Tomorrow a person is coming over with baby-toddler clothes of her daughter, and she wants me to make a quilt of them.
Is there anything I should do specially, or watch out for?
Also, the advice that this group gave me about square-in-a-square was MOST useful! I've made a couple of quilts with that block, and they turned out very nicely. Thanks all!
Martha
ok...look for stains is the first thing that came to mind. Also, if they are knit items, remember to cut a little larger than the area that you will be using and apply interfacing to the back of the fabric. By doing this, you can mix the knits with the cottons with little to no problems. I have a box of clothing from both children (not to mention my hubby and a few of my favorite tshirts) and I am in the process of building usable fabric sections for each person by fusing the interfacing as I cut out the sections I want to use. Good luck...and will you post pictures when you are done??
Larisa
Careful with your iron's temp. There's a good chance that some of the fabrics will contain polyester and an iron set for cotton could put a permanent squish on those sweet baby clothes. Polly
Martha wrote> Tomorrow a person is coming over with baby-toddler clothes of her
ok...look for stains is the first thing that came to mind. Also, if they are knit items, remember to cut a little larger than the area that you will be using and apply interfacing to the back of the fabric. By doing this, you can mix the knits with the cottons with little to no problems. I have a box of clothing from both children (not to mention my hubby and a few of my favorite tshirts) and I am in the process of building usable fabric sections for each person by fusing the interfacing as I cut out the sections I want to use. Good luck...and will you post pictures when you are done??
Larisa
What a nice idea. I wish I'd saved more of mine. I only kept a couple of the special outfits. I'd love to a picture of the quilt also.
Sherry
I made a quilt from my granddaughter's clothing using 6 in. blocks with a
1.5 in. denim-blue colored cotton chambray saching between the blocks. The top was rather bulky so I tacked it using a heart stitch on my sm and red cotton thread. The actual stitch was a chain of embroidered hearts so I used a tack stitch and then a heart or three and another tack stitch. It was adorable- if I do say so myself!Besides watching for stains and using a fusible on the back for the delicate or stretchy fabrics (most seemed to be stretchy!) be sure to use some pockets, size/name brand labels tucked into a seam, appliqués from the garments and other fun things. I made mine with some crazy pieced blocks, some foundation pieced blocks in strips and other shapes and some were just a 6 in. block from the front of an overall front piece or other area. I also incorporated some shoulder straps and ruffles from the sleeves and all sorts of fun things. The sky is the limit! Have fun!
Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
One of the members of my Florida quilting group made a Sunbonnet Sue from baby/toddler clothes. She was able to use lots of the fancy areas of the clothing as well as some of the trims. She found it a bit bulky to quilt, even by machine, but it was a really cute quilt.
chiming in to agree w/Susan! sunbonnet sue would be perfect! and ask the mom what color she would like as the background color. sometimes a pastel or white is best, but i've seen them done with brighter backgrounds. amy in CNY
That sounds like a good idea!
Martha
It was the stretchy stuff that I worried about. Could you please expand on how to use fusible? I never have, you see.
good ideas for stuff to add!
Martha
I will be on the lookout for stains!
Is "fusible" another name for "interfacing?" Any particular kind I should get? or for that matter, stay away from?
I don't know how to post pictures [sigh!].
Martha
Good point; we get so used to cotton!
Martha
My friend used fusible interfacing (an Eleanor Burns technique). She stitched around the shape, trimmed the seam allowance, then made a clipped space in the interfacing and turned right side out. This was then fused to the background fabric and machine blanket stitched around the edges. When layering the pieces, you place the fusible side of the interfacing to the right side of the fabric. That way it is in the correct direction after turning.
I'd still use a fusible interfacing on the back of any stretchy or thin fabric before I used this appliqué method. If the appliqué side started stretching as you buttonholed the edges while the back side was fused in place on the background... well, it might not be pretty and you might say some naughty words! VBG
Leslie & The Furbabies in MO.
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