Murky Waters ~~ FINISHED!

This scrap quilt is a finish! I thought it was started in 2017, but blogs tend to be a fairly accurate way of keeping track of things and mine says this was started on or before December 27. So I guess it's a 2016-17 completion. 

When I began the quilt I had one goal: to bust up some scraps. Well, that it did. Every bit of fabric in this one is from a scrap bin. In fact, the top is from the beige-to-brown bin and the bottom from the calicoes bin. I pieced the calico together.



How is it that every time I go into the stash, I find more calico? Do they somehow multiply and toss bits and pieces into the stash? I pulled what I thought was all of the calico out and move them to a separate pile on the other side of the closet. Yet, I find more and more of them in the stash.




But I digress (and do not solve the mystery). I've decided that this quilt shall be named Murky Waters simply because it reminds me of bayou water--murky, brown, muddy, messy and sometimes smelly. 

At 54 X 56 it will make a nice lap throw or small bed quilt. I don't have a particular person in mind to give it to, so it may go into the donation pile. 

I took it outside into very bright sunshine and laid it on Richard's woodpile, thinking the browns would complement each other. A few minutes later Rich walked up and offered to hold the quilt for me, which I greatly appreciate. 

One of the nice things about making a quilt totally from scraps is that any quilting motif will do. So I used this one to practice some motifs that are difficult to quilt. The problem? Because of the many different pieces, it is difficult to see the stitches and analyze how good or bad they are, but at least the person who eventually gets the quilt also won't be able to see any bad stitches. 

Quilt Stats
Name:	Murky Waters
Size:	54 X 56
Fabrics:	Scrap fabrics from stash
Background:	none
Binding:	Kