Batting made from recycled bottles??!!

 Have you heard of Quilters Dream Green batting?  If not, you won’t believe that is being made from plastic bottles!  Dream Green batting is soft, cozy, and cuddly and is 100% made from recycled bottles – which is why it has such an unusual green color (there must be a lot of Mt. Dew drinkers out there).  You wouldn’t think anything this soft could come from those stiff plastic bottles, but it is true!

 

The plastic bottles are washed and cut into chips, then melted and extruded into fine denier poly microfibers.  Other than the color, these fibers are indistinguishable from virgin polyester fibers.  It is wonderful any time we have the opportunity to recycle and reuse plastic, and this use is just amazing.  Each pound of Dream Green rescues 10 bottles that could be added to the landfills.

 

But why would someone want to use polyester batting?  Dream Green and Dream Poly battings are not the same polyester as you may remember from years ago – the new microfibers mimic the cotton fibers in being breathable, soft and drapeable.  The fibers are so fine that they bend when coming in contact with the fabrics so, like cotton fibers, they also resist bearding.  There is no scrim, glues, or binders that cause resistance to the needle, and the fibers are long enough to provide enough structure for easy machine quilting.

 




Gidget lounging in the Dream Green fibers before it is processed!

Dream Green and Dream Poly battings are becoming more popular with modern quilters for a number of reasons:

·         The poly fibers do not hold moisture so it washes and dries very quickly in the machine or on the line

·         There is no shrinkage, so the quilt will have the same look after washing a hundred times as it did when it was first quilted

·         Dream Poly and Dream Green do not hold a crease – fold and store the quilt (or ship it to a show) and shake it out flat with no worries of fold lines or wrinkles.

·         The fibers are needle-punched so you get the right amount of loft – not too puffy and just lofty enough to show off the stitches

 

Give the friendly “Dream Team” at Quilters Dream Batting a call (888-268-8664) or email quiltersdreambatting@juno.comfor a free sample square of the Dream Green, and a mini sample of all the lovely battings made by Quilters Dream!  (We’ve stocked up on samples so there are plenty to go around!)

 

Happy Quilting!

 ~The Dream Team

 

 

Keep Calm and Let It Snow.



The heart of the oceanfront in Virginia Beach, Va

 

We speak to so many customers’ everyday and hear about the weather from all over the country. After hearing what some people tell us, some of us in the office want to move to Florida to bask in the warm sun while others prefer to visit the mountains to breathe in the fresh cold air.

This past weekend Virginia Beach got some snow. It wasn’t much maybe a GOOD inch or so. We never get much snow here so the whole town usually freaks out and the grocery stores are packed with people fighting over cases and cases of water and canned goods! It’s kind of funny to be honest. My preparation was a pot roast and a few bottles of wine. It was so nice to be cozy with a full belly lounging in my pajamas on the couch by 5pm but by 5:30 I started to go a little stir crazy. I had cabin fever within an hour?!  What do you do to entertain yourself when you are cooped up in the house?

 

Happy Quilting!

 ~The Dream Team

Getting Back To Basics

This past weekend my family hatched two tiny fuzzy chicks in an incubator in our spare bedroom. I am a logic-minded person, and hatching eggs and raising chickens is not a logical thing to do. The cost of the incubator, feeder, waterer, & special food, let alone chicken coop, run, etc. is nowhere near worth the return of the few fresh free range eggs I will get! However, as a quilter, I am certain you know and appreciate the true value of this project. It seems that over the years we have become an over processed country. The pre-packackaged, perfectly made, beautiful goods we buy and use are cheaper and more convenient than what we can possibly make ourselves. Happily, there is a movement that is slowly taking hold. This is a shift in values from what is perfectly manufactured toward the handmade, handgrown, handraised & more personal. In appreciation for the time, skill, effort and love that is sewn into every stitch, a handmade quilt is far more valuable than any blanket purchased from a store. This is an age when time is more valuable than money. Anyone can go out and buy a mass produced bauble, but it is extra special for someone to take the time make a unique creation. Each personal gift is truly a treasure! Each minute and hour spent working on a project, or raising homegrown goods, is a gift to the person engaged in the effort. In some ways, the journey is even more valuable than the destination.

