Saturday, October 20, 2012

Quilt of Many Blouses (and a Dress)

In amongst all the mitt-knitting, I've started a new quilt.

I got into my box of leftover fabrics early in the week, and dug out pieces of fabric that go together - mostly blues and reds.  I thought for a while about how I wanted to piece them together, and settled on random strip-piecing.


I'm using the fabrics from my first Sencha blouse, my second and third Continental blouses, my Souvenir blouse, a Sorbetto top, and the Cambie dress, alternated with the white dotted Swiss from my Violet blouse.

I cut the fabric into strips of 2.5", 3" and 3.5", then cut the strips into varying lengths.  For the most part a print strip is alternated with a Swiss dot strip.  As a backing, I bought the same Swiss dot but in the reverse colorway:  black with white dots.  I've been ogling that piece of fabric for quite a while, but I don't really wear black, so I'm happy I found a good use for it!


I'm shooting for a finished width of 45 - 48", and a length of 70 - 72".  I've already made 10 strips, which is probably about a quarter to a third of the top.  I arranged the strips yesterday (in hopes of sewing them together today) and the result is kind of like multi-colored subway tiles.


My plan is to bind the edges with solid red.

When I sew a garment, I always over-buy my fabric by about a half yard to give myself leeway for making mistakes.  So you can imagine how the leftovers start to pile up!  A lot of them have been used for making box bags, but the stash accumulation is one of the things that inspired me to start making quilts.  I didn't really realize until I got into the box how many garments I've made in reds and blues!


24 comments:

  1. Oooh I like these colors. I'm interested to see how this comes out! My quilt's been shoved in the back of the closet for now while I sew Halloween costumes!

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    1. I can't wait to see your Halloween costumes!

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  2. I'm excited to see the end result!

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    1. Me too! That's part of what I love about quilting - the anticipation!

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  3. I love your crafting ADD... Something else we have in common! :-) I can't wait to see how this quilt turns out. You're probably going to have to do one out of knit fabrics too!

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    1. Hehehe - don't think I haven't thought of it!

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  4. It looks very Japanese somehow! Exciting!

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    1. Interesting! To me it looks very modern and urban!

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  5. I think you are very smart to buy more fabric than you need, I'd imagine that trying to find more fabric when you run short is a lot like the same scenario with yarn. This quilt is going to be very pretty, maybe it will be keeping you cosy this winter even

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    1. It is - and often, like yarn, I don't end up using the fabric immediately, so the chances of the supply disappearing become even greater!

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  6. i do the same thing... buying a tad extra because i just don't trust myself! love the idea of turning the scraps into a quilt.

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    1. I'm so surprised you haven't given it a try. But then, you're WAY beyond sewing straight lines! LOL!

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  7. A scrappy quilt is a great way to use up the extras and it will have good memories too!

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    1. I think so too. All these items are tucked away in my closet and I only see them when I wear them. Now I can see the fabrics more often!

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  8. Oooh, very neat! I've often thought of making quilts out of my scraps. Can't wait to see the finished product!

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    1. You probably have lots of great vintage-looking calicos and stuff like that. You could hand quilt while you're at re-enactments!

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  9. You are such a talented seamstress! Those blouses are too cute. And that sushi project bag! <3.

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    1. Hahah! That sushi fabric is one of the reasons I now buy extra fabric! Cut two left legs once for a pair of PJs, and the fabric was "ruined". Now I can only make small projects out of it!

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  10. Ooh, I like these prints together! I also like that you went with rectangular blocks-- very cool!

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    1. Thank you! I'm even more excited now, because I've sewn the first 10 strips together. Update soon!

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  11. Great way to de-stash, Gail.

    DD#2 and I have been working on de-stash my fabric for a couple of years now. Finally finished all the small stuff! ! !

    I know that you'll enjoy both the planning, designing, sewing and using this quilt.

    Am looking forward to some progression shots.

    hugs

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    1. You're right - it's so fun to plan, and then while sewing, to daydream about how it will look when it's finished!

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  12. It's looking so goood, Gail. Those colours go great together.

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    1. Thank you! I always doubt my ability to put colors and fabrics together, but I'm happy with the way this is coming along.

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