Thursday, February 26, 2015

A Jersey Quilt Top: No Fun


This, as they say in the South, is like to have been the death of me. I've been making a twin-size quilt from jersey strips and I've been string-quilting them to a cotton batting on the machine. And I'm going to say three things about this project.

 First, if someone tells you it is fun to work with strips of jersey, they are lying to you. Strips of jersey want to curl and twist and get out of line.


Second, if you think that one twin-size quilt will use up all your scraps you are mistaken. 

Third, this project creates a lot of fluff and also will take up your whole dining table for a few days, since it's too cold to sew in the sewing room.

There. I'm glad I got that off my chest. I'm going to put this quilt top away and look at it sometime in June, and then I'll sew a back on it and maybe I'll like it.

9 comments:

Lizzi said...

Have you tried fusible interfacing? It will keep it stiff and stop it from stretching.

kath said...

I made a tee shirt quilt for my niece and that was tough enough, I can't even imagine sewing strips together! When I did the tee shirt quilt, I fused very lightweight interfacing to the back of the shirt pieces to stabilize them. It really helped with the curling and stretching.

Karen said...

Ha! I'm sorry to laugh at your pain, but I can so relate. A southerner through and through here, so in my attempt to make a jean quilt for my grandson resulted in a lot of "this is of the devil" thoughts. As difficult as the jersey is to sew, I'm sure it will be beautiful once it's done. Always admire your work.

Instagram.com/melissasnotes said...

Ha! Your jeresey strip quilt will be a reward when you get back to it in the summer! Maybe use the rest of your strips into making a crochet rug...didn't you do that a while ago? Thanks for the explanation on the log jewelry box, very interesting.

Lana Pugh said...

Bless you! I'm working on a quilt top right now with the smallest pieces I've ever worked with - squares 2.5 inches x 2.5 inches and rectangles 2.5 inches by 7. I've got long strips sewn together but am now in the middle of pressing all the seam allowances open and have begun to think they triple at night to spite me so I'll never be done!

Jane said...

Sometimes it's good to put a project away that you are not enjoying. Sometimes they never see the light of day again. I can attest to this!

Stefanie said...

You are "sew" brave. Especially to try it without stabilizer.

Kate at Wonderful Life Farm said...

Ah...yes...one of those "step away from the sewing machine" moments. I know them well and completely understand.

It looks lovely though!

Anonymous said...

Well I have had one sewing project that really could have been the death of me. Two matching coats in raspberry and forest green. Buttonholes, many buttonholes. Felt on the outside, full flannel lining, completely finished my hand. The instruction were odd and I was trying to make two matching bonnets. I will say once I finished and saw them on two very sweet dear young girls it was all worth it.

I think it would be rather fetching if you quilted in an organic kind of swirl pattern on that quilt top. It would look gorgeous on that knit and such a pretty contrast to the linear pattern. Maybe in Perle cotton.

Erin

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