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Tuesday 8 January 2019

How do you do it?

NO, not eat your creme egg! Although I expect Easter Eggs are in the shops already.

What I mean is how do you build your quilt top?
I am making 30 blocks that need to be around 20" x 18" unfinished.
I am using my normal method for this type of (log cabinesque) block, picking out the first small square and sewing another to it 30 times. Then adding the first strip to each block, press trim and repeat. 
I have seen a few people making each block before moving on to the next. I also see some making 4 at a time, round by round, and then moving on to the next set of 4.
I quite like both ideas, but although these are fairly random if I finish a few blocks and stack them I forget the colour placement and balance and am likely to end up with a few identical blocks.

I have my part worked blocks in a stack and then spread out a selection of strips along the table. I mix up width, colour, tone, highly patterned and almost tone on tone. I do not often add solids to my blocks.

Even then I sometimes change it up by working more on one side of a block than the other. This changes the layout and increases the random factor for me.

It is very hard to be completely random, I like to balance out colours and shades. I do not make the traditional log cabin with one half dark and the other light. It is far too regimented for my taste.
Having said that I have followed quilt patterns and I have made blocks one at a time, usually because they are intricate.
I am fully aware that there is a whole community out there who would sniff at my work. It is not traditional, it is too colourful, I mix old and new fabrics at times etc etc.
It bother me not. I sew because I love it. I quilt for the joy. I mix it up and "cut my coat according to my cloth". 
Yes I do buy good (and pricey) fabric, I also buy from the Fabric Guild at rock bottom prices. 
I recently backed a quilt with a duvet cover from a charity shop. It was in top notch condition, came from an upmarket supplier, it was Super King size and the perfect colour and shade. Win win, for both me as the maker and the recipient. I did of course put it on a full wash program first, and I used  white vinegar final rinse.
I have enough fabric for another quilt back left, all for the princely sum of £5.00. I could maybe buy 1/2 metre of fabric for that, in the sale.
I wonder why peeps will happily crow about the quilt top made from "Vintage Fabric" and then recoil in horror from secondhand in the CS. 
Then again I have seen so called vintage dresses on sale for £stupid, when a similar dress can be had for £2-£5 in said CS. 
I wonder where the Vintage dress/fabric came from?

I have been writing this as I have a tea break and am off now to add another round of strips, the blocks are around 14" x 12" so not far to go now.

                              TTFN                          Pam


25 comments:

  1. I agree with you and do it just the same way as you . I put together squares, blocks then into strips..stitch them all together then add sashing around that main area of patchwork to frame it and then I use safety pins (lots and lots of them )to pin all three layers front /wadding/back together..I can then roll it all up and take it everywhere I go for those odd little moments that I occasionally have to quilt it nice and leisurely by hand . That is what I usually do . Then when that is all done , time to sew on the binding strips..put some nice music on ...very therapeutic..I recommend Vivaldi :) Debbie :) x

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    1. I do some hand quilting but mostly it is by machine. This current one will be free motion quilted for a change. I knit in the evenings in front of the TV as it is more sociable. I always have a pair of socks for portable knitting.

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  2. Believe it or not, I saw Easter eggs in the Co-op yesterday along with Valentines cards.

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    1. I am not a bit surprised, after all by September the Christmas stuff will be cuddles up next to the Halloween things.

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  3. Hi Pam, I cannot settle to craft at the moment. However I am quite happy to buy good quality sheets etc from the CS and then re-use them as well as fabric in garments etc. I have yet to start my first quilt using CS men's large shirts and have been collating the fabric for quite a while in different colourways. I am nearly there with the fabric. Our mutual friend BB is coming on in leaps and bounds with the patchwork and you and her are inspiring me more than ever to get stuck in but I just cannot focus at the moment. It will come. Think its down to my muddled mind more than anything else. But if I start anything now when not fully focused it will go wrong - so am not going there. When my nephew was born I had quilted a pre-printed baby panel by hand and turned it into a quilt for his cot. I bought a reduced sheet in the right colour then to make up the quilt. As to your method of working is that not down to your own particular choice and what works best for you in the long run. Hope you are keeping well. Enjoy your crafting from desperate to get there! Tricia xx

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  4. i was just being a bit nosy Tricia, it is amazing how many ways there are to do a single thing. I have made a few quilts from Men,s shirts,there is a great deal of fabric in each one.The sections with pockets are lovely for a child's quilt, each pocket can hold a little gift. Once you are feeling ready you will be set with everything that you need to hand.

