Jeans Love

Once the cutting was done this top has come together quite quickly.

I love how the jeans seams show here and there and you can see the wear and tear where our knees have been

An earlier post about this can be found here.

Now I'm putting together the back and pondering how to quilt it. One idea is to use yellow jeans topstitching thread to highlight the darkest and lightest windmill shapes but maybe that will be too busy and distract from the simplicity which is the appeal of this. Feel free to offer an opinion (which may or may not be heeded)!

Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced

Shirt Love

I have been working on this quilt off and on for several months. And it's the first finish in my Q2 goals for the Finish Along. Yay! The collection of materials for this quilt has taken place over several years. I had asked my husband and brother to save their cotton shirts for this project once the collar and cuffs got too scruffy for work wear. The beautiful soft cottons are destined probably for several quilts.

Here's the first which I'm entering in the nick of time for the Bloggers' Quilt Festival. Fading light and uncharged proper cameras make for less than perfect pics for the time being unfortunately. 

Maybe I can update this post with some better ones in a day or two.

I based it roughly on a Kaffe Fassett design which is conveniently constructed in four panels: asymmetrical left and right panels and a top and bottom panel across the width of the quilt.

I constructed the back from a lovely piece of paisley flannel I've had in my stash for a few years. It was made up to size with some favourite old kids' pyjamas and flannel scraps from another quilt.

I considered calling this quilt Working Style since that seems to be the favoured shirt brand! I left several of the labels in place to allude to the former life of these fabrics.

For the binding I ended up deciding to add two strips of the red I used in the back to echo the few reds in the quilt itself and they provide a nice counterpoint to the more sober Architextures crosshatch which provides the majority of the binding.

I've quilted it in widely spaced lines along the piecing. I may or may not add some red hand quilting in due course?!

 For time saving, although I generally enjoy the hand sewing process to finish, I elected to machine this one in the ditch on the front to catch in the edge of the double fold.

 I can see this one getting lots of use in the cooler months for sitting reading or watching. It's the prototype for a few more quilts using these fabrics and more which keep coming my way :-)

Quilt Stats:

Size 70x75" Total 290"

Cotton Shirts with cotton flannel backing

Bamboo cotton batting

Machine bound and quilted

Q2 Goals

Well it's time to put forward our goals for the second quarter in the Finish Along And I've decided to put down anything I have even a chance of completing, though I'm not promising I don't start new things not listed here...!

1. Shirt quilt  

Left over from last time -this should be achievable and it'd be lovely to have this before winter really sets in -she says as she watches snow fall up on the hill!

2. Our Son's 21st Quilt

He's still 21 but would be nice to do while he is...technically this means it can roll over into Q3- but let's not anticipate that! You can see this has been kicking around too long already. Don't like this colour arrangement or balance and hence this has been in my too hard basket for awhile.

But who couldn't be inspired by this lovely pile. He'd like a bit more blue so will invest in a few more shades and variations and dig in.

I managed a couple of smaller projects last quarter which I hadn't listed so this time I plan to list some...

3. A Knitting Bag for my Mum

When I was up visiting my parents recently Mum passed on this old favourite duvet cover of theirs, which has a few rips, but is largely sound. So I plan to use it for a bag in the same pattern as this one I made for a friend.

Mum suggested also from the same fabric

4. A Music Case for my Dad 

who is having lessons to improve his keyboard playing so he can better enjoy the clavichords he built.  and I thought perhaps this might lend itself to a bit of appropriate fussy cutting. I'm thinking of one of those cases with one handle and a bar that folds across the handle  to close the case if I can figure it out? Anyone seen a pattern for anything like that?

5. Oven gloves or Pot holders 

from this improv fiddle I did ages ago

6. Jeans quilt

 I know it's not a small project... but for a while I have been collecting a pile of jeans with overly ripped knees, or outgrown by the kids, or now unfashionable shapes and am thinking a string quilt with large blocks maybe like this or an improv approach something like  this would be a good use for them.

Well there's nothing like itemising things! Roll on Q2 is all I can say!