Friday 19 April 2013

Flimsy construction complete with dubious photos!

I have been asked how I put together the crumbs flimsy.

First make some quilts and have lots of leftovers!  Don't throw any of it away.  You often have ends left from cutting squares/triangles from strips, these were the basis of this quilt.  Also those blocks that end up irredeemably wonky can be sliced up and put in. I have a few of those!  And some of those 'uglies' that leave you awestruck at your mindset when you bought them.  Slice them up.


Here you can see leftovers from 4", 2",
2 1/2" strips and brown angled ends from cutting hexies.  I cut my selvedges off at about 1 1/2" and they go in too.
And wonky triangles, old shirts, anything you can scrounge.
 I sewed similar size bits into pairs, then joined the pairs, then the sets of 4 etc, until I got strips around 13" long.  This is the maximum manageable length I think as it becomes uneven the longer the strips are. 



I had a mannic couple of weeks a year or so ago at this, but in future I will do them in smaller batches as I go.  I won't need to worry that similar colours are together as the strips wont get joined for a long time, until I have enough for a whole quilt.
 




Then steam your strips from the back with the seams all going in one direction, pulling out the  strip gently so you open up the seams; iron again from the front, then trim to size along the longest edge.

Put the strips together until they measure about 13" square.    Press from the back,  easing out the seams, then the front, and trim to 12 1/2".  I chose this size for ease as it fitted my square ruler.

Then join your squares.   This will need some close quilting I think, as there are thousands of seams that can unravel if given too much room for maneuver!