Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Another Stash Busting Project

Okay, first of all let me clarify......it was someone else's stash...and I had help (thank you Susan). A few years back, a good friend showed me some wool fabric she was planning to rid herself of. She had been a rug hooker for many years but had pretty much given up that hobby for several others, so of course, I could not resist these beautiful hand dyed wools and said that perhaps I could do something with it. Well...guess what...it came to my house only to sit on a shelf until I finally decided I had to use it or move it on.
The challenge was that because it was a rug hookers stash, it was not "yardage", it was pieces/strips. But it was beautiful quality in a gloriously rich, wide, range of colours. I decided to make a wool throw.....something just right for draping over oneself while knitting, watching TV, reading or maybe even a little lazy afternoon snooze.

This is where Susan came in, I had way too much and needed help using this stuff up. We split the stash...I took predominantly blues and greens...Susan, reds and oranges. We also used some thrift shop finds to supplement....a kilt, a man's suit and a few other pieces were disassembled and in some cases dyed to give us exactly the extras we needed. (for some reason I don't have any of the greens pictured here)  the pile on the right was the result of some dye experiments.


I created a conceptual diagram of the sort of thing we were trying to achieve and we were off.


The next step was to make sure everything was cleanly trimmed (the trimmed bits looked too pretty to toss away.)


and to sort the pieces by size....some were as much as 11" long, others closer to 4". then we just played laying them out to make workable rows.


We decided that we would sew them together in an unconventional way.....so that we would not be dealing with tons of seams, my reasoning for this was that I knew I wanted to do big stitch quilting at the end. I think Susan was more clever and took hers to a long-armer  ( I will explain shortly)


Once we each had a pleasing layout, the pieces were simply machine stitched by butting the raw edges up to each other and using a triple zig zag which was such a pleasant sewing process.  Long vertical rows were created, then each row was attached to the next in the same manner


While I stayed very much in a subdued colour scheme, Susan on the other hand, added some brilliant, unexpected pops of colour to hers.




Susan and I each used a thin batting and found some nice Robert Kaufman flannel for our backings


A piece of soap served to mark the concentric circles which I would hand stitch using 12wt Aurifil cotton. The flannel for the back was only 45" wide....it needed to be pieced to get the required width, Susan pieced hers entirely with the flannel


...I chose to add a row of the same wool pieces used on the front to create my pieced back


These throws finished at 60" x 50" and are super cosy


the texture added by the machine quilting is fabulous!


I used striped cotton leftovers from the backing of a previous quilt for my binding.....Susan pieced wool to create her binding


I LOVE that Susan kept the labels in place from one of the up-cycled clothing pieces


Now.......time ( and use ) will tell if not having sewn traditional seams will have been a poor decision.....I must admit that I am a little concerned about how much stress the joins will endure over time. I think Susan was wise to have her quilt machine quilted as I think that will help its sturdiness and durability.

But, I have been using mine every evening for several weeks and it is not showing signs of any problems yet....."yet" being a key word.  I may go back and add more stitching to mine just the same.

oh....and btw......we were not completely successful at "stashbusting"  LOL! 



11 comments:

Createology said...

What glorious Winter cozy coverlets you both have created using Wool and Flannel. Yes even the tiny trimmings are too sweet to toss out. Do we ever really stash-bust? LOL

Shelina (formerly known as Shasta) said...

These are both great! Cozy and warm and a great way to use the stash. I don't think you need to worry about the quilt having problems - I am sure you will be able to fix whatever comes up!

Robbie said...

These are fantastic!!!! They do both look very comfy to be laying under!!!! I love the way your mind works...and who knew you had a counter part that thinks the same way! HA

Ольга Белякова said...

Получилось просто супер!!

Ольга Белякова said...

Получилось очень красиво, супер!

Lynette said...

Neat quilts! Great busting work there. Yours calls to mind an interpretation of watching out an airplane window while flying over rural regions.

Anne-Marie B. said...

Great project! I can only imagine how they must be warm and comforting! I love flannel backing!

Glenda said...

Plaids AND woolens?! Wonderful. I think if you had created just a blanket, the zigzagging would not have held up to the strain of wear, but since it is quilted, the backing will help to absorb the stress. They are both a feast for the eyes.

The Inside Stori said...

Oh my…….now I’ll have to dig out my wools….you’ve got me good and inspired!!

Diane J. Evans said...

. . . which means you have to make yet ANOTHER one of these beauties. You are certainly the Queen of Repurposing, and this quilt is an excellent example of your ingenuity and artistry, as is Susan's (LOVE those bright pops). Amazing, as always, my friend.

Robbie said...

11/4/2019: where oh where are you! Hope you're ok!!! Just found you on Instagram so I think you haven't been abducted!!

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