Fabric Tuesday, 8/16/11

I'm here to report on the good, the bad and the ugly - yes, all three.  First the good: 

I soaked this square in cold water and all the mark-be-gone blue marks came out - even though I had ironed over them in constructing the block.

Now the bad:  I foolishly trimmed the block before I soaked it and then hung it out on the clothesline in the hot sun to dry and the muslin shrunk!  It is no long 12 1/2" but 12 1/4" square (sort of).  Good thing I am adding sashing next and can compensate that way.

And lastly the ugly.  Remember I used that dissolvable applique sheet to get the lettering on the spine of my book block?  Well, I don't know what I was thinking.  Those sheets are compressed and formed of little fibers that break loose and thus dissolve in the water - but not if you stitch over them three times!  Then they're stuck to the black.  Arrrghhhhh!  Also I didn't read the directions carefully enough.  One is suppose to lightly press the fusible side to the fabric - press it for 5 seconds and it sticks like cement.  Remember here this product is suppose to be on the back side, so wouldn't cause these problems necessarily.  But I've washed this three times in warm water - each time a few more fibers came off.  I even used Goo Gone before the third wash/soak and still some of those pesky fibers were all over the place.  My husband loaned me some very fine tweezers and with the aid of a poweful magnifier, I was able to get some more off.  Then I took a black ball point and made the letter stand out a little more.  All I can do.  I'm not doing it over!  Will just have to be a dusty book in the quilt when I put these blocks together.  So here is the book block completed:

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