I use a top loader that does HE with my diapers - the Fisher & Paykel AquaSmart. I love the machine. I use prefolds, polyester/PUL covers, and polyester pocket diapers (I also use a wool cover but I hand-rinse and lanolize it). I use Charlie's soap and Calgon to wash the diapers (we have slightly hard water). I don't do any soaking or bleaching and rarely wash a poopy diaper anymore, just urine ones (I potty my 8 month old and have since 4 months, called elimination communication, infant pottying, etc.). Even when I get a diaper with poop, I just throw it in the washer and do my normal loads. Then again, I'm not completely satisfied with the washing process because none of the preset programs match exactly what I'm trying to do. What I want to do is a simple soak, short agitation, and rinse, all on cold with 1/2 the normal detergent. This gets out the urine and stuff without setting the stains. Then I run a hot cycle with full detergent. What I have to do with this washer, though, is run a full cold cycle with a 2 hour soak (because there's no way to shorten the soak). I usually set this going overnight because it takes so long! I love so many things about this washer, including the delay feature, but I need a shorter cold rinse cycle with maybe 1/2 hr soak. I also love how this washer can flip between HE and conventional. I wash the diapers using the conventional method, which is not too water-piggy compared to true conventional washers. I've been using the hot cycle on my pocket diapers for 8 months and the elastic is fine. I think I can contact the F&P techs to program my own cycle. Anyone have experience with this?

Thanks so much for your responses. My3dogs, I too saw that post regarding the Weird Grass cloth project, she is going to do the same project as me, just wanted to see if any of daring and wonderfully helpful Gardenweb folks had taken on this project (or had got the look using fabric). Sweeby, I too thought of vinyl, but the papers I saw were too shiny : ( . It's a console table, so if I use the grass cloth or fabric, I am going to finish it in low luster poly to give it some durability. Thanks again for the responses! : )

When my dad died, I used several of his plaid flannel shirts to make two star quilts - the brown tones for my brother, and the red tones for myself and my sons. With the pockets from the brown shirt in the upper right and lower left of the nine-square wall-hanging, I then put a picture of my dad, my brother, my nephew & his son in the middle. (Representing 4 generations of our family name.) Upper left dark brown flannel had the word "Legacy" embroidered. The lower right had the names of the four generations embroidered - with the year born & died under my dad's name. I gave that wall-hanging to my mom, who lives with my brother. Then, after my mom is gone, my brother has a matching set.

Pam, have you seen a pattern that is nearly what you're looking for? You may be able to buy one and alter it to what you want. You'd definitely want to start with a pattern designed for knits. I've been sewing for a LONG time (like 30 years or something) and I've made one pattern by copying from an existing garment. It worked out okay. You could check your library to see if they have any books on pattern drafting. I got the instructions I used from a magazine - probably Threads - so you might want to do a web search for pattern drafting and see if you can find any information there. Donna