Sunday, February 03, 2008

February 3

I've been buying corduroy clothes off the dollar rack for a while, with the aim of making a winter quilt for our bed. While I still love the bedding we bought two years ago, when it gets chilly (er ... that means 50°F/10°C) I yearn for some darker colours. With nap. (Only a sewist will get that pun.)

Anyway, today the planets aligned (males absent at Superbowl parties, daughter occupied with visiting friend, enough corduroy accumulated, weekend therefore little guilt about not doing "real" work) and I commenced The Quilt.

But now, Evie, I really need your advice. I have never made a quilt bigger than baby size, and this is huge. 75" x 95" (190 x 240 cm). How on earth do I feed this through my sewing machine?? (Damn, I knew I should have paid the extra $100 for the quilting attachments ....)

3 comments:

Penny said...

Hashi is it sewn altogether now? Is it the sewing together that is the problem or is it the actual quilting? I love the colors and it is going to look great.I cant help with the actual quilting bit except to say do it from the centre out and in bits, if its the sewing together can you make up largish blocks?I am still aiming to get back to you when I know what we are doing in LA I think it looks like 2 nights but only one full day. We are staying in the Hollywood Renaissence (sp)! I would like to see the Getty, John the tar pits!!

Alison said...

This looks beautiful - I would quilt it - and stitch the pieces down, if they are not stitched already - with a free machine embroidery foot/darning foot. If you don't have one, they are really worth buying as they enable you stitch in any direction - by moving the fabric - and that means you can draw and write too - without turning the fabric round all the time and having to keep jamming it in and out of the space. Roll the quilt lengthwise and work out from the middle, making sure that the parts of the quilt not on the machine are well supported - over chair backs or on the table, so they don't drag down as you sew. Thank you for the lovely little Christmas card. I haven't done my Christmas mail yet as the printer is playing up.

Jane LaFazio said...

Hashi, you have seen the quilts of Gee's Bend, haven't you? They made many of them with their old corduroy clothes. So you have the top of corduroy? Do you have batting and a backing? You could take it to a long arm quilter and they could do it by machine. Alison writes about free motion quilting yourself, but I must say a large quilt as a first time project may be a bit overwhelming. You could also tie it off. Thread a big needle with ribbon or yarn and stitch one stitch through all the layers and tie it off. Then repeat. Keep us posted!