Hand Wash Your Ironing Board Cover

Have you been using an iron board with a cover that you're embarrassed to have anyone else see?

As you can see from these pictures my answer would be a resounding YES!

I'm sure you've seen the numerous postings on how to recover your ironing board. I was all set to use one of those tutorials to recover mine but if you've read my blog you know that I'm frugal. I would rather spend my money on quilting fabric. 

So I just kept using my ironing board with the nasty cover until I couldn't take it anymore. I went out and brought a sheet at the thrift store to use and it sat around for a while and for whatever reason I just didn't want to bother with making a cover. 

Then one day it dawned on me. The tag on the cover said do not machine wash. It doesn't say not to hand wash it. So that's what I did. I put a little fabric soap in my sink and plunked my cover into it and let it sit for about an hour. 

When I came back, all the thread that had been stuck on it was floating in a sink filled with brown water. The first time I did this when I fished out the thread it was the size of a baseball. I kid you not...a baseball. (Okay, I'll admit it...I had been using this grungy ironing board cover for almost 2 years.)

After rinsing it out a few times until the water was clear I threw it in the dryer and when I pulled it out, it was almost like new.

So now, I wash my cover once a month and the sheet I had brought to use for a new cover has been moved to my stash instead.

Hopefully, this tip saves you money you can spend on quilting fabric, which in my book is a win-win.

Thanks for stopping by...

My 2019 Quilting Goal

Hi!

Are you the type of person who starts the new year off with a list of resolutions? 

Usually, I am not that person.  I sometimes write down things I want to accomplish during the year but I don't call them resolutions because I don't like to the feeling of failure at the end of the year when those resolutions are not achieved.

But for the past few days, I've been thinking about goals and resolutions.

First off, I had to know what is the difference between a goal and a resolution? I googled it and found a lot of different websites with definitions. But basically, here is what I found.

A Resolution is a decision to do or not do something and a Goal is the object of a person's ambition or effort; an aim or desired result. Goals provide a direction to follow to achieve the desired outcome. 

So for 2019, my desired outcome is to become a better quilter, blogger and to eventually make money doing what I love. 

So here is a list of my action plan or steps necessary to make my goal a reality.

• Learn how to use the Electric Quilt 8 software that I got for Christmas.
• Make a string quilt.
• Make a quilt using templates.
• Make a quilt using paper piecing and/or foundation piecing
• Work on my free motion quilting technique.
• Post on my blog every week.
• Figure out Photo Shop to use on my blog.
• Take an in-person quilt class.
• Participate in a quilt along.
• Move my quilt "studio" out of the loft and into Connor's room.

Looking at my list, my goal does not seem unattainable. 

I'll let you know how it goes.

In the meantime...back to quilting.

Here's the quilt top for my newest quilt. I'm working on a Rail Fence quilt using fat quarters and scraps from my stash. Today I'll be figuring out the backing and cutting the binding strips and if I have time I will start the basting.  Hopefully, I'll be done with the whole thing in about two weeks.

Next post I'll have some tips and tricks for you.

Until then...

Camille F.