Manx quilt...sort of

So now you are making FPP - foundation paper piecing - log cabin blocks. Manx is just a very old hand sewn version.

I am assuming that you realise that you don't leave the little flappy bits at the end of the logs on your machine sewn blocks, right? lol

you will be pleased to hear that I showed how to do Manx quilting at my bee tonight , by hand and ripping batiks as I went - much to the horror of the girls there LOL

Yeah - the first time I ripped a piece of fabric in a class you could hear the shocked intake of breath, followed by a deafening silence. lol

So, what did they think of Manx quilting?

Ummm, oops! Actually I did leave the little flappy bits at the ends. Now I feel just a little silly. Oh well, live and learn, right. LOL!

It doesn't matter, but it really isn't necessary if you are FPP the blocks

they thought it fun - I'm not sure if any will do it as they are deeply into hexagons as take along projects but well I did get to show them and it was good for me to practice with friends

but I think that if I demo this again I will need to have more than a block to show off. I also think that maybe if I used cheaper fabrics they wouldn't be *quite* as horrified as I had just nabbed some scraps and made it fast and the only scraps within reach before I left were the scraps I'm using to make my batik crazy waistcoat - can you see the horror in their faces as I used a *batik* as a foundation?? followed of course by comments like I have too may batiks for my own good (yeah *right* LOL)

lol

I used sew-in vilene (paper?) dressmaker's interfacing for the foundations and traced the lines on. Having sewing lines makes it a lot easier for beginners and keeps the blocks a consistent size.

At least three of the sewers I taught here are collecting their "Manx kits" (pre-drawn foundations and pre-cut strips) to take on their "big loop" trips (the 6-12 month car/caravan trip around Australia that so many retirees undertake, generally referred to as "doing the big loop"). They will not need any cutting equipment beyond small scissors, and no SM as they can sew the blocks together when they get home.

that sounds like a plan :-) I'll go raid the fabric shop next week we do have all kinds of Vilene here - it's German made I believe and is the main make here. the sample of yesterday has been dismantled already as I do need the scraps for the waistcoat LOL

I was trying to keep away from the PP like part as I was demoing to amongst others Wendy Vosters (PP quilt book writer LOL) but who knows what I will have by the time I need to demo again LOL

Well, it probably is the earliest form of foundation quiltmaking. Although if you don't remove the foundation it's not really like modern PP.

I find it interesting in this age of machines that can do almost anything that so many of my learners fall back on handsewing as their preferred method - be it applique, piecing or quilting. They love the soothing rhythm of stitching by hand.

sewing by hand is also cheaper - many hand sewing quilters I know sew by hand as it takes longer to do a project and so makes their hobby cheaper.

I'm new to the batiks, so many years ago there were no batiks in the quiltshop I frequented (and I didn't have internet yet)

Now I'm wondering where they were in my time......:) I bought a few now and I'm stuned by the beatifull colours and in my opinion you cant' never have enough batiks..........

I'm hooked on batiks LOL and collect as many as I can while I can need to do another "raid on the wholesalers" soon hahaha

:)) I bought a piece blueisch greenisch for the wings of a fairy.......and when I saw it for real the first time, I knew I was hooked:)

ve haf vays ov makig you hooked

bwhahahahaha

:)) What's next.............?:)

now *that* would be telling wouldn't it?

I'll have to remember that for the next one. I'll just keep going this one the way I started it, since I already have several blocks done. One other question....

Does it matter what I'm using for the foundation? Probably should have asked this before I started, lol! Right now I'm just using a lightweight white fabric that I happened to already have on hand.

I have to say, I really did prefer the hand sewing method. As was mentioned, also find hand sewing soothing and I like the portability of it. The only reason I'm using the sewing machine for this one is, like I said before, I hoping to have time to do more in this pattern for Christmas gifts. I've always liked the log cabin pattern, but I never realized how easy it was to do. Hurray for easy patterns, lol!

I am happy to hear someone else rips fabric. I have had so many pieces of fabric really croocked, even though I watched them cut straight. I think sometimes fabric is put on the bolt croocked and trying to straighten it out after a pre-wash takes too much time.

Ripping 2 or 3" pieces (or larger) is quick, easy and doesn't hurt the fabric iin the least.

It doesn't matter for Manx (handsewn traditional Manx) what fabric you use as a foundation. But if you are machine sewing onto a foundation try to make the foundation as light as possible as it will be left in the quilt.

This will make the finished quilt VERY thick and VERY heavy. Also VERY warm, but the thickness can give you trouble if you want to quilt it. You might want to consider finishing the quilt like a traditional Manx quilt. Thick and heavy in a Manx quilt is not a problem as they are not quilted, they are tied onto a backing with no batting.

If you don't know about tying a quilt just ask on the ng when the time comes and I'm sure we can talk you through it OK.