This is why I know that the first tiny egg I find from one of these new chickens my family is having so much fun raising will be more precious to me than all the perfectly sized, cleaned, stark white, prepackaged eggs in the supermarket! (Let’s just hope they turn out to be chickens and not roosters!)  

Happy Quilting!

 ~The Dream Team

Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS

 

Every day is Christmas here at Quilters Dream Batting because every day Fed Ex, UPS and our postal carriers bring in packages that pile up in the office, blocking doors, and creating a wonderful labyrinth of gifts!  It is so exciting – just imagine, Christmas every day, with gifts of quilts arriving from all over for ALS patients through Quilters Dream’s Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS.


We love Mark! He brings the best goodies!



 



What makes Neva smile? Bright & cheery florals.

We are in the fifth year of Hopes & Dreams, and, once again, we have been made aware that quilters are the most thoughtful, generous, and loving people around.  As Jennifer opens each box, it is a new surprise of colors and wonder.  Even though these quilts will not end up on our own beds, we rejoice in the unpacking, admiring, and coveting of these beautiful quilts that have been lovingly made for ALS patients and ALS research.  Although all the quilts are appreciated, each of us in the office is drawn toward a different style.   Kathy’s favorites are always the batiks and the hand-stitched lovelies.  Gina, our beachcomber, enjoys the peaches and teals of sea-themed quilts.  The pastels are Pat’s favorites, who feels the soft feminine teals, pinks, and blues are warm and calming.  Neva, an avid gardener, is immediately drawn to the bright and cheery florals.  Personally, I like the funky modern piecing designs and unique machine quilted patterns that accent them. 

 Jennifer, our photographer, is fortunate to be able to see each and every quilt unfolded, and enjoys posting the pictures on Facebook for an admiring audience of over 5,000 fans!

 

Look at all these jewels we get to open!!!!

 
 

Every day is Christmas at Quilters Dream because every day we are reminded of how blessed we are to be a part of the caring, generous community of quilters who have made Hopes & Dreams a success.

 

 

Check out all the quilts that have been donated by visiting http://www.facebook.com/pages/Quilters-Dream-Batting-sponsoring-Hopes-and-Dreams-Quilt-Challenge-for-ALS/150913912237?ref=ts&fref=ts

 

 

For more information about the Hopes & Dreams Quilt Challenge for ALS, click the link below.

http://quiltersdreambatting.com/HD/ALS.htm

Happy Quilting!

 ~The Dream Team

 

 

How do you enjoy your quilt?

 

I looked into the living room yesterday to see my two boys curled up together in a quilt on the couch watching a movie and eating pizza… how could it not make me smile.  The oldest, 4 year old Caleb, will often share the quilt with his brother, 2 year old Lucas, and together they watch movies or pull the quilt over their heads giggling underneath, or catch the dog in a quilt “net.”  This quilt, which spends most of its days on the back of the couch, is well loved, often washed, and, to be honest, it is very much abused.  As I looked over the beautiful fabrics offered at Quilt Market in Houston, I thought about what old and new fabrics I wanted to use in my next quilt, which I will be making for my niece’s new baby.  I am happily planning this quilt with the intention of it receiving the same kinds of loving abuse as the one my boys have.  Some quilts aren’t meant to be hung on a wall for a long time – they are meant to be very well loved just for a short while.

 

 

This got me thinking about a poem my co-worker, Neva, shared with me, written by Nancy Riddel. I am happy to share that poem with you, and hope more than a few of you recognize this quilt in your own family.  Happy Quilting!   ~Jane~

 

It’s Your Quilt

By Nancy Riddel

 It’s OK if you sit on your quilt.

It’s OK if your bottle gets spilt

If you swallow some air

And you burp, don’t despair,

It’s OK if you spit on your quilt.

 

There are scraps old and new

in your quilt

Put together for you on your quilt.

If your gums feel numb

‘Cause your teeth haven’t come,

It’s OK if you chew on your quilt.

 

We expect you to lie on your quilt.

If you hurt, you may cry

on your quilt.

On a cold rainy night,

Don’t you fret, you’re all right,

You’ll be snug, warm and dry

On your quilt

Happy Quilting!

 ~The Dream Team