Shoppers Rule Blog

Did you know that the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) requires that manufacturers of children’s products (i.e., products primarily intended for children 12 years of age or younger) must place permanent marks on their products if at all possible starting with goods manufactured on or after August 14, 2009?

Section 103 of the CPSIA further provides that the tracking label must contain information that will enable the ultimate purchaser to ascertain the manufacturer or private labeler, location and date of production of the product, and related information such as batch number or other identifying characteristic. The information must be on the product and on the packaging.

In plain English, this means that for children’s clothing, you will be able to track when, where, and by whom your child’s clothing was made.

Anvil is setting a great precedent in complying with the CPSIA. For example, on an Anvil youth t-shirt, a tracking label will be located on the wearer’s left back, bottom hem. Anvil is also planning to launch a companion website, TrackMyT.com, for consumers to track their t-shirts directly online.

I’m not sure what could possibly be a safety concern with a t-shirt. But for items with snaps, zippers, and other hardware that could possibly test positive for lead, it provides a distinct trail. So, if there is ever a safety concern, manufacturers will be able to respond quickly and responsibly.

Labor Day has come and gone.  With this signal of summer’s end, it is natural that our thoughts turn to winter.  Perhaps that is why many of you have been emailing requests for more quilting thread.

Needless to say, my attempts to accommodate lead to many options, cotton vs. poly-wrapped cotton; spools vs. cones; neutral solids to bold variegated combinations; 30 wt, 50 wt, 60 wt, etc.

Obviously, the multitude of options exists for a reason. For piecing and machine sewing the fabric of the quilt, any good quality, cotton or polyester-wrapped cotton with no coating is suitable. (If machine sewing, be sure the label says the thread is designed for machine quilting.) For stitch-in-the-ditch and “hidden” stitches, invisible thread is desirable. For quilting techniques such as stippling, variegated cotton thread can add depth and interest.

The possibilities are endless. But the place to start looking for thread is simple. Check out the new “Quilting Thread” category on the Shoppers Rule website by visiting http://www.shoppersrule.com/c/Thread21/index.html.

Happy Quilting!