Organic Baby Quilts

Here it is – my first organic baby quilt!  This great quilt has certified 100% organic cotton fabrics in an unbleached, natural cotton and a checked homespun.  The batting is an environmentally friendly batting made from fast growing plantation trees that are broken down in a green facility and spun into cellulose fibers.  The batting is biodegradable, hypo-allergenic, and fire retardant without the use of harsh chemicals!  The fire retardant properties are due to the natural way the plantation trees grow and contain silica in their pulp.  This silica in turn allows the batting to be naturally fire retardant!

When I was designing this quilt, I had a hard time trying to come up with a pattern that would suit a two toned quilt.  I was playing around in my EQ6 (electric quilt 6 software) and saw the pineapple blocks.  I had never done a pineapple block but have always wanted to.  When I laid it all out and added the two colors, I loved it!  I really like the depth that the two tones give the quilt – almost a 3D quality. 

The best way to do this quilt block was to print paper foundations for each of the pineapple blocks and piece it that way (highly recommend Carol Doak’s paper-piecing foundation paper and Add-a-Quarter rulers).  I was afraid that if I tried to strip piece this together, the blocks might start to twist and spin instead of lining up nicely.

So, once this was all settled, I got started cutting out the pieces and putting this quilt together.  I must say, if I had realized that one baby quilt has over 350 pieces, I may have re-thought the design!    You can see at the left a shot of the foundations in progress.  I believe I am putting on the corner pieces of the blocks in this shot.

Thirty hours later, this quilt is now finished!  I was so excited to get it done as I have been wanting to start an organics line of baby quilts and I think this gets the line off to a wonderful start!  Vermont Hand Crafters, a craft group I belong to, is filming a segment for Across the Fence, a show about local products on WCAX Channel 3.  They asked me for a sample of my work and were excited when I gave them this quilt to put on the air.  If you have access to Channel 3, please watch on 11/17 from 12:10 to 12:30 EST.

 

 

Environmentally Friendly Blankets

     

I am pleased to be able to finally announce the first of the environmentally friendly Toddler Blankets!  These blankets still contain designer 100% cotton fabrics and chenille fleece, but the batting is a unique 100% fire retardant rayon made from plantation trees!  These trees are harvested and processed in a green facility where the fibers are broken down and made into super soft biodegradable batting.  And the really cool byproduct of the manufacturing process is the natural silica in the tree fibers makes this batting fire retardant without the use of chemicals!  So it is both environmentally friendly and safe for your baby!

So look for the upcoming quilts at my store to feature this new batting as I feel it is both better for your baby and better for our planet.

 

Organic Sewing Thread, Continued

This week-end I was at the Vermont Quilt Festival and had a wonderful time seeing all of the quilts.  But, let’s face it, it’s the vendors we all go to really see!  And boy was the shopping great!

I stopped by the YLI thread booth and asked about their organic thread being sold through Keepsake Quilting.  The rep told me that their organic thread is a short staple American cotton in 24 weight.  It comes in 3000 yd cones sold to manufacturers and they did make some retail cones for Keepsake Quilting but they are only available through Keepsake Quilting.

The sales rep said that the organic thread is only suitable for hand work or sergers.  A long arm or sewing machine would put too much stress on the thread and cause it to break.  They cannot get an organic long staple cotton because Egypt is currently not participating in organic growing.  And since the coating they would normally put on the thread to help it move through the machine is not an organic process, this thread will pill, break, and leave a lot of dust.

 

Click here to read my original post on this topic, Organic Sewing Thread.

 

MSG and Me

As someone with an intolerance for MSG, it never fails to amaze me what you might find MSG in.  In my head there is a running list of what I can and cannot have to eat.  Every time I go out to a friend’s, go to a party, or go out to eat I have to ask “Does this have MSG in it?”.  If I risk it and the food does have MSG, 2-3 hours later – BAM!  I have a raging headache and am usually nauseous.

Here are some of the more common culprits:

• Canned/dry soup
• Chicken/beef broth
• Doritos and other flavored potato chips
• Stuffing
• Seasoning/spice mixes
• Chinese food
• KFC
• Gravy
• Mixed nuts
• Lunch meat
• Salad dressing

Often I wonder why food manufacturers feel it necessary to put MSG into foods in the first place.  But in looking at the chemical properties of MSG, the word “addictive” explains it all.

But what is a girl to do when the craving for a Doritos or some yummy BBQ chips hits? 

For several of my more favorite foods that have MSG, I have found alternatives.  Many are from the Organic section at the grocery store or you could try your local food co-op or health food store.  Here is a listing of some of my favorites:

• Doritos Natural white cheddar flavor http://www.fritolay.com/fl/flstore/cgi-bin/products_natural.htm
• Mad House Munchies BBQ, French Onion and Sea Salted kettle chips – YUMMY!!  http://www.madhousemunchies.com/
• Fantastic Foods makes great soups http://www.fantasticfoods.com/index.php
• Any organic broth or stock will not have MSG and has the benefit of having much less sodium than even the low sodium regular varieties
• Stuffing is now made entirely from scratch as most of the varieties I have found have MSG in them
• Hannaford’s (our local grocery store) has a line of all natural foods – Hannaford’s Inspirations http://www.hannaford.com
• Hannaford’s Inspirations deli meat and McKenzie turkey breast are all MSG free http://www.kayem.com/brands/mckenzie/default.asp
• I use either organic salad dressing or I make my own.  All of the regular Ranch salad dressings I have found in either a mix or bottled have MSG in them.

Please let me know of some of your favorites.  I am always looking for new MSG-free foods to try!

 

Organic Sewing Thread

In an effort to be a more “green quilter”, I have been researching different organic fabrics, battings, and threads.  Today I got a call from a rep at Gutermann thread.  He said that no one makes an organic thread and he wished they did. 

The problem, he said, is that while you can grow and spin orgainc cotton into thread, you cannot lubricate the thread organically.  The lubrication process used in thread manufacture does not conform to the green standards, thus negating any organic properties of the thread.  If you make a thread without the lubrication process, it will not stand up to the demands of a sewing machine.  The thread will constantly break despite tension adjustments and needle size.

So until a new organic process is developed to lubricate thread, anything you buy listed as 100% organic will likely have some fine print saying “exclusive of thread”.

 

Read more on this in my post Orgainic Sewing Thread, Continued.