Friday, September 14, 2018

Next Year's Flimsy

Several weeks back I found a bag of blocks and coordinating scraps in one of the bins at quilt ministry, and decided to bring them home and see what could be made from them.  Starting with these seven blocks:

There were enough scraps of the light neutral to piece an additional six blocks.  Then came the quandary of choosing border fabrics.   There was a 3x9 scrap of a wonderful cheddar and a one yard piece of a lovely green/orange border fabric that I really REALLY wanted to put in this quilt.  I even traveled the 50 miles to our "LQS" to see if I could find another cheddar in the same shade that might compliment the hoped for outer border.

In the end though, my second border choice won out, those cheddars were just too bright for the central portion of the quilt.  However there's always another project down the road ...  And I've set them right where I can see them every day in hopes that they can be put to use soon!

And so I ended up with this border, including a Morris print that I absolutely love!

And here is the finished flimsy, measuring about 70x70 inches.

I didn't quite make the August goal, but added the final top border on September 1, finishing this flimsy right after returning home from the auction.  And this will be my first quilt designated for the 2019 church camp benefit auction next Labor Day weekend.

You can see there are some issues with rippling in those setting and corner triangles.  I'm not sure why this occurred, but it's really disconcerting to me as I've never experienced this level of rippling in my setting triangles before.  I've been seeing so many quilters recommend starching fabrics prior to cutting to help stabilize them and reduce fraying.  So I've tried that with a couple tops I've worked on over the summer, both with really disappointing results.  Why?  Is it because of the excessive humidity we've experienced all summer long?  Is it the starch?  I've tried three different kinds, one a heavy spray starch, one a lighter starch, and Magic Sizing, always using a dry iron.  I've come to believe it really isn't helpful, but would certainly love to hear your experience and what may have gone wrong here.  Meantime I'll go back to just pressing my seams with the steam iron as I've always done before until I can resolve the issue. 

At any rate, this flimsy has gone to the "waiting closet" to simmer for awhile longer while some personal quilting occupies my time for the remainder of the year.  I'm looking forward to trying several new to me quilting motifs in those two inch 'logs.'  Should be fun.

Keeping all those in the path of hurricane Florence in our hearts and prayers. 

10 comments:

Needled Mom said...

I really like this top. The bocks had such a modern feel to them. That is interesting about the stretching setting triangles. I'm sure it is also frustrating.

julieQ said...

I love your log cabin variation...just a darling quilt!

Debbie said...

Now who else would have thought to put those purple/blue hues in the inner border? Just wonderful for the shadowed effect they have in the distant view. Love that Morris print.....just remember not must quilting will be seen in it. As for ripples....like you, the harder I try to be perfect the worse I seem to make it. It may be fabric, it may be humidity, it may just be fabric trolls that like to give us misery.

Chantal said...

WOW! I was very skeptic when I saw the border with purple in the first picture but when the picture of the full quilt rolled up, my jaw dropped. WOW! What an awesome finish. Too bad for the rippling. I don't have enough experience with setting corners to give you any help with that. Sorry. Hope you can find a solution soon. Still, it's a beautiful quilt. ;^)

Barbara said...

Well, it turned out great. I love those blocks. It makes a striking design.

Kyle said...

Your final combo for the borders was perfect and the Morris print pulled it all together. Purples and greens are a pretty combo. I'm not sure why the starch would have caused the ripples. Like you sometimes the harder I try for perfection the results take a step in the wrong direction. It's a lovely finish and the quilting will be great in those triangles.

Janet O. said...

Very striking appearance! Love the bold graphics, and I think your inner borders really compliment the outer border fabric.
Since setting triangles involve bias edges, I wonder if ripples happen if you don't hold your mouth just right while sewing them on. :)

Cathy said...

Ok...I thought you were going to work on personal things!

I never would have thought to use that purple for borders. I love how you made it all work.

FlourishingPalms said...

How good of you to begin working on yet another quilt for next year's auction! You're too generous. As for the rippling... I'm guessing it's because those setting triangles are on the bias. And though you may not have had a problem with these shapes in the past, it's probably the fabric itself that's the issue. Depending on the brand, the quality, and/or the hand, that particular fabric has a bias that is more stretchy. Short of taking it apart to carefully trim and resew it, I don't think there's much that can be done for it. Have fun with the quilting on this, as it sounds like you are prepared to do. Maybe more dense quilting in the corners will alleviate the rippling.

Karen said...

The log cabin blocks are quite attractive in the neutral colors. Would make a good quilt for a man.