Larkspur

I finally started cutting on a new quilt design today. This one has been a long time coming. About eighteen months ago I saw Alexander Henry's Larkspur collection in the indigo colorway and fell in love with it. I knew right away that I wanted to include it in a new quilt for our bedroom, but feared the flowers and scale might be a bit much for hubby. Those birds are about six inches long. I decided to only order a few yards of various prints in the collection, and to make up the rest of the quilt with solids and a modern design to keep it from looking too girly swirly.

I had this image in my head of the pretty prints suspended in space, all different sizes, kind of like those crazy room dividers we all loved so much in the sixties and seventies.

Sometime in the nineties my Mom asked me if I wanted that HUGE box of chains I had made by connecting soda can pull tabs. My idea, back in high school of course, had been to make a cool room divider out of them. But I digress.

I finally came up with a design that appeals and that isn't a nightmare to assemble. Just a bit over 400 non-moving parts! I was headed down the path of all blues and grays, but as I was auditioning fabric from my seemingly never-ending supply of Robert Kaufman Kona Solids (never-ending because I keep ordering more), I decided to add a few pops of "everglade", "coffee", and "honey" too. Sure hope the prints can pull together the disparate colors.

Here’s the first block! I’m hoping I can find the time to keep working on it and have the quilt top finished in a couple of weeks.

By then the ground will be warm enough to plant some real Larkspur [Delphinium L.] with seed sent to me from a favorite aunt’s garden. By summer there might be all kinds of larkspur blooming around here.

One for Me, and One for You, and One for You Too!

I think I've established that I’m a huge fan of scarves – especially lightweight cotton scarves that we can wear here in the South where it seldom is cold enough for heavy wool. When I saw this beautiful double faced gauze online at Fashion Fabrics Club, I couldn't resist buying a couple of yards in half a dozen (OK seven) different colorways. It is light and warm and breathable – perfect for a southern scarf to wear as an accessory from fall through spring. I made one in each fabric for myself.

OK. I know that’s All For Me, but then I decided to make one for two favorite girlfriends who both have birthdays this month. I think my Mom is responsible for my love of gift giving. She always made a point to try and find just the right gift for each person – especially for birthdays. She always said that it was OK to have some socks mixed in with the Christmas gifts, but birthdays were different.

I have to admit, there is nothing quite like hearing an ooh of delight when someone opens a gift. And when they promptly put that gift on and wear it throughout the party, you know it really is appreciated. Such was my experience last weekend as we celebrated with my friend Alice.

Why yes. That is a barrel full of monkeys she’s playing with. Growing up is overrated!

These scarves couldn't be easier to make. If you can, find double faced gauze. Many of the fabrics I chose are sold out now, but some are still available like the Grey/Black/Brown Plaid that I used for my friend Joan’s scarf. If you can’t find gauze that is already double faced, buy two contrasting or complimentary fabrics – preferably gauze, but a light cotton lawn or batiste would work well too.

You will need two yards of each fabric and this will make four scarves or two scarves and a wider shawl. Most gauze fabric doesn't have a right and wrong side because it is thread dyed. That means the color is applied to the thread and the pattern is woven in as opposed to fabric that is woven and then dyed or printed.

If you are not using fabric that is already double faced, match up the fabrics (with wrong sides together if there is a right and wrong side) and then cut the fabric lengthwise down the middle. Subcut each of these pieces lengthwise again leaving four strips that are 14 – 15 inches wide and three yards long. My fabric was 57 inches wide, but if you are using fabric that is closer to 45 inches wide, cut into thirds instead of fourths.

After the fabric is cut, sew the edges together all the way around leaving a ½ to ¾ inch seam allowance. Use a fairly short stitch so that the loose gauze layers will not slip the stitches once the edge of the scarf is raveled. To make the raveled edge, you want to pull out all of the threads that run parallel to the seam. This part of the project is a bit tedious, but if you pick at it while watching TV, or over a glass of wine with friends, it goes quickly.

When you think you have removed all of the threads, run the scarf through a regular wash (be careful of bright colors that might run) and dry on low. The scarf will be quite crinkly if you have used cotton gauze and maybe a bit less so if you are using a different fabric. If you like that look, you’re done. If you like a look that is a bit more polished, just iron the scarf on the cotton setting with steam. Give it a try and enjoy!

By the way, that one on the bottom is my favorite. It really perks up a simple burgundy outfit.

Fabric Friday: To Prewash or Not to Prewash

That is my question. Every time I pick up another quilt book, magazine or look at something online I hear a different opinion. Over the years I've developed a few rules of thumb.

What do those questions mean and why do I care? Let me explain.

Does the quilt have any red fabric?

Dark colors – especially red – tend to run when washed. How heartbreaking would it be to spend countless hours piecing and quilting the perfect quilt only to have one of the colors run all over your treasure the first time it’s washed? I like to know ahead of time if one or more of the fabrics is going to run. Then I have options. I can simply choose not to use that fabric unless it’s a red and black quilt or one that will never be washed (such as some wall hangings). I might use one of several methods to better set the dye in the fabric. Or I could try Shout Color Catchers in the wash. Some quilting friends swear by them but I haven’t tested them myself yet.

This fabric was a solid sunny yellow before
washing with red and gray fabrics

Are any of the fabrics from different manufacturers or lines?

Not all fabric is created the same. Different weights, weaves, processing and fiber quality means that some may shrink more than others. If I make a quilt with different fabrics and then those fabrics shrink at different weights it’s going to end up cattywompus for sure. I often buy all of the fabric for a quilt from one line (same manufacturer, same designer, same line of complimentary designs and colorways). I have also made quilts from a variety of fabrics I've pulled from my stash or that I thought looked good together at the quilt shop. In this case I always prewash.

If the quilt shrinks will it still be big enough?

I learned this lesson the hard way. I measured twice before designing a quilt for the full size bed in our guest room. Who still sleeps on a full size bed you may ask? Well this art deco suite was my Mom’s when she was a single gal back in the early 40s, and I love it. I lovingly designed, cut, pieced, quilted, and washed. Only to find that between the quilting and fabric shrinkage, the quilt hangs about two inches short of covering the mattress on both sides. Sigh. Prewashing in hot water would have solved most of the problem, but don’t underestimate how much shrinkage will occur with dense quilting either.

Does the grain of the fabric appear true?

Looks perfect right?

Pull a thread from the cut edge of the fabric to get a view of where the grain of the fabric runs. An even easier way to do this is to rip a small strip off the end of the fabric. Yes as in cut a small snip at the edge, grab with both hands and tear away. Now line up the edges of that pulled thread. When you hold the fabric on that fold (selvages down and fold up) does the fabric hang straight or is it skewed? Often when fabric is woven, dyed, processed and wound on the bolt it can become quite skewed. If it’s washed the threads relax back into true grain. However, if you cut skewed blocks to piece and then wash after the quilt is assembled. You guessed it. Cattywompus.

What a difference

Will the fabric be difficult to work with without sizing or starch?

I love cotton lawn or Kaffe Fassett’s soft shot cottons, but truth be told these fabrics can be a real challenge because they stretch just a bit. Talk about cattywompus! Even some lighter weight quilter’s cottons can be challenging. However all of the above issues may also apply. What to do? My solution is to prewash and then to iron them again with lots of starch. That will help to stabilize the fabric for cutting and keep it from stretching out of shape when you press seams.

This is the version with sizing washed out before cutting

That’s my two cents. Do you have more guidelines or suggestions? Love to hear them.

The Stash That Keeps On Giving

As I mentioned earlier in the week, I had a pretty good size pile of remnants and scraps left over when I finished the latest Wonky Log Cabin quilt. The technique of building wonky log cabin blocks can also be applied to building a larger piece of fabric which is then cut using a pattern to make something else. I've used the technique to make everything from scrappy holiday oven mitts to bags.

Wonky Crisscrossed Bag

Basically you start in the center and just continue to add on strips of fabric until you have a piece large enough for whatever you want to cut out. For this project I built up about a half yard of the aqua colorway and another of the lime. For the lining I had pieces that were large enough to cut out of whole cloth, which is probably a good idea. I’m not sure how well a pieced lining would hold up with sharp items like pens and keys going in and out.

If you want to try something similar with your leftovers, the pattern for my crisscrossed bag can be found here.

Conventional Crisscrossed Bag

The downside of buying 11 yards of fabric because you love the entire line is that I’m still left with all of this.

Yikes!

I’m thinking about making some wonky pillow shams!

My Cotton Bole Quilt

Was it seriously September 11, 2012 when I posted this picture on Facebook with a promise to have the pattern together in “a couple of weeks”? Indeed it was and despite the fact that I don’t enjoy writing up the patterns for the pieces I design, I have to admit that is a bit ridiculous. Nevertheless it is finally here.

I do love this quilt which I find fresh and modern even though it’s based on a very traditional block. I call this my Wonky Log Cabin because the strips are all different widths and it doesn’t hold to the light on top and dark on the bottom pattern for a traditional Log Cabin block.

I also call it my Cotton Bole Quilt because for the life of me I can’t think of anything other than big old cotton boles ready to be picked when I look at the focus print I used for the center blocks and the backing.

Much like this earlier quilt, which I wrote about here, it was made as a quilt-as-you-go project, which makes it ideal for hand quilting on road trips or while attending those tedious community meetings. Did I say that out loud? With quilt-as-you-go, you quilt all of the blocks separately and then join them together For the earlier quilt I did, in fact, do all of the quilting by hand – mostly while sitting on the beach watching my husband learn all about surf fishing. This newer Cotton Bole quilt was in fact machine quilted and I can’t tell you what a joy it is to machine quilt on a block that is only 12 ½ inches square.

I really like the wonky log cabin technique for using up leftover fabric too. With the fabric I had left from this quilt, I made a crisscrossed bag which I will hopefully get photographed and show you soon.

Do you ever start a project thinking it will be a gift for someone and then find that your family has appropriated it before you can give it away? Such is the case with this little gem. Well I guess being able to claim your work is all done in a pet-free environment is overrated anyway.