Laundry Day

In the process of creating, I think washing is the most difficult but most important step. If things were staying with me, I would skip the machine drying in favor of air drying - but because I know these are headed to some new parents I want to be certain that the home made items are up to serious use.

Wonky Stacked Coin for Baby C
This was the hardest one to put into the wash - probably because it's spent so much time sitting around waiting for this step! It's a bit more wrinkled now than before, but not as much as I would have liked. So far as I can tell, none of the colors ran - despite none of the pieces being pre-washed. That's a relief!

Washing did reveal a spot where the binding didn't quite stitch to the back of the quilt. I picked out some of the stitches for a few inches and re-sewed it. Since the binding is sewn to the the back, then wrapped around to the front and sewn again, I only had to pick the folded over part - so I didn't have to worry about it coming completely loose from the quilt.

Here's a close up of my reworked spot - front and back. It's not great. It's also not much worse than several other spots that haven't been reworked. I'm trying to decide if it's worth redoing the whole thing, for another chance at doing it right. I've left it out where I have to see it every day and I'm trying to decide if it's worth the effort/frustration. Especially knowing there's no guarantee a rework would be an improvement - although I'd add another half inch to the total binding width, which made the Monkeys and Bananas binding much easier than this one. Decisions, decisions... 

Hooded Towels
These washed and dried quickly and easily - but I was surprised to see how fluffy the terry cloth looks now.  The cotton trim picked up a layer of loose fluff, but a visit to the lint roller cleared it up easily. A few long pieces of terry needed snipped off as well. The cloth feels softer and more cuddly than before, but looking at how much lint came off the terry cloth has me wondering if I need to wash them again.

Flannel & Terry Cloth Wipes
This was a bit of a disappointment. Even though my flannel side had been washed prior to being sewn to the terry cloth, there was a bit more shrinkage than I'd planned for. This has resulted in a bumpy finish as the extra terry cloth bulges around its confines. It could be worse, but I'm not sure if they're up to being given away.

Terry-Back Bibs 
Fortunately, the bibs came out better than the wipes - even the bib that was made with the same flannel as the wipes. Maybe the additional stitching helped hold things in place more firmly than the simple straight lines of the wipes. They still need fasteners, but I'm much happier with them than with the wipes.

Teddy Bear Blanket with Flannel Back
This is just a quick, silly, addition to the Welcome Baby C package. I hadn't intended to make something else, but Mom C is a big fan of toile fabric, so when I saw these bears I knew I had to have them for her. I resisted for several trips to the store, but when there was a sale eventually I could no longer resist. It's backed in a sweet, pink/peach houndstooth flannel. I'm not quite the fan of toile as Mom C is, but I have enough to make another just like this, and I've very tempted to add one to the trunk (which means future gifts, or futurekid).

Monkeys and Bananas Quilt
Fortunately, this came out of the dryer with no issues - not even little bitty ones. Seeing it washed, I wish I'd doubled the amount of quilting. Still, I'm very pleased with the finish, and pleased that it doesn't need a bit of touching up.

I still have a few things waiting for their turn in the wash cycle, but I feel like I made a serious dent in the pile.