I was handed a huge bag full of clothes at the weekend. They are clothes filled with memories. A year ago my oldest friend had a little baby girl. When she was 3 months old that little girls daddy sadly and very suddenly died. So when her mother asked me to make her little girl a quilt from her daddys old clothes, the answer was a very definate yes.
I have been given free reign as to the design. I have even been told that I can add fabrics to make it more girly. There is fleece, denimn, shirt fabric and t shirts. I have not quilted with anything but 100% cotton before so I'm a bit worried as to how it will turn out and am terrified that I will go wrong. I have been assured that it dosnt have to be perfect or intricate. If anyone has any advice for me on quilting with such fabrics, please, please get in touch. The last thing I would want is to ruin the quilt as these clothes mean a lot to my friend.
I have managed to squeeze in a bit of sewing and have began my dresden quilt. I'm surprised at how simple it is. The book said that it was in the advanced category so I'm waiting for the tricky part to rear its head. I have only got as far as making a few of the plates.
It's week 3 of the advent swop and Julie has given me the most wonderful gift:
A beautiful pin to add to my ever growing collection of pinks and needles pins:
It fits in nicely with the rest, dont you think?
Thanks Julie!...not sure I can wait till next week for the next one!
dx
What a lovely idea something a little girl can really treasure, the only advice i can think is too perhaps use an iron on wadding on the lighter fabrics so that they are closer in weight etc to the denims and fleeces, important dates my be an idea too, on some of the plainer fabrics, can't wait to see how it turns out tracy x
ReplyDelete...and iron the t-shirts on a fusible web, so they are stabilized and don't stretch
ReplyDeleteMemory quilts are wonderful things aren't they? What you need to do with the non-woven/knit fabrics ie. t-shirts is to back them with a woven interfacing. This one from ebay will do the job (I've purchased several lots from them) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NATURAL-FUSIBLE-WOVEN-INTERFACING-IRON-ON-90CM-WIDEtt-/190505578650?pt=UK_Crafts_Sewing_Supplies_MJ&hash=item2c5b04709a
ReplyDeleteYou could also stabilise the denim particularly if it has any stretch or is loosely woven/likely to fray ...... experimentation is the key.
Ordinary woven shirts should be fine but the fabric may be more tightly woven than a quilting cotton so it might be better to use a different needle ie. a Schmetz Microtex to go through the fabric more easily.
I'm not sure what I would do with the fleece and wondering if applique (hearts/flowers?) would work? That could be an idea for the denim too if it is rather heavy
Hope this helps and look forward to seeing the finished project!
Great idea about the quilt, such a shame though. I was going to suggest interfacing and using the fleeces as appliquéd on cotton fabrics. I look forward to hearing how that turns out.
ReplyDeleteYour pins are gorgeous!
Kandi x
I can't be of any help with the memory quilt sorry, as never done any quilting. Have you thought about doing her dads initials on part of it with fabric or embroidering his name? Hope it all goes well. Such a lovely idea.
ReplyDeleteThose pins are lush, not seen them before x
Great idea about the quilt - I think I'd investigate interfacing and needle choice and also think about using a larger seam allowance...how about a photo transfer of some photos of her daddy? Love the pin topper - I was lucky enough to win some of Gigi's pins recently and they're fabulous!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Love the Dresdens!
ReplyDeleteHi,
ReplyDeleteDue to different fabrics behaving in different ways I would consider dividing the fabrics into matching piles. Cut into strips (Make the strips a good width so as not to have too many to stitch and therefore keeping the fabrics reconisable when the wuilt is made up) to make log cabin squares then join the squares together. Alternating the squares between fleece, cotton etc. Could try out some test peices to check the amount of stretch etc. I stitch fleece using zig zag stitch which would reduce the amount of over stretching and reducing the pressure of the presser foot too.
Hope this might help and good luck.
Comment on my blog if I can help at all. Lovely project, I lost my Dad in September but to not have really meet her Dad due to being so young is a very sad story to read.
All the best.
x
Good luck with the quilt, you have some fab ideas already above and I cant think of any to add to it. Love the pretty plates too xx
ReplyDelete