You Guys Are Brilliant!

Blogging is just made for people like me. Because it links me up with brilliant people like you. I know I could have sat here and research 'stain removal' on the Internet yesterday and most probably would have come up with the same answers you gave me - but I didn't. I relied on that knowledge that I knew lay deep inside so many of you, and that I lack totally. And you came through for me, and I really, really appreciate it.

Based on your collective advice I came up with a plan. I would try each suggestion in a set order. As the quilt is obviously not finished yet anything that involved the washing machine would have to wait until it was done. I am not that patient a person so the order of the day was hairspray first, and then if that failed I would wait until the quilt was bound and could be fully submerged. Several of you told me that if I sprayed the hairspray into a little dish and dabbed it on that would allow me to do a spot cleaning. So here was my kit -

I did as instructed and sprayed into the dish (outside - I really don't like the smell of hairspray), used the cotton bud and dabbed at the ink. And it turned darker, and broader, and scarier and my heart did a little flip flop. But then it all came right as it slowly faded to nothing. Woohoo! I rinsed that one little area of the quilt under the tap and now it resides outdoors, drying in the sunshine, in all its pristine glory.

So thank you, thank you, thank you to all who came forward with advice. It is so greatly appreciated, and the next time someone asks me if I know how to get an ink stain out I'll be sure to pass on the knowledge.

Meanwhile, back on the ranch farm I have been doing a Farmer's Wife block here and there and now have six more to show you. I still haven't ventured into template territory. I live in fear of that. This book was most definitely written for those who like to quilt the old fashioned way - by hand, every last stitch. Those template blocks are beautiful but there are a few horror stories out there in blogland of people struggling with them. Sooner or later I will have to give in, but not yet.

Here are my latest additions to the FWQAL blocks -

No. 41 - Friendship Star

No. 12 - Broken Sugar Bowl

No. 11 - Broken Dishes

No. 34 - Flock

No. 9 - Box

No. 26 - Cut Glass Dish

Altogether now - on the badminton net again.
What will I do in the winter time?

I do love the results once each block is finished, but I must admit that the Farmer and I have the odd domestic here and there. This book was written by someone who made the whole quilt by hand, not a machine stitch anywhere. And it shows in the way she has written it. I am pleased to hear that the author's next quilting book will include instructions for rotary cutting. But it does leave the feeling that she was keeping this book very niche if she thought that only people who did all quilting by hand would be buying it. I may sound close minded but cutting each and every piece by template is just not my thing, hence me working out the blocks I have done so far in my head. I know I am not the only one out there doing the maths. I an dreading getting to the blocks where there is little choice but to start with the templates. We shall see.

It is not a negative experience this though. A learning one yes, and interesting. I have never followed a pattern before in quilting. I have seen ideas I liked and adapted them to my needs and always worked out the cutting of the fabric on my own. I am such a rule breaker that doing this quilt-a-long is a good discipline, having to pay attention and stick within the guidelines. And I suppose learning to quilt with templates will be a very good skill to have - because eventually I will find a quilt I want to make that can only be done with templates. And then I will be prepared.

For those of you doing the FWQAL, how are you finding it?

Susan