Blogger's Quilt Festival - Spring 2014 edition

It's time for another Blogger's Quilt Festival!  If you've joined me through the link on the Festival, Welcome!  I'm so glad you came to visit!  If you're a regular reader, well, you're just as warmly welcomed!  And a huge Thank You to Amy for hosting this fun Festival again.  It is so fun to see all the wonderful quilts, get some inspiration, and meet new-to-me bloggers.

11-11-11 - The Corduroy Quilt

Regular readers may recognize this, although it's been awhile since it's made an appearance on the blog.  But, I'm happy to report, this is finally a FINISH!  Yay!  This quilt/comforter has been a loooong time in the making.  

I made the quilt top in 2011.  This quilt is made from corduroy, and it was made to celebrate National Quilting Day on November 11, 2011.  In other words, 11-11-11.  The Date That Most Closely Resembles Corduroy.  Hee hee!  That date just happens to be my birthday too, so it was my present to myself!

Unfortunately, then this quilt languished.  I got it layered and pin basted and started to tie the quilt . . . and very quickly got bored with it.  I've worked on it sporadically ever since.  This past winter I pulled it out to work on it again, and was determined that this was the year it would be finished.  So, I still had a few fits and starts, but I persevered!  

Detail 1

This quilt almost never happened.  In 2011, I read on some of the blogs I regularly visit about making a corduroy quilt and thought it sounded like fun.  But I didn't have any corduroy and I didn't want to go buy corduroy either.  But someone in my quilt guild was giving away fabric - and I received 2 2-yard pieces of corduroy from her!  Then I mentioned making a cord quilt and another guild member gave me her corduroy scraps!  So, I took that as a message from the Universe that I really should make a corduroy quilt!  Who am I to argue with the universe?

Surprisingly, most of the colors worked well together, but I ended up over-dyeing the green.  It was just too bright.  I used a blue/turquoise dye, and that toned down the green nicely.  In Real Life, you can see some variations in the green, but I don't think it shows up well in the photos.  I used up every bit of the yellow, the green and the purple, and most of the burgundy and the black fabrics.

Detail 2

I've entered this quilt in the 'Original Design' category of the Festival.  It is my original design.  My inspiration for this quilt was the quilts made by the Gee's Bend quilters.  (If you don't know about the Gee's Bend quilters and their quilts, you can read about them here and see some of their quilts here.)  In other words, I worked in an improvisational manner.  

I decided at the very beginning that I would only use scissors, NO rotary cutting!  After a while, especially for the longer pieces and borders, I just tore the fabric.  (I found out what a mess corduroy can make when you do that! Fuzz everywhere!)  It made a disaster of my quilt studio, but I worked quickly.  Just cutting and putting bits up on the design wall, then sewing without agonizing.  It was so much fun!  I ended up with big borders on the top and bottom edges just to make the quilt be long enough so that my toes won't stick out the end.  *grin*  The quilt ended up being about 50 inches wide by about 70 inches long.  I say "about" because, just like the Gee's Bend quilts, it's not quite straight or square.  I purposely left it "wonky" - because I love how it looks!

I used a poly batting (Quilters Dream Request polyester) because I wanted warmth without weight.  I knew the corduroy would be heavy enough.  And I used brushed cotton on the back of the quilt, which is so soft and cuddly.  In the manner of the Gee's Bend quilts, the brushed cotton doesn't match or even quite "go with" the top, but it was in the stash and it was the right size.  I used regular quilting cotton for the binding.  I chose to go with black, but added a few touches of yellow in places too.

a glimpse of the backing fabric

I was afraid that quilting this would be difficult, so I tied it with black Perle cotton.  But it turns out that the needle goes through the corduroy and light batting like a knife through warm butter!  I will quilt the next corduroy quilt I make.

I love the way the corduroy almost looks like velvet.  It is so soft and snuggly.  And I really like how the fabrics change color depending on the direction that the nap of the corduroy is running.  I love running my hand over this quilt, not to mention snuggling up with it!  It will be my quilt to cover up with this next winter when I watch TV in the evening.

on the couch

I don't think this will be my last corduroy quilt!  I still have a few bits left, another 2-yard piece in tan, and friends are still giving me their corduroy scraps!  And I've discovered how much I love working in the Improvisational style.