Skip to main content

SCQ Block #1

I finished my latest project for work, so I decided to get started on the first block for my silk crazy quilt art project for 2020. I started by ironing all the vintage scarves I chose to use for the first block:

Although I think I lost a tiny bit of luster from some of them by hand-washing, I think they came out well. The next step was to make the first foundation for the block, a 14" square of muslin. I put together a cutting template out of taped sheets of plain bond paper (easier than measuring every time) and raided the scraps bag:

I did have to piece together the muslin scraps, all of which were too small to use for the foundation, but in the end I got two 14" squares:

I then piled up the scarves and started cutting and piecing by hand. Silk is a lot trickier than cotton, so the sewing took longer than my test square. This is how far I got in one night:

After two more nights:

With this first go I realized a couple of things: 1) I had no tiny scraps to use for intricate patchwork yet, so that's not going to happen until I generate them, 2) pinning keeps the silk patches I cut in place, but also leaves holes in the silk, so I need to be strategic with that, and 3) to have seams that are long enough to embroider without creating visual confusion I do need to be reasonable about sizing the patchwork. Also, not having a layer of batting to contend with was refreshing.

The patches were tricky to position but lovely to hand sew into place -- much easier for me to get the needle through silk versus cotton -- and I immediately got the feel of why Victorians enjoyed making this type of quilt. It's recycling, which is thrifty, but it's very artistic, and you don't have to follow any template or pattern. Should be fun.

Next step is to embroider the seams, and start adding embellishments. Stay tuned to how that turns out.

Labels:

Comments

nightsmusic said…
Are you sewing to the muslin as you go or sewing piece to piece first? I pencil my line and then pin wrong side to the muslin along that pencil line. That way, I can pin in the margin and the holes don't show, but I haven't worked on anything in awhile now. Satin's just as bad though.
January 8, 2020 at 9:24 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Downsizing

This was my fabric stash once I sorted everything -- 22 full bins. I spent a day taking out and boxing up what I could part with, with the goal of trying to reduce it by half, so I'd have 11 bins. I was very strict with myself, and removed everything that for one reason or another I was sure I wouldn't be able to use. This is what I ended up with -- 12 bins of fabric that I'm keeping. It's not quite half, but close enough. Half of what I took out went to a local quilter friend, a school and Goodwill. These four tightly-packed bins will be going to the local quilting guild once I make arrangements with them for a drop-off place. I am relieved and a little sad and now determined to control my impulses to thrift more fabric. I don't want to do this again, so until I use up six bins, I can't for any reason bring any new fabric into the house.
Post a Comment
Read more

In Progress

I promised myself I would show you the good, bad and ugly of my cleaning this year. This is what it looks like when you dump thirty years' worth of stashed fabric on the floor -- and oy, what a pain in the butt to pick up again! This is what it looks like after it's been sorted, folded and placed in containers, which took me about a week. Now the hard part is to downsize my stash by at least half, I think (that's my goal, anyway.) I've already e-mailed the president of the local quilting guild, a local friend who is a quilter, and a public school art teacher I know to see if I can donate some of the excess to them. The rest will go to Goodwill. Already I've reduced my vintage textiles from two bins to one, and my scraps from three bins to one. It's probably the hardest clean-out I've done, which is why I saved it until last. I know I have too much fabric, more than I can use in my lifetime -- but at the same time, I love it. So I have to
Post a Comment
Read more

Other Stashes

Along with clearing out the spare bedroom and tidying my office and our guest bedroom, I decided to reorganize some of my stashes. This is all the yarn I have on hand, sorted by color. It looks like a lot, but lately I've been using up a minimum of half a bin every month, so this is approximately a year's supply. All of my solid color cotton perle thread. I go through a lot of this every year, too. I need a container in which I can fit all of it together, but I haven't found the right one yet. I won't show you all of my fabric -- I'm still reorganizing this stash -- but I went through everything and donated two bins of fabric I won't need to the local quilter's guild.
Post a Comment
Read more