within a few feet along the side and the two doors are close together. Step out of the 5th wheel and into the house. They usually have a kitchen/bath studio. I would prefer that, but I can't have everything!
    How's that quilt coming along? And the embroidery?

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