I'm so sorry you got burnt. But, to play devil's advocate here, do the instructions on both the timer and the iron indicate that they are compatible with each other?

I checked on Rowenta's website and for the Latitude Travel Iron (not sure if that's what you've got or not), it says "9. The use of accessory attachments is not recommended by Rowenta Appliance Company and may result in fire, electric shock or personal injury." Would the timer be considered an accessory attachment? It also says, "If an extension cord is absolutely necessary, a 10-ampere cord should be used. Cords rated for less amperage may overheat. Care should be taken to arrange the cord so that it can not be pulled or tripped over." So since a special extension cord is required, could this also mean that a special timer would be required?

Good luck getting some answers to the problem.

No, I think Rowenta should send money to buy an iron of a different brand (!), and the fabric money too - more fairly, all the money you have tied up in that quilt as well as a fair price for the time you have invested in it, plus extra for pain and suffering. This is the second time I've read on this board about an iron doing that, and I thought it was totally unheard of the first time. I don't have the other one bookmarked. That quilter did not mention the brand name. Electric irons have been around for many decades, and there is no excuse for it to be that dangerous. The problem should be reported to the Consumer Product Safety Commission: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prerel.html so that the iron can be recalled and nobody else will have this awful experience.

Sorry to hear of your fire incident, but far more concerned about you. Thank goodness you're ok.

Geez...sorry about your hand and fabric. I am glad the damage wasn't worse; however, that doesn't solve your problem. Maybe one of us can help when we see the fabric.

There was another thread on here recently about someone's Rowenta "firing up". I remember it vividly because I tried to share it with a friend and she missed the whole point, intimidated thinking I knew something about irons. She does not like to think I know anything about anything since she's been sewing for 30 yrs. She said their house wiring must be messed up, lol.

Anyhow...... I hope you are ok, and will see what they said about it.

I would applique something cute over that spot like a flower or something. You could even do 2 or 3 so it looked planned. Noone will ever know! :O)

Oh my I'm glad the house didn't burn down bless your heart. Let us know what Rowenta says. Hope you heal quickly.

I would urge each and every one of you to stop thinking about it and go down to Costco TODAY and buy at least one extinguisher. You can get one rated for every kind of fire (including chemical and electrical) for $15-$25. I've had reason to use a fire extinguisher 3 times in my 43 years, once as a child and twice as an adult. The most recent incident (which was 10 years ago) was the cause of a faulty, recalled breaker switch installed in our house by the previous owner. We had no way of knowing the breaker switch had been recalled. When the fire department arrived, my DH had already put the fire out. The firemen told us at a minimum we had saved one bedroom, at a maximum our entire house, by using an extinguisher. The house sustained only minor damage to the siding, which my husband was easily able to repair.

Every single hair dryer I've ever owned "glowed" while in operation. That glowing element is where the heat comes from. Toasters and space heaters use the same concept. As an earlier poster said, just be sure to keep the grate at the back of the hair dryer clean and free from hair, lint, and dust.

I agree with the others that you should take a picture of the backing fabric. This QB is absolutely amazing and people seem to have pretty much everything. If you can't do an applique or label on the burned spot, then by all means, let's see if someone has a piece you could get from here.

And a picture of the iron, too, would be great.

Kay - This was bad enough but I am thankful that this wasn't worse than it was. I hope that your hand will heal just quickly and feel better really soon. This was a very scary thing to have happen and you acted quickly to handle it. I too have a Rowenta travel iron as I am sure a bunch of us do, so we all need to be careful with them!

Oh girl, you got it bad. Your rings are singed, the hand is burnt and all you can think about is the backing fabric. lol Glad you're OK and it didn't get worse.

This is not the first time I have heard of Rowenta irons sponaneously igniting. They should be very interested in your situation. Try contacting Underwriters Laboratory. They also will be interested.

I'm so sorry you got burned. I had a Dr. tell me to immediately alternate between ice water and cold water until the burn is gone. Now for any burns I get I apply EMU Oil. It works so good. And I just bought a Rowenta Travel iron and it hasn't even been taken out of the box. I am afraid to plug it in.

My hugs and prayers as well for a speedy recovery...

Owee, Owee, Oweeeeee...... Just thinking about it makes me hurt. So sorry this happened. Is the burn on your palm? What a pain. If you have not gone to the doctor and had it looked at, maybe you should. I think it depends on the size of the blister.

I burned my back on a heating pad a few years ago. There is a reason you should not fall asleep on them. I had a big blister and also deep burn. The best thing I found to use are gel band aid things. I think they are made for burns. They helped the pain and kept the blister from drying out. I could always tell when it was time to change the bandage. I found them at Walmart i think, in the First aid aisle. I don't think any ointment is needed with these. I think it is part of them. But my burn heeled fairly quickly and with no scar.

Mine caught on fire too. Scary stuff! I marched it back to Joanns. I only had it for a week.

Thanks everyone for your input regarding my iron fire. This morning I called Rowenta's customer service department. Explained to the gal the situation. She is sending me a postage paid label so I can return the iron to them. She asked me if I wanted to file a claim for the fabric and any medical expenses I had. Since I had no medical expense - other than the silvadine I already had - and I have had time to think about an alternative repair to the fabric, I said no - but I did feel they should replace the iron and tell me EXACTLY what happened - once they take it apart and look into it. She assured me they would contact me but we'll see. This iron was new about a year ago. This is the third Rowenta travel iron I have had: one handle broke and the other one finally quit heating. I like the size and weight of this little iron but now I'm a little worried about another one. Does anyone recommend another brand that is similar in size? I'm in a daze right now as to what to replace it with.