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  5. I am do envious of you and your crafting it doesn't stop. I can't wait for the renovation to end so I can crack on.

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    1. I am fortunate that I have the time to devote to it, I do stop sometimes and read a book over a couple of days for a break.

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  6. See my recent blog post for the current WIP - I chose the pairs which I thought complemented one another and gradually sewed 4's into 8's and then 16's and tomorrow at my class we will lay all those out and decide on the final setting and I hope to get them all sewn together and ready to go and machine quilt on Alex's long arm quilter. Quite excited at the thought of learning!

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    1. Ooh, long arm quilting, I have used a few different machines and it is a fast way to finish your quilt. I find that I can not stand for so long so all my work is done with my btm firmly on a seat.

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  7. hi! Your quilt sounds lovely, you are very methodical! My quilting would not get by the quilt police at all. I made a quilt for my eldest daughter when she was 5. Its made up of her baby/toddler clothes and my maternity clothes. 20 years on she used it as a student to cover a sofa. Needless to say it got a git worn and tattered. I am now mending it (visibly) with odd bibs and bobs from clothes she has given me she loved to wear, old ties my husband wore, appliques of childhood clothes I kept in the button draw. Its a mishmash, but every square, every addition tells a story. So arrest me! ;) M.

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    1. Ties, that took me back. I once scrounged a load of men,s ties, unpicked them and made a dress. I sewed enough together with the narrow end at the top, keeping the points, to go round my bust with room for a zip. The natural shape of the ties made it fit really well.

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  8. I say do what makes you happy.
    Beware of sheets and some other close weave fabrics, they are hell to hand quilt (tried one for backing ! ) but fine for machine quilting.

    Patricia... You could make a start by cutting up the shirts into usable pieces, ready for a head start when you get creative.

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    1. If I hand quilt it will be for a baby or small child so the backing will probably be flannel. So soft to handle. I did once use flannel for the front and minky for the backing, I was sneezing fluff for days.

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  9. Hmm, I am afraid I make an entire block at a time, but there is nothing wrong with the way you make yours.

    I also use a mix of fabrics and always seem to use an old sheet for the back. Works wonderfully for me. I just finished cutting up some shirts and jeans from our oldest son, and youngest son says he has some for me to use as well.

    God bless.

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    1. There is nothing wrong with any construction method, as long as it works for you. I have made a couple of quilts from jeans, it is heavy going pulling all that denim about.

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  10. I chain piece when the block pattern allows that - like the Log Cabin blocks. Otherwise, I cut and made the block units (like squares, rectangles, HSTs, or Flying Geese) and then chain piece them together into blocks. When all the blocks are make, I lay them out on the bed, put them in an arrangement that pleases me, then sew pairs together, the pairs into 4s (two up, two down), then the sets of 4 to another 4 to make 8, etc. Quilter Mary Ellen Hopkins called this sewing 2 blocks together like next door neighbors, when sewing two to two, that was a coffee group, 4 to 4 was a neighborhood, and so on. This method leave one long seam to join the top block set to the bottom OR the left side to the right side. Google it for a better explanation!

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    1. I like to chain piece when the pattern allows, that is how i am constructing these blocks. When I can not chain piece i have a stack of 2 1/2" squares for leaders and enders. I have made a few quilts from that method.

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  11. I've never done a log cabin quilt Pam but I would love to try.

    Your quilts are your quilts....who gives a fig for tradition when they are made with love.
    Hugs-x-

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    1. It is a simple but very effective pattern, my favourite after half square triangles and flying geese.

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  12. I used to have visions of sitting in the summerhouse, handsewing a quilt. So I began, and I have a box of cut out hexagons, flowers made from them, they look so pretty. In the box. Where they have been for about four years now. Can you tell I sometimes have dreams beyond my capabilities? I will add some more flowers to the box this year, sometime. And maybe next year I'll get to sew them altogether, and maybe the year after, it might get backing and wadding.... maybe.... if I am still here. I think though, I will stick to smaller sewing projects, but still dream and look at craft books, and dream some more. Will we see photos of yours?
    Love the blog by the way.

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    1. Thank you Edwina, there will be photos again, just as soon as I make the time to find a new camera.

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  13. A quick tester quilt class is all I've done, so no help whatsoever for you.

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    1. I was only being nosy really, it is nice to hear how different people approach the same thing. I tried following Lori Holt,s method of each block on a board. It was fine till the day I knocked the stack over.

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  14. I had fun making 'ten minute blocks' last year. I made a little pile of them in coordinating colours but haven't gotten around to making a quilt.. I hope to get it done this year

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