Okay, I bought a staple gun and 2 yards of 108-inch quilt backing flannel and stapled it to a wall. After putting it up, I wondered with the amount of gray I use in sewing (or am going to use since I bought so much), if gray was a good idea….
A – Feather
I don’t care. I love it. We have one, long, continuous white wall, and this is now taking up 72 inches by 108 inches of that space right in the middle. It’s great.
I was a bit worried that not using the batting-wall method would backfire in that maybe the flannel alone wouldn’t grab enough, but here it is holding up one of the Laurel dresses I’m working on just fine. I was considering putting up foam-core wrapped in batting, then wrapped in flannel…but I like the cheap and easy method better…for now anyway.
Laurel In Progress
These photos show the wrinkles in it a bit more than in real life, and gravity will take care of the rest. I pre-washed the flannel so the threads would ‘bloom’ aka get fuzzy and then projects would stick better. Just think…even if you’re not a sewing crazy obsessed nutcase like me, and you wanted to DIY cover a wall in a non-committal way but didn’t want to deal with the mess of use the starch method, this would work great. This would be great for a rental or apartment or even just a small panel of cute flannel for a kid’s room!!
I got the fabric online at Fabric.com. This sea foam green and this natural color are great too. Maybe I’ll just cover the whole place in design boards….at an average about $10 a yard….and each yard is more than double the width of a normal yard of even ‘home fabrics,’ it’s a steal. seriously – this giant piece was under $20. If one wanted to be fancy or fussy, it could easily be framed and made a bit more formal. (alliteration FTW)
Liam’s Disney Cars themed chevron quilt is finally done and will travel up to Seattle this weekend.
I did the final quilting and binding after the kids went to bed during the week.
I had a little extra batting to trim off of the 90″ length, but not too much. If you do this and you’re using the wrap-around-binding as I’m fond of, be sure you do not stab your scissors through the backing.
Yeah. I did that. Twice. I made a patch. Twice.
Trimming
Then I just trimmed the fabric down to an inch beyond the edge, folded in half and then folded over, put in about 8 pins, and started sewing.
I find that if I pin the whole thing, I feel like I’m in a Hellraiser movie getting poked by needles constantly. Eh, not my thing. If I try to just roll and hold the binding as I go, I’m likely to either get sloppy or pull the bias and it will get stretchy/puckery. So, as I get to the last pin, I pause…
Wrap Binding
…fold and insert 6-8 more pins…
Pin As I Go
and the quilt ends up blood free.
I tried to get final shots with some daylight on the quilt to share. That probably seems like a simple task IF YOU DON’T LIVE IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST. It has been gray for so long that I am starting to feel gray. I emote gray. hahahaha.
Here’s the top of the twin quilt laid out on a queen-size bed.
Top In Full
Here’s Zoe’s view:
Top from baby view
It’s all business on the top with its formal pattern, and crazy party patchwork on the back:
Back in Full
I love how the embroidery thread as quilt thread did exactly what I wanted. It contrasts and pops out on the front, and completely blends away on the back.
Oh, sorry, and here’s Zoe’s view of the back:
Embroidery Trick
Again, with this close up, the thread shows up ever so slightly. The shot above probably has the most contrast on the entire quilt back.
Here it is against each of the back colors and in 2 lines to show the variegated thread.
Close Up On BlackClose Up On BlueClose Up On Tan
I really really really love it.
Here are some close ups of the top’s echo stitching to show the variation in contrast.
Close Up BlueClose Up RedClose Up Yellow
And…Against the binding…
Close Up On Binding
Yes indeed. I’m quite happy. I didn’t even go through ONE of those spools of Sulky thread on this….ooopsie, there I go again, buying too much. In fact, if it wasn’t for my testing, I probably could have made it with one bobbin, but I did put on a second bobbin. However I do have very little of the Disney Cars fabric left, so I estimated that just about perfectly.
I have 2 of the Chevron blocks left – and that one I sewed upside down! haha. I don’t want to stall the quilt going up to Seattle, so I’ll have to send along the accessories later. Throw pillows? I was thinking of using the Liam+cars embroidery programming I did in the tester post? Or…wall panel?? I don’t know how much boys are into wall panels or throw pillows for that matter….
Materials, if you’re interested:
Gutermann thread for piecing; Sulky thread for quilting. I used the same organic bamboo/cotton batting I used on the baby chevron quilt – Ms. Viking really likes sewing through it, it has a great feel and weight and after I coat it with Tailor Basting spray, it’s not nearly as hippy as it once was….heh heh, I crack myself up. I got 4 yards each of the Disney Cars tan and blue fabrics, and 2 yards of the Cars 2 fabric….there’s barely any left – maybe a quarter yard in pieces…a bit more of the blue is left I think. I could use that in the extras? I got the Cars fabric at Fabric.com. For this and the VIP Liam flannel pjs, they had the variety I wanted and I was pleased with the service. I used about 4 yards, give or take, of Kona in Bone. I got that at Joann’s with a 40% off coupon as it’s almost never on sale – which is great, because then it’s always 40% off! Ha! Joann’s does have a tendency to run low on the commonly used Kona cottons, so keep that in mind if you want a lot. I finished off the bolt with that purchase and I think I only got about 7 or 8 yards. They were completely out of most bright whites at the time of that purchase.
Ok! That’s it! Whew! Give me ideas for the Liam accessories if you think of some….meanwhile, I have a list of spring outfits to make!
As mentioned, I like ordering online. It frees up some of my very limited time. I don’t have to drive to multiple stores, tinker around until I am satisfied with what I want while maneuvering around other people doing the same thing…I can just tinker with an online cart and it will be sent to me.
For my next experiment, I ordered fabric and notions from 3 different online companies: Fabric.com, Fabricworm and Dove Original Trims. I can’t stand it when they take forever to actually ship from the store. Can’t stand it. I ordered from Zulily.com once and it will only ever be once because of that very thing. I like simple, clean websites with very easy navigation. A great website with a janky Yahoo store is a pain. Using Paypal also makes me cringe – I know how much money is going to Paypal and can’t help but wonder if the prices would be lower if it wasn’t for that or maybe the hard working crafters would at least get more (hello Etsy).
So, without further ado, here’s the fabric online ordering list.
Fabric.com
Selection. Huge, ginormous online selection. Ginormous. This can be a hindrance in the organization category. I searched for chevron fabric. I could see by the breadcrumb/navigation trail that they listed it as ‘zigzag’ first. Ok, resubmitted search for zigzag pattern. Then I found two options in yellow that I was looking for: one was an outdoor fabric and one was a cotton slub – neither are good for the baby blanket I’m going to make. Now, due to the option of looking through thousands of ‘pattern’ fabric or just using this janky search, I can’t say for sure that there wasn’t another cotton option, but this is about saving my sanity, not spending all day on a website. This is not a kill for me, just an observation that adds up. (PS, I feel validated in saying janky when I put in a search for “organic” and get PUL (Polyurethane Laminate) as an option.) However, you can get just about anything your heart desires. If you know you like Amy Butler for example, and who doesn’t, she’s easy to find with her own icon right on the front page. You can also search by designer. I ordered a ton, well, 4 lbs. of gingham. it all came neatly rolled onto a sturdy cardboard tube. I have no complaints.
Shipping. Ok, so there is free shipping over $35. That’s really good. So when I made an order for $71.64 on June 6, 2012 at 11 PM (so granted that’s more like June 7), I’d reasonably think they’d arrive by the 14th. I got a shipping notification on June 13th, 2012 and the package didn’t arrive until June 19th. That’s a bit too long for me. If I really don’t want the fabric I ordered for almost 2 weeks, and I don’t see myself thinking that way, or I just have to have something that only Fabric.com carries…maybe I’ll order again but right now they are on a back burner for me.
Cart. Eh. I don’t love their purchasing cart. I have an ‘account’ but for some reason as I enter the purchase process again, it doesn’t remember my addresses. What a pain. Paypal is an option if that’s your thing but I have no Paypal love.
Overall satisfaction: C
Fabric.com order
Fabricworm.com
Selection. Cute. Boutique-y, and priced accordingly. The most adorable patterns and options. They had my yellow chevron fabric, and when I emailed to ask if the 100% cotton was slub or not, just to be sure, I got a response in about an hour. They price the fabric at 1/2 yard, which is a little weird, and I’m sure it has something to do with using a Yahoo cart, but it’s not that big of a deal. They have good sales sprinkled with great sales – especially when you consider the caliber of fabric. I love the clean(ish) layout, the way the sections are broken up and the general navigation.
Shipping. I have ordered twice from Fabricworm and shipments have shipped in about 24 hours and arrived in about 3 days. That is perfect for me. Both orders were in the $60 range and shipping was $5.50. They do giveaways and have coupons/sales often enough to make me feel like I’m getting that $5.50 back, so I’m ok with it – especially with that delivery speed. The fabric comes neatly folded in a ziploc bag via USPS.
Cart. Eh. I don’t like Yahoo carts. It’s a pain to go back to the store and in the instance of my second order at Fabricworm.com they items from my first order were still in the cart when I made my second order…that’s janky. I concede Fabricworm is small and, like I mentioned, boutique-y, so I shrug it off. I also used Paypal for my order. Eh. If that convenience is there – it’s sort of like going to Burgerville – I might go there for convenience but I really don’t feel that good about it and everyone is a little poorer as an end result.
Overall satisfaction: A- (only because I don’t like Yahoo stores. If I had to consider price I might drop it a bit more, but my tax bracket level isn’t Fabricworm’s responsibility.)
Selection. Amazing. If you love rick rack like I do or have learned how much of a pain it is to make bias tape but hate paying $6 for a few yards, then you will love it too. I bought a spool of 50 yards of white bias tape and some lavender bias tape that was on clearance (!) in one order and a huge roll (12 yards) of 1 inch elastic in another. I am very happy with both.
Shipping. The roll of elastic shipped out the day after my 2 pm order on 6/22 and arrived on 6/25. Can’t complain about that. Shipping was $4.45 on the elastic order, $6.45 on the bias tape order, but at her almost-wholesale prices and speed, I can’t complain too much.
Cart. Well, I get the impression this store-site is a one-woman-show. While I’m not going to take the time to look at her source code, it looks like some purchased turn-key site from over a decade ago. At her prices, selection and speed, I can deal with it. The site is pretty easy to navigate, and well, again used the evil Paypal. It’s true.
Overall satisfaction: A
Bonus: Flo is on Twitter AND she posts some wacky/fun links sometimes.
