Ms P - yes it is more than just the smell of smoke - the residue is still there. I'm a Project Linus coordinator. Following is the information we have received from our national offcie about giving blankets that reeks of smoke to kids:
------------------ Please be very careful when processing blankets donated to your chapter that smell of smoke. We have been advised by the allergist we consulted that the smoke residue stays in fabric and materials. Studies have shown that it remains there even after several washings. Even after exposure to sun or air, you may not be able to smell it and it probably won't hurt a healthy child but may cause a reaction in a child with compromised health. Project Linus has a non-smoking policy for this reason.
Ooooo, nasty allergy then. I'm allergic to the contact of smoke. Weird, I know. My eyelids swell up and turn bright red and the skin on my cheeks and nose actually peels!!!
Ginger, why don't you just copy the pattern? If you don't have a copy machine at home or at work there are lots of other places you can take it, Kinko's is one that comes to mind.
Judie
G> I just received a pattern from an auction on eBay. "Just Beachy" by
A bit more on this - allergies vary. There are two different things that can happen.
With some allergies to smelly substances (solvents in particular) the allergic reaction sets up a conditioned response to the smell. The result is that you get allergic symptoms just from the smell (and an entirely different chemical that happens to smell the same will get you in trouble) - conditioned responses can even produce a full-on potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction.
The more common situation is where the reaction is just as severe whether or not you can smell the stuff (most allergies are to proteins, which are odourless). Tobacco smoke allergies are usually like this, particularly when they go along with allergies to related plants (tobacco is in the nightshade family, along with tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and aubergine/eggplant, and allergic reactions to the whole family, whether eaten or smoked or in contact with the skin, are fairly common). For someone in this position, the smoke smell gives a potentially life-saving warning.
People ignorant about food allergies often think that if they disguise an ingredient enough, an allergic person won't notice ("it's all in the mind, isn't it?"). People like that often kill their friends.
Febreze must have been responsible for a lot of illness and death by concealing things that allergic folks really needed to know about.
==== j a c k at c a m p i n . m e . u k === ==== Jack Campin, 11 Third St, Newtongrange EH22 4PU, Scotland == mob 07800 739 557 CD-ROMs and free stuff: Scottish music, food intolerance, and Mac logic fonts
Joy & her husband do the local quilt shows, large (Dallas, Ft.Worth), medium (Arlington) and small (all the others ). They also do The Really Big Quilt Shows, tho' how they find the time.... She has a good reputation w/ us quilters. Probably knows Karen Stone as many of us do. You might email and ask if that pattern is in stock, buy it new, then offer the smoky pattern to someone on the ng who can bear the smell (not I; I'd be tempted to pitch it out).
That's what I do. We have cats and a dog, too. I just make sure the quilts don't get where the cats or dog have been or that the cats get on the quilts!
oooh, Raggs! you are such an enabler! I saw the pattern there, and will consider your suggestion. Unfortunately I also say several others that I do not have but would like to have. Sigh.....
Thanks to everyone for these comments. I am sensitive to many things, and bless/cursed with the auditory and olfactory [hearing and smelling] senses being very reactive to certain things.
I blame Emily Post. In one of her post-WWII etiquette books, she revises fine dining rules for the modern world. It used to be that a guest was expected to eat whatever was offered. In the new book, she says that it's okay to turn down offered food. She goes on to say that one may offer "allergies" as an excuse.
So you've got some people using the word "allergy" in its true medical sense, and other people using the word to mean "no thanks." If the guest is using the former meaning, and the hostess is using the latter meaning, why wouldn't she accidentally kill her friends?
I have a couple of "friends" like that. They don't understand why I no longer eat anything from them unless I saw them open the package and have read the ingredients myself. :)
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