Saturday, September 16, 2017

Bunches of Backs and Some Improv

Doubling Down on Backs

All summer long {Beach Boys version here} I've been giddily making quilt tops with no thought to the rest of the work involved. Now reality sets in. Seven quilts in the queue and five were sewn this summer.  Fortunately I picked up several quilt batts on sale.

The next step is to make some backs. The easiest way is to lay the top on the floor and cover it with fabric. Here's a glimpse of the newest five.

Quilt backs ready to pin baste

I have very low standards for backs. As long as the fabric is good quality and the combination doesn't make me sick, it's a go. Older fabrics preferred since this is a great way to use 'em up and move 'em out. {Rawhide!}

Not the most exciting part, but an important step in the process. Now to pin, quilt and bind them.

Improv Pillow-to-be

I've been admiring Chris English on Instagram. Like Kaja he works with vintage shirts but makes pillows instead of quilts. My small group is sold on experimenting with improvisation and, although we probably don't have his exact process, we sure are having fun.

These are three shirts DH "retired", cut into strips: a faded denim-colored corduroy, a plaid, and a solid white. They are all 100% cotton but the white is also no-iron. They mean it. It hardly holds pressing at all. Hopefully, quilting will take care of that.


Clockwise from the lower left: cut shirts into strips, sewed strips into sets, cut and sewed strips together. Stopping now until our next work day.

Enjoy the day, Ann

12 comments:

Kaja said...

Very Chris English! I like your shirts and those chunky bits in the last picture; it will be interesting to see how it finishes up.

Angie in SoCal said...

Cool! My tops are piling up, too. Great work.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Yes, those quilt tops pile up don't they? Great idea to just get busy making up a few backings all at once. I've admired Chris' style for a while too, love how he combines wacky florals & plaids & stripes!

Mel Beach said...

I make my quilt backs the same way by draping it on the floor and covering it with fabric! No math required!

Mystic Quilter said...

Oh yes, backings!! You have now drawn my attention back to the eight quilt tops hanging in the closet waiting to have backings chosen and stitched!!

KaHolly said...

Good job! Piecing backs is not my favorite thing. Just finished one up this early morning. Whew!

Ann said...

It's amazing how quickly that tower grows, isn't it? Hopefully I will now sit down and actually quilt.

Ann said...

I worked mine differently than my friends and think there method will end up working better. But, I understand Chris' method a bit more now that I've tried it.

Ann said...

I'm surprised how many tops there are right now. Fortunately some have deadlines so they will hopefully get quilted ASAP.
Chris has an original eye for fabric combinations. It's always fun to see what he's up to.

Ann said...

It's becoming my favorite method. I love math but don't really like using it for backs. Go figure.

Ann said...

Welcome to the club, Maureen!

Ann said...

Good for you to finish one! That always feels righteous.