Also, I wanted to thank everyone for offering to see if my backing fabric was available from someone's stash. It is a black background fabric and the dye lots are often off enough to make it noticible. I'm going to embroidery on plain black fabric - I used it on the quilt top also - to put in a section that will compliment the quilt top. I think that will work o.k. Think I just paniced yesterday.....I'll post pictures when I have the quilt finished.

Didn't have time today to get pictures of the iron and burnt fabric, but will try to do that soon also.

Bless your heart and heal quickly. Thanks for the heads up on the iron!

I hope your hand heals quickly. I would take pictures of the fabric and your hand to document everything just in case you need it later. I have a Rowenta iron and will never ever buy another one. MIne is a little over a year old and leaks like a seive. I paid over $100 for it and it is useless. I contacted customer service and was told i was SOL. I loved the iron while it worked. It is lightweight and glides wonderfully. It leaks. Tos. I plan on taking it back to Bed Bath and Beyond tomorrow to ee if they can do anything. Good luck with your troubles. Hope the hand is OK.

So sorry to hear about your injury! Burns can be nasty and can hurt like the dickens.

Before you send the iron back to Rowenta, I would document, document, document. Also I would contact the Consumer Protection Agency and the Underwriters Laboratory and let them know what happened.

Hugs from New Hampshire...heal well and quickly.

Kay, have you seen the little Dritz "Petite Press" iron? I have had mine for a couple of years now and I absolutely love it. It has 4 temperature settings, and both the stand and the head are adjustable. It does not steam. I keep it beside my sewing machine to press small seams. I love it so much I purchased a few extra for gifts for my quilty friends and a back-up for myself. You can get them for around $25 on Amazon; Joann's and Fabric Depot also have them at $40 and you can use your 40% coupon for them. It's located on the Notions wall at Joann's, not with the rest of the irons, so when they have 50% off all notions, this iron is included!

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Glad you are on the path of recovery (you, the iron and importantly:) that backing!). I am never completely trusting of electrical appliances (get a bit OCD with making sure everything is off before I go out). My former MIL once told me her neighbour left a can of spray starch next to the iron (which was on)....the can exploded and caused quite a bit of damage....yet another thing to watch out for.

How awful! I hope your burns are not serious. I have a Rowenta travel iron that I take to quilting retreats and classes. Thanks for the warning. Please let us know what the manufacturer tells you.

Glad you are okay. I have one and now will be aware of what could happen.

when you return the iron, I would also include pictures of the damaged quilt and your injuries..You deserve to be compensated for your full losses, including the extra hours that you have ahead of you in repairing this quilt, as well as the hours of lost work..I hope you feel better soon, and they can resolve your iron issue\

I feel you should take the iron to the local fire department to have them look at it first. The copper wires in it are probably not the right size. Even though the UL label is on it, they could have tested some "special made" irons that had thicker wiring, and when the rest of the irons were made, they used thinner wire. I have read a lot about the danger in overheated wiring even in a house, a house can burn down from faulty wiring. I feel a lot of the items coming out of China are not up to grade and how some of this stuff is approved for sale in this country, I do not know. Let the FEDS
hire some quilters to check things out, and we could fix a lot of stuff. Be safe, all of us. God bless. Be sure to keep us updated on all of this.

PLUS any compensation for medical/pain you might have endured!

So sorry about your injury. Glad you are okay.

Oh how scary!!
I will have to tell my GF, she has one of those.

Hope you heal up fast!

It was bad enough that the iron burst into flames while you held it, but it could of been worse if you were out of the room.....I had a delongi space heater in a basement room that I would turn on when I was going to be in for a while...I turned it on and walked into other room for a minute and came back to a full blown flame......threw a rug over it. Thank god I didn't go up stairs...This has nothing to do with quilting, but just a heads up as to what can happen.
I too had a Rowenta that lasted less than a year.....

In a family of firefighters, we had to walk the house everytime we left. Nothing was left on and my dad does not trust appliances with timers. Yes, he'd clean our lint filters every year and sometimes twice. Our home insurance carrier gives us a discount for having an extinguisher in the house. So, every few years we get a new one. Now, we have one in the garage, upstairs and kitchen. I would have contacted the Fire Department to get their assistance in investigating the "cause" even though you already know the issue. They can begin the process to notify all the pertinent parties, State and Federal Fire Investigators, Consumer Protection, Underwriter Lab (UL) to document and substantiate any claim or future class action. It's not to be dismissed as some of those "accidents" have lead to product recalls and major class action lawsuits.

oh my goodness are you okay hope you heal quickly

I don't think they had a good reputation. Marketing bought their claim to fame so to speak. They professed to be a quality product and charged top quality prices but in reality they had/have a bad reputation. Many complaints on their irons. I also had one and it was the worst iron I ever had.

How scary for you!!! I agree that Rowenta owes you an explaination, a new iron AND new fabric!!! I hope your hand heals quickly! Please let us know what happens!

Sorry about the fire. Could you possibley put an applique over the hole in the Backing fabric?

Oh Kay! This is terrible! I hope your hand and quilt heal! I have heard of other irons bursting in flames but now while in use! Hugs my friend!

I'm sorry that this happened to you too. I can relate to that in a way. I had a hair dryer do the same thing to me while I was using it. I had a burn on my hand and it didn't stop hurting for awhile. Send that iron back to them and also if there is any doctor and medicine bills send them too. They should compensate you for everything "Dr. Meds. Iron, Material" . I hope your hand will heal quickly for you so you can get back to quilting.

For your burned backing....you may want to applique something (bird, flower, leaf etc.) Sure is bad luck. I hope the burn on your skin was not too bad.

Wow...that is scary! I'm glad you're okay and have figured out how to salvage the backing. I agree with others, take pictures and document, document, document. I wouldn't be too quick to let them off the hook.