Corduroy & A Birthday

The Corduroy Quilt
approximately 53 inches by 70 inches

Welcome to a special edition of Indigo Threads!  Just in case you didn't know, today is a perfect date: 11-11-11.  A once in a lifetime event.  Those of you who are regular readers will know that I love these fun dates. 

Well, today is much more than "just" a perfect date.  It's also National Corduroy Appreciation Day.  LeeAnn over at Nifty Quilts invited anyone who wanted to to participate in a corduroy quilt-along.  So, if you've come here from Nifty Quilts, welcome!

Initially, I thought the Quilt Along sounded like fun, but I had no corduroy.  I'm not purchasing much fabric lately, as I already have a large stash.  But it didn't include corduroy.  So, I decided not to do the quilt-along. 

Then, unexpectedly, corduroy entered my life!  A lady at quilt guild was giving away a bunch of fabrics, and there were 2 2-yard pieces of corduroy!  Another lady noticed my interest in the corduroy and offered me her corduroy scraps too.  So, it seemed the Universe wanted me to play with corduroy!  Who am I to argue with the Universe??

I ended up with 2 yards of wide wale burgundy, two yards of wide wale tan, a pretty good-sized chunk of purple, some pieces of black, a small piece of yellow and a little larger piece of bright green. Amazingly, it worked together pretty well, except for this piece of bright grass green.  (you can't tell from this picture exactly what color it is/was)  First, I washed all the corduroy together.  The black cord scraps kind of dulled down the bright yellow and dulled the green some.  But not enough.  So, I hauled out the dye and had some fun!  I decided on the blue overdye that the arrow is pointing to.  It didn't really come out great, but it was much better.  Sadly, that was the only fabric dyeing I managed this summer. *sigh*  These colors are not easy to photograph and get true colors.  Some of the color differences you're seeing are just the nap going different directions.  



the challenge is fitting these all together!



I decided early on that I wanted to do something in the Gee's Bend style.  Those ladies made a lot of corduroy quilts, and I knew cord didn't lend itself to fussy. (just fuzzy!)  So, no rotary cutter or rulers, just me and my scissors.  I  tried to just work intuitively.  It was fun!  When I could, I ripped the big piece of cord.  What a mess that made!  I used a walking foot to sew this together, and used 1/2 inch seams.  I don't think this will come apart anytime soon!

I paid no attention to the nap of the corduroy, I just cut and sewed whatever fit together, and patched in other bits when something was a little short.  You know: "if it's too large, cut it off and if it's too small, add on to it"!  I used even the smallest pieces.  I completely used up the yellow and the blue-green.  I have only a small handful of scraps left of the black, the purple and the burgundy!  Oh, and I have the entire 2 yard piece of the tan left - maybe another corduroy quilt in the future??  And, my scissors are now incredibly dull!

 

In true Gee's Bend style, this top is kind of lumpy.  It will never lie flat!  And I'm OK with that.  It's heavy and cuddly and soft and will be warm! 

I had fun, and did this in pretty much record time, at least for me.  It's not tied or quilted yet, but the back is pieced and ready.  I'm using flannel on the back, for even more coziness.  I'm going to making a little test swatch to decide if I want to tie or machine quilt this.  I've had 2 people offer to help me tie it!

The other reason today is a special date?  It's my birthday today!  So, this quilt is my present to myself!  Yay!

I'm not planning anything special today, maybe just some more time in the Quilt Studio.  That sounds like fun to me!  And maybe we'll go out to dinner tonight.  I just have to decide if I want Mexican or Chinese.  Hmmmm . . . . They both sound good!

Thanks, LeeAnn, for the fun Corduroy Quilt-Along!  I got a yummy quilt out of it, and had so much fun making it.  I can't wait to go visit all the other Corduroy Enthusiasts to see their corduroy quilts!  Be sure to go visit Nifty Quilts for the Corduroy Quilt show!

Now, I think I have to take the sticky roller to the carpet in the Quilt Studio before I take the vacuum to it!  Yikes!  Fuzz Attack!