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Quilting History  (2 of 3)

Focus on the first stages of the quilting process is reflected in the way my first quilts were finished. They were tied with thick cotton thread to sandwich the top, batting and back, no quilting there. I used bed linens for backing, so I wouldn’t need to worry about seams and the quilt would be squared off correctly. Basically, I pieced the top to the size of a sheet. 

My first foray into quilting complete, ( https://creativelifesampler.blogspot.com/2018/06/picking-up-where-quilter-left-off-2-of.html ), I decided to experiment with a new project.  I pulled together random squares of fabric scraps to make a quilt for my future husband. It was backed with a baby blue flannel sheet, which was folded forward to the front as a binding around the edges, and tied again at the squares' corners to finish it off. Very Basic. This quilt survives in tatters at this point, having had so much use that fabric frayed and ripped, the batting pulled apart and in some areas all that remains is the backing...sentimentality has clearly out weighed common sense in the decision to hold on to it.

After we were married, I went back to that scrap box to create a king sized quilt, also backed with a cotton sheet. Here strips of fabric of varied widths were pieced together and placed in a four patch configuration.


This time I decided to branch out and used simple lines of quilting on the white sashing, (the strips between the squares), a first and last effort at working by hand… at least for a while.

The state of this quilt shows the down side to using large portions of white in a top intended for everyday use. The fact that the white strips in the sashing have not aged in the same manner, reveals that these fabrics are not all from the same die lot and may even have different fiber contents. (There are cleaning products on the market today that might take care of the discoloring, but it’s hardly worth the effort, given the condition of some of these fabrics.)

Now I had a taste of sewing a quilt for my home and family and I was hooked...

Comments

  1. AnonymousJuly 18, 2018 at 1:46 PM

    These quilts take my breath away. The small "strips" you place in each square are amazing. What is interesting to me, a non-quilter, is how peaceful it is while still being quite busy. How does one achieve that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lauren Klementz-HarteJuly 24, 2018 at 1:17 PM

      You know, I kind of think in this case it was spontaneous. I just fell into this pattern without over thinking it. Since I've revisited this quilt I've been pondering ways to capitalize on the overall look for a possible new project. We'll see if I can pull something together...thanks for the feedback.

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