Two-layer baby blanket

When I was in China four years ago, I met up with Knox alums Chip and Sarah Weed Chandler, there for a State Department stint.  It was Sarah who took me to the fabric market in Beijing where I bought Chinese silk brocade.  What a great time we had! When I was back at their apartment, I noticed a well-used blankie used by her then 2-year old son, a simple two layer match-up with top stitching around the edge and that was it.  Sarah said it was the most used baby blanket they had--good for wrapping up the child, but also handy to lay out on the ground for a picnic.  After finally making up one myself last week, I wrote her yesterday to check on what materials were used in her blanket.  She confirmed that a combination of regular cotton with flannel was her favorite (that's what I used in the blanket above), though she also had cotton/cotton (too thin) and flannel/flannel (not as comfortable).  She mentioned that they had just retired a couple of the blankies after 7 years of use; they wear well, and get softer with each wash.

So, I will be making more of these!  It's a nice way to use fabric that is so nice you hate to cut it up--like the Alexander Henry pears and apples above.  I had just a little over a yard of that fabric, so this blanket is 38x42.  Next time, I'll buy 1-1/4 yd of each fabric, to make it about 42" square.  The only challenge to making this is to get the cotton and the flannel just the same size, given the different "give" of each fabric.  For sure, pre-wash the fabrics, as flannel shrinks more than regular cotton.  For this blanket, I cut them to pretty much to size, then laid them together on my cutting table, trimming up the edges to make them even.  Next time, I'll do the size-matching on the design wall instead; I think that will give me a better match. 

"Late March"

This quilt has been in the making for seven years.  In winter of 2005, I signed up for a Design Workshop with Weeks Ringle and Bill Kerr that would be held that June.  We were told to come with three ideas for quilts.  My first idea (and the only one, until about a week before the workshop) was to do something about the midwestern landscape in which I live.  Toward the end of March, I drove out into the countryside, and took a lot of photos.  I bought fabric in the range of late-winter colors that I held in my mind.  (Missing from the memory is the predominant straw color that I see when I look back at the photos--which I find interesting, but didn't made me change the palette.)  Shortly before the workshop, another idea took over, and I worked on that quilt, "Loss," for three years.  Not long after I finished "Loss," I went to a multi-media workshop at Arrowmont, and, using thick layers of pastel on 9x12 sheets of pastel paper, I made a kind of trial version of a quilt, going back to my idea of landscape.  You can see it in the second photo of this post.  My husband and I both liked the piece so much that it's been hanging in our living room ever since.  With the confidence from the Arrowmont workshop, and the experience of a great dyeing workshop with Carol Soderlund, I then went on to create hand-dyed fabrics for a cloth version of the composition.  Making the quilt top was simple once I had the fabric, but I stalled for a long time wondering about how I would quilt it.  After many samples and consultations, I decided on parallel straight-line quilting, with some changes of direction from one area to another.  I finished the quilting about a month ago.  But, alas, I immediately saw two problems:  First, I had the quilting lines in the light blue "sky" going vertically, done in order to contrast with the horizontal "fields."  But it definitely looked wrong, and I decided to take out all the stitching in that upper/right area, and to re-do it horizontally.  As long as I was doing that, I would correct the second problem as well:  The black batting I had used in the quilt was showing through the light blue fabric, shading it down in a way I didn't like.  (Why black batting?  I was doing in-the-ditch quilting in the seams, and was afraid some of the batting might peek through.  I thought black would be a better option in case that happened.  But I wasn't thinking of what it would do to the light blue section.)  Here's a photo that compares black batting and white under the blue fabric--after I had taken out the stitches:

As you can see, definitely better with white batting!  So. . . how was I going to get the black batting out and white batting in?  As luck would have it, I had to make a trip to Chicago a couple of weeks ago, and spent an evening with Mary Beth.  As we talked about one or another option, she had the brilliant idea of leaving the black batting in place, but slipping in a piece of white cloth over it.  Same benefit!  And a much more feasible method for quilt-surgery.  So that's what I did.  I used the white fabric that was the base for the hand-dyed fabric, and I starched it heavily, to aid in sliding it into place.  Here's one piece placed over the lower section of blue.

