It's time

Oh - I've been away a long time. Thanks again to those who send emails and messages checking up on me. I've just been muddling around here - busy some days, not so busy other days.

I keep a small stack of quilts on the treadle sewing machine in the bedroom . . .

And now, girls and boys, it is time. Time to re-fold those quilts. If we leave our quilts folded in the same way all the time they begin to get fold lines,

Like this . . . oh dear!

And we don't want that, do we now? No, of course not - so let's get at that stack of quilts and re-fold.

If you have quilts hanging on a quilt rack - be sure and refold them too . . .

It is easy to fold quilts in half, in half again, then in half the other way, etc. By doing so, we form a habit in the quilt of always being folded the same way.

So refold in thirds and make sure that the fold lines are never in the same place as the previous ones. We have a lot of show-and-tell at our monthly sew-ins, and one of the ladies, after helping hold up the quilts so we can all see them, automatically folds them in thirds. That is a great habit, giving the quilts new fold lines.

Fold lines can discolor or become faded - so let's refold. We should refold quilts that we have on display, on the back of sofas and chairs, banisters, shelves or cupboards. It takes a little work every few months - but worth it when our quilts stay healthy.

Our quilts don't like to be left in the hot sun, rolled up in a plastic bag (someone might mistake them for trash), left in a damp musty basement or locked in an old trunk in the attic. Some kinds of wood can stain a quilt, and make sure, if you place the quilt on a wooden surface, that there is no furniture polish on the wood - it will seep into your quilt and stain it permanently.


If you must store a quilt - put it in a cotton pillowcase, it can breath and won't get tossed in the trash. If you have flimsies (quilt tops not quilted yet) refold them too. If they are stored on hangers in the closet, take them off the hangers and make sure the folds and hanging are not in the same spot as before. If you use clips to hold them on the hangers, pad the clips with scraps of muslin to soften the effect of the pinching on the fabric.

If you have a deep stack of quilts, rotate the stack so the bottom quilt is out from under all that pressure. I do this a little more often than I refold the quilts - just to keep the weight off one or two quilts all the time.

If you lay quilts across the foot of your beds for display, refold them too - it is good for the quilts.

Did you refold your quilts? If you have a lot of them, do a few at a time - but do keep at it until they are all refolded. How many quilts do you have, to refold?