Airing the Family Laundry

Unfortunately, this laundry doesn't come in the form of panties or whispered secrets.

My most recent customer is responsible for bringing a quilt to the annual Graves Family Reunion.  The names of over just over 50 family members (or family groups) are included on the quilt, and the quilt is raffled off during the course of the reunion.


In recent years, the names of family members were machine-embroidered onto pieces of fabric and then sewn into the quilt top; however, hiring someone else to machine embroider the names can be very expensive.  I called two or three shops and received quotes of $250 to $450 for the number of blocks in this quilt.  As a more economical alternative, I suggested that this year's quilt have the family members' names printed (via ink jet printer) onto fabric.

Crafters who shop at Joann's and Michael's may have seen paper-backed fabric made by June Tailor or another company. This fabric is expensive and a pain to work with.  The paper backing on the fabric has some sort of adhesive on it, and I have never been able to peel off the entire backing.  Some always sticks to the fabric.  For this quilt, I used fabric treated with Bubble Jet Set 2000 by C. Jenkins (www.cjenkinscompany.com). 

In order to print, just iron freezer paper onto the back of each sheet of fabric.  I made the mistake of not trimming off a couple threads, and the printer revolted – once I got that problem fixed, printing was smooth sailing.


After printing, the ink must dry for 30 minutes. Then, you agitate the fabric in cold water to set the ink and let the fabric dry.

Because this quilt had to be made quickly, I used a pattern rather than work one out on my own. Published by Fig Tree & Co. (Joanna Figueroa), the pattern is called "Twinkle" and is made up of just two repeating blocks.

I also hired the Cowtown Quilter, Jerry Mundine, to do the quilting with a long-arm machine. He did a great job and had a quick turnaround. 

I hear the quilt was well-received, and I am open to doing another for other family reunions!