Vintage and Feedsack Fabric Quilt
Continuing on with last year's them of Use It or Lose It, this week I cut into my treasured collection of vintage fabrics and feedsack fabrics. I have accumulated these fabrics over a number of years, all were carefully washed and stored, some pieces were occasionally cut into for a project, but never a quilt using so many of these hoarded precious and much loved fabrics.
The fabrics used to make this quilt top include vintage fabrics (from the bolt), feedsack fabrics as well as designer quilting cottons (new fabric). The variation in the weave of the fabrics - some coarse and with an open weave, others more tightly woven and fine - as well as the variable quality of the fabrics made sewing with them slightly challenging, although overall I wasn't too concerned with how the quilt top was coming together.
Although all of the vintage/feedsack fabrics had already been washed, I re-washed and tumble dried all of the fabrics prior to cutting. It surprised me to see how much red dye seeped from the large scale red gingham fabric (a vintage fabric), especially as I had previously washed it.
Once the quilt top was completed I spent some time pressing seams. I use a warm iron (on a cotton setting) with lots of steam to gently press my quilt tops. The task of pressing the seams and the quilt top itself wasn't a problem, but I was troubled by the slight musty smell coming from the quilt top and in the vapors from the iron; the smell of vintage fabric that wasn't at all obvious whilst I was working on the quilt top, still lingered in the fabric.
My plan of action is to work on removing the smell with a natural remedy, before basting and quilting. The internet suggest baking soda, sunshine, vinegar .... If you have remedy I would love to hear it, and all suggestions will be greatly appreciated, for I can't imagine a quilt that smells "not quite right". That's just wrong!
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