I’m On a Roll - Chookshed Challenge Done

I didn’t have anything on today, so it was the perfect chance to play with my new Number 10 from the Chookshed Challenge.

My Number 10 (as switched out) is to MAKE A SEA GLASS MINI QUILT.  I had popped this little collection of crumbs in a container to play with.  Unlike most of my chosen projects, this wasn’t something that had been hanging around in the sewing room, rather something that I had just recently thought of doing.  It would be so nice to get it made while fresh in my mind.

I’ve taken lots of photos along the way, so be prepared, as I talk through the process.

I do love sea glass and have a nice collection that we amassed mainly on the Isle of Man in 2018.  It fits nicely in its pretty jar.

Well, I made a glorious mess.

The plan was to make a mini to fit on my little stand that Santa is displayed on each Christmas.

I figured that the best way to work this out would be to mark out the dimensions on my cutting mat, fiddle around to make a heart template and then fill it up.

Not only do I keep all crazy little crumbs of fabric, I also keep crazy little scraps of appliqué paper. You never know when you can use them for small appliqué shapes.  Well, I made good use of both in this project.  So many of the little pieces had their shape determined by the shapes of those scraps.  Did it make a dent in the scraps?  Yes, for the appliqué paper, as they are all used up.  Definitely not for the fabric crumbs, but that was to be expected.

Lou and I have been having chats about overthinking quilt layouts etc., and I was determined not to overthink this. Having said that, I cut out what I thought would be good colours and laid them out and then decided that there needed to be more contrast and rearranged, and replaced fabrics and generally fiddled around with the placement quite a few times before finally settling on a layout.

Next question was what background fabric to use.  I didn’t want to use white, it would be too stark.  I chose one fabric that I thought looked like sand, but when I placed a few pieces on it, it just looked dull and dirty.  Another looked good, but there wasn’t quite enough.  In the end I settled on a piece of seeded homespun that I had in a box.

Then I taped the heart templates to the fabric and filled it in, and yes, I tweaked it a bit more.

All ready to quilt.  But how? Most sea glass quilts that I have seen have the patches raw edge appliquéd.  But, I had seen one version where there were wavy horizontal lines quilts across it and I really liked that look.  A bit like ripples in the sand.  Besides, that would be much easier and this piece doesn’t exactly have to be durable.

I had great fun doing this and it didn’t take long.  Don’t you love the texture on the back. 

And the front.

Now, how to bind it?  With my Santa mini, I just bagged it out and added triangles to the back corners as I went to clip over the corners of the frame.  That was not going to work on this one, as the quilting goes right to the edge,  However, I didn’t want a normal binding, so it was time to learn how to do a faced binding. 

It wasn’t that bad, and a little different to how I expected.  I love to learn a new techinque when I work on a project.

And, here it is, all done.  A nice neat finish.  I probably don’t need the triangles on the bottom, but I can add a dowel if I choose.

Now for the front.

Ta da!  On my little shelf in the kitchen, together with my jar of sea glass and a framed picture, which is minuscule shells.

Perfect for summer and Valentine’s Day.  I love it.

This was such a fun little make.  Not my normal style of work, but something quick and a bit improv.  There was no stress or pressure to have it made for any purpose, or time frame, or to get a kit or UFO worked on.  So refreshing.

Oh, and it is primarily blue, so also ticks the RSC box.  Bonus.