Then I placed another piece over the upper section.  (Using two separate pieces was easier than trying to cut one piece in the precise "L" shape needed.)

And here's the new sandwich, pinned and ready for quilting:

EXCEPT. . . As I pinned (using straight pins, I'm not sure why), I apparently was pricking my finger from time to time, leaving spots of blood on the fabric.  (They may be visible if you double-click to enlarge the image.)  So, I stopped and wiped out the blood with cold water, taking care not to stretch the fabric as I did so.  Waited until it dried, put in safety pins, and then re-did the quilting with horizontal lines.  Better!

Some details (the lines are about 3/8" apart):

I used Invisafil thread, a very thin polyester thread that I like a lot.  I used dark khaki through the whole quilt, and the thread blended well in each area--though when I re-did the quilting in the blue upper corner, I changed to a pale gray thread instead.

On the back, I used a green Kona cotton that I over-dyed with brown, and a faced binding with curved corners, method from Mary Beth--it really makes a nicely tailored corner.

Silk Quilt

I did go ahead and make sew up the five large pieces of silk brocade into a quilt.  I used Dream Puff batting and a cordoroy backing, with quilting in about 9" squares, making it into a kind of comforter.  I wanted a warm quilt for napping on the couch, which led me to Dream Puff.  (I learned about this batting from Weeks Ringle--see this post.)  To get the "comforter" look, I sewed the layers with a "pillowcase" finish rather than using regular binding.  I'd never done this on anything larger than a placemat before, so the size was a challenge. 

Also, the silk is quite challenging to sew with because of how slippery it is, and because it gives quite a bit in sewing, rather than holding its shape.  I was pleased that it ending up working out all right.  I did a few small trials along the way, for one part or another of the process, and that helped.  It also helped that I had some experience at this point with the fabric after sewing the scarves.  (Double-clicking on photo should bring up a larger version.)

More about the process,  mostly for the quilters out there:  I pinned the batting to my design wall, and spray-basted the silk to the batting.  (I am a big fan of spray-basting; see this tutorial by Patsy Thompson.)  Then I trimmed the batting so that it was 1/4" less that the top all around. (See helpful tutorial by Susan Brubaker Knapp.)  I taped the cordoroy backing to the floor of my studio, right side up.  I laid the top and batting on it, pinned around, and then cut the backing to the same size as the top.

When I sewed the three layers together, I kept the batting on top, so that I could check that I caught a bit of it most of the way around the edge, using a 3/8" seam.

 

I left an opening, turned the quilt right side out, and then hand-sewed the opening closed.  How then to mark the quilting?  I didn't want to mark the silk, even with chalk.  I thought of quilting with the cordoroy side up, as it could be easily marked, but I thought it likely the silk would then bunch up underneath.  I ended up "marking" the silk by putting a line of straight pins where I wanted to quilt.  This had the dual benefit of not only marking the quilt, but keeping the 3 layers together as well.  (The top and batting were secured by the spray-baste, but the cordoroy needed pinning to those 2 layers.)  You can see the white heads of the pins in the photo below.

When I was finishing the quilt, I suddenly noticed that--minus the light green--I had once again been using the colors of my "Shelter" quilt.  Seems I'm not done with these colors. . .

Chinese silk brocade

I visited China in December 2007--a great trip all around.  In addition to the usual sites, I went to fabric markets in Beijing and Shanghai.  I came away with a small suitcase full of Chinese silk brocade. When I was an undergraduate at the University of Chicago, I would sometimes to go Marshall Field's and browse in some departments just to see beautiful things, and one of the displays I liked to look at was a table full of bolts of Chinese silk brocade.  Some 20 years later, I went back to visit them again, but alas, the fabric department was gone.  I think I carried that image of the fabrics with me still, and when I saw stalls filled with these silks, at extremely low prices (especially after the expected bargaining), I found myself buying one piece after another.  But then what to do with them?  I had visions of making wall hangings of some sort, but started out with smaller things.  The silk was very difficult to work with. I put it aside.  I tried something else.  Still didn't work out.  I made an occasional small gift (bookmarks, needle case), but kept thinking about what else I might do on a larger scale.  Finally, I got the idea to make a scarf, and this worked out well.  The photo above is a pile of several I've made.  Here they are hanging next to each other:

And then another idea occurred to me--a way of using large pieces of the fabric.  I could piece very large rectangles into a quilt top.  (My first thought was to cut the fabrics into blocks about 9x12", but decided I'd rather keep a large expanse of individual fabrics.)  I played today with the lengths of fabric that I have, and so far I like this layout (just pinned up roughly, selvages not yet cut off).  This is about 60x80":

I will ponder it some more, but I think this might work.  I'm thinking of using a somewhat puffy batting (Dream Puff), cordoroy on the back, and quilting it in large (10") squares.  Your thoughts much appreciated!

Here's the fabric I'll still have left:

Back or front?

I intended this improvised log cabin to be the back for a baby quilt I pieced a couple of weeks ago:

 

This is the "Posh Tot" pattern from Blue Underground Studios.  Love this pattern--I've had it for a long time, but just got around to making a version.  It goes together very easily.  

But the more I looked at the improvised log-cabin back I'd made, I more I wanted it to have a life of its own.  So, I made it a front instead, gave it a plain blue back, and quilted it in squares, which I haven't done before.  I like it so much, I'm keeping it for myself.  Here it is in the multi-purpose room where I have a couple of desks as well as our washer/dryer.

a close up of the quilting:

And here's what went on the back of "Posh Tot"--made from fabric I had on hand, so no purchase necessary.  Quilted with straight-line horizontal stitching.  (Seems I forgot to get a shot from the front before I sent it off to the new baby.)

About backs/fronts:  There have been other backs that I've shown people, and gotten the response, "That should be a front!"  I started piecing backs after being inspired by Mary Beth Clark's creations--almost all of her quilts have a lively back pieced together from fabrics leftover from the front, plus other fabrics from her stash.  I know she gets this comment frequently too.  This is the first time I've actually changed an intended back to a front.  Why this time?  I think because this "back" was not only a viable composition on its own (true of other backs that I've kept on the back) but that it actually turned out to be of more interest to me than the front (even as much as I like the front). 

About the beautiful fabric in the Posh Tot quilt--both were purchased at the Quilted Fox, a fantastic quilting store in St. Louis.  

Red with square dots: Moda Fabrics Sherbert Pips by Anella Hoey in Cherry

Paisley: Westminster/Rowan Fabrics, Marylebone by Liberty Art Fabric, Fordwych in Rust

Shades of gray-2

Here are the results of my experiment with dyeing three different grays, looking to dye fabric for the binding of my "Mod Mosaic" quilt.  A sample quilt block is at top.  From right: Kona medium gray, Kona ash (these 2 are commercial fabrics I could buy), then (using Carol Soderlund's formulas) Earth 102 (too blue), Basic 223 (this could be good), and Bright 212 (too green).  It's difficult to get a gray that doesn't lean towards one or another color.  I should have also tried a lighter value of Carol's basic black (Earth 566).  I think I'll audition these as actual binding strips once I have the quilt quilted, and if I'm not happy, try 566 also.

The next photo is for any dyers who might be reading.  I treated all three dyed fabrics exactly the same way, but the Bright 212 separated into green and pink instead of coming out gray.  Any thoughts on what I did wrong? (Double click on image to see the problem.)

 

Shades of gray

I've finished piecing the top for my Mod Mosaic quilt, and while it was up on the design wall, I auditioned fabrics for binding.  The logical choice given the design would be white, which looks very good, but I can't see putting a white binding on a quilt that is intended for use rather than to be hung for display.  I tried orange (bad) and green (OK, but not great).  As luck would have it, my friend Amy Walsh of Blue Underground Studios, was in town on Thursday to give a talk to the local quilt guild, and we had a few hours before and after to talk quilts.  She looked at the quilt with me and suggested gray, which looked very good.  I have some Kona ash that would work (this is what I auditioned), but we both thought a somewhat darker shade might look even better.  Kona has a medium gray I could order, but I decided to try dyeing my own instead.  Here are three pieces that are batching now.  For those who have Carol Soderlund's sample books, these are : Basic 223, Earth 012, and Bright 212.  In a couple of days, I'll post results.

By the way, Amy is a great speaker!  I highly recommend her for guild events, whether a program or a workshop or both.  Her website is above, and you can follow her blog here.