So here's what happened... With MaryAnna's move in date quickly approaching (we still don't know exactly when it will be, but it will be soon), I need to FINISH her quilt that was started back in May while on vacation in Florida. So, I finished the top last week, and it was time to do a back for it. When I set out to do this quilt, I bought all of the Fat Quarters I needed for the top, I also bought some fabric for the back. (By the way, since we call the Top a "Top" why do we not call the other side the "Bottom"? Or call them "Front" and "Back"? Forgive me, I digress... But that has always bugged me!!) When I got to working on it, I wound up short on FQs for the front, so you would think that I would KNOW I was not going to have enough for the back, but NO, I attacked it blindly and quickly realized that I indeed, didn't have enough. So, with my commitment to NOT buy any more fabric for a while, I had to get creative...
So, I took all of the scraps left over from the front of the quilt and I grouped them by size. I then cut up the brown fabric that I had bought for the back into similar sized blocks and started sewing them together end to end, alternating between brown and front fabric blocks. I started with the largest pieces (6 inches wide) and I sewed until I had no more to sew. I then measured what I had sewed (36 feet) and rolled it up for safe keeping.
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| Iron, Roll, Iron, Roll A Tedious, but very Effective way of keeping long strips nice and flat and organized... |
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| 30 plus feet of 6 inch wide fabric blocks all rolled up on a piece of PVC. |
Then I did the same with the 4 inch pieces, the 3 inch pieces and the two inch pieces... After I had used all of the fabric from the front of the quilt (save one scrap that I want to use for something else), I sat and did some calculating... I was about 900 square inches shy of full coverage, so I decided to frame my stripped backing with a frame of brown.
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| Four Inch Roll... |
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| I rolled the 3 inch strips around the 5 inch roll. |
After cutting all of the strips to the proper length, I laid them all out to find a sequence that would bring some continuity to the otherwise completely random back...
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| All of the strips including the side borders, all ready to be sewn together... |
My back was too short! Oh, I was so MAD at myself... HOW Could I POSSIBLY mis-measure so badly!? I was fuming as I took this photo... So much so, that I didn't even think to take a photo after I picked up the top and realized that I had yet to sew on the top and bottom brown framing strips! Whew! I KNEW I couldn't have been that far off on my math!
After attaching the top and bottom frame pieces, everything lined up just as I expected them to. More photos soon as I will prepare my sandwich and quilt it in the next few days... And WAIT till you see the binding for this quilt!
I used just over three bobbins of thread. I fill three bobbins at a time, and I rarely have to fill bobbins more than once in a weekend, but it was a 3 bobbin weekend! Right now my bobbins are all full again and ready for another day of sewing...
My selvedge bin is filling up. I'll still accept donations. Thanks to those of you who have sent me selvedges. I will create a quilt of nothing but selvedges as soon as the barrel is full!
And in a closing note... I have been reading of how hot it is in Texas, so this PALES in comparison, but I rarely use the AC on the way TO work in the morning at 5:30 AM, but yesterday, at 5:30 AM, this is what I saw when I started my engine...
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| 86 degrees at 5:30 AM!! The heat isn't actually a problem... It's the Humidity that kills me! Give me Arizona any day! |
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Until Next Time,
Paul
That back is awesome. I loved reading about your adventure with it.
ReplyDeleteYour quilt is coming together nicely. I love a pieced back. I'm intrigued by the bobbins. What color do you use? Is it always a color based on your quilt, or do you always use a specific neutral color?
ReplyDeleteKris P -
ReplyDeleteFor piecing I always use a neutral gray. This particular thread is Sulky brand, but I also use Coats & Clark. Honestly, I buy whichever I can get for a better price. The Sulky I found on sale at JoAnn’s for $4.99 for 1,500 yards! Add a 25% off my entire order coupon and I bought all six spools they had on hand!
Thanks for Reading!
Paul