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Quilt Q&A

Posted on October 23, 2009July 28, 2015 by Martha

In the 10 months since I started this blog, there have been quite a few questions about my quilts. I usually answer these in an e-mail to the commenter, but I thought it might be interesting to put them in a post.

Where do find your vintage fabric?

I’ve bought most of it on ebay, although it is much more difficult now because there are fewer auctions of vintage quilt pieces/blocks/tops, and the ones I like are usually too expensive. Just yesterday I found some wonderful pieces on Etsy which were very reasonably priced. I have found fabric at thrift stores and occasionally friends send me vintage scraps. My favorite finds are sample swatches or cut quilt pieces — the more prints, the better.

When marking your pieces, do you also mark the seam allowance/sewing line, or do you just eyeball it as you are sewing?

I never mark seam allowances — for piecing or applique.  I am usually working with small pieces, and I have become accustomed to sewing a 3/16″ seam allowance on all of my quilts. If you are just beginning hand piecing, it might be helpful to mark the seam allowance, but I think you will find that very shortly you can eyeball the seam without a marked line. I would recommend the Jinny Beyer book, Quiltmaking by Hand — she describes all the techniques with wonderful pictures.

Do you starch your pieces? Do you use knots or back stitches when hand piecing?

I always starch before I draw around a template — it makes it easier to keep the piece flat and the pencil glides much more smoothly. I use knots to tie off, but I always back stitch when turning a corner and on both sides when crossing a seam.

How long does it take you to finish a quilt?

This is hard to say since I jump around from project to project. If I look at the number of quilts I’ve completed in the 8 years since I started quilting again, I guess it would be about 6 months for a hand pieced, bed-sized quilt (about evenly distributed between piecing and quilting) — maybe 4 months if the top is machine pieced. This varies depending upon the difficulty of the pattern.

Where can I find a pattern for the Pieced Butterfly Quilt?

I drafted my own pattern (which is available under downloads), but a pattern and instructions are available in the book New England Quilt Museum Quilts — it appears to be out of print, but you can find it on Amazon, ebay — or best of all — at your local public library.

Do you have some kind of color pattern in mind when you are putting your quilts together?

Usually I am looking for a pattern I like that will also work with whatever vintage quilt pieces or blocks I have purchased. The quilt pieces are really the driving force for the color and pattern. I don’t think of myself as being very good with color, but fortunately most of the prints from a particular decade seem to look good together.

How do you trace your designs for embroidery?

With a light box made from a wood wine box and a #2 pencil — I posted about it here.

Do you ever take a break?

Well…yes….when I’m working on my blog! My children are grown now, so I have much more free time these days. I do some sort of hand work every evening for 3 or 4 hours. On my days off (I only work 3 days a week) I will usually try to get some machine work done. I sew while I watch television (don’t like the movie theater — too dark to sew), riding in the car, waiting in doctor’s offices or anywhere else I can get away with it. My husband draws the line at walking and sewing — like at the grocery store.

Many people comment that they would never have the patience to hand piece a quilt.  I also felt this way when I was young, but now that I am old, I find the process so relaxing — almost therapeutic.  And really….what’s the big hurry?  It’s very satisfying to finish a project that took months to complete, and you feel an attachment to the quilt that is very personal.  It’s a wonderful pastime, and when you get really good, you can make something like this.

CottageTulips

5 thoughts on “Quilt Q&A”

  1. Ann says:
    October 23, 2009 at 5:57 pm

    Oh yes! That WAS a good idea for a post Martha! It is fun to learn more about your M.O. after enjoying your projects through your blog. Jinny Beyer’s book is a great resource and chock full of her beautiful quilts.

    I am sorry to say I MUST disagree with you on one point – I think you have a WONDERFUL eye for color! The fabrics you choose and the way you blend them proves my point – it is more than prints from a particular decade working together!

    Reply
  2. jan says:
    October 23, 2009 at 9:10 pm

    Martha, I agree with Ann. I think you have a particular talent with colors! I enjoyed reading about your process. I hope some day I can look at ‘difficult’ patterns and think “I could do that”!

    Reply
  3. Lisa says:
    October 24, 2009 at 7:18 am

    Thanks for all the great info, I love seeing your finished quilts, and it’s great to know a little bit about how you get there 🙂

    Reply
  4. Holly says:
    October 24, 2009 at 11:26 pm

    I agree with the other comments. I think that you do have an amazing eye for colour. Thank you for sharing so much information about how you “get to” your finished quilts. It is very inspirational and informative for the newcomers to quilting (like me!). Right now I mostly machine quilt, but can’t wait to try my hand at some hand quilting. I must confess that my favourite part of quilting is hand stitching the binding. It’s when I feel like I am really putting a piece of myself into the work.

    Reply
  5. pratima says:
    October 26, 2009 at 8:04 am

    Thank you Martha for a peek into the way you work with quilts. You mix colors and patterns beautifully 🙂

    Reply

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