|
How to Quilt>Add Sashing to Your Quilt
In the late 1880s and early 1900s, quilters got creatively crazy and began using a variety of different fabric types. Where traditional patchwork quilters had been using cotton and wool for their patchwork, some of the more bold quilters began using fabric such as velvet and silk in their quilts. The story of why this began is a varied as the quilt designs themselves. One story has it that quilters decided to expand their horizons and use a wider range of available fabrics. Another is that because of the shortage of fabrics, quilters began using any fabric available regardless of shape, color or texture. True to the tradition of cotton patchwork, old worn out clothing was used, in addition to curtains, upholstery and other bits and pieces of available cloth. Due to the variety of shapes of fabric, crazy quilts took on a look that was unique to each quilt. And because of the difficulty of patchwork piecing these irregular shapes, the pieces of cloth were sewn onto a foundation piece, typically muslin. Crazy quilts were probably the beginning of the paper foundation piecing that has become popular today. Enough about crazy quilts, and onto crazy sashing. Using a similar technique, you can create a sashing that takes on a crazy quilt look. Old silk ties bought at second hand shops were used in the small wall hanging shown here.
The preparation of the silk ties included washing (since many were in fairly bad condition - with stains and cigarette smoke. After hand washing and air drying, the stitching and lining were removed, and the ties were ironed so they were flat and just silk fabric. The labels were removed and are being saved for another project - anybody have any ideas? Once the cats were embroidered, I measured the blocks and made the "tie" strip for the middle of the wall hanging - between the blocks. Pieces were cut from each tie that maintained the tie-like shape. As each piece was attached, I made sure that the angles were correct in order to make the strip relatively straight. For this project, I did not sew the ties onto a foundation piece. It probably would have been much easier and less frustrating. It's easy to lose track of the shape of your strip and end up with something that is not at all straight, and can't even be trimmed to make it straight without trimming off a lot of fabric. You can see in the picture that the bottom corners "lean in." They suffered from lack of adequate planning ahead, and then not wanting to keep ripping and re-sewing. I think I went through that exercise about 5 times before I gave up! Once the sashing piece was the right length, the middle sashing was sewn onto the blocks - first the top block, and then the bottom block. After that, the wall hanging was measured for the side sashing strips. When you measure a block or quilt top to add borders or sashing, be sure to measure a few times in the center and not on the outside. The outside edges tend to stretch somewhat, and even a tiny bit can make your quilt end up misshapen.
This wall hanging also has cornerstones in the border. Another option is to run the crazy strip-sashing to the end of one side and have the perpendicular piece butt up against it. Or, you could create a corner that angles around using pie-like shapes of fabric. I decided to take the easy way out and use cornerstones. Other Sashing Topics:
© 2006-, Penny Halgren. This article courtesy of http://www.How-To- Quilt.com. You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact. |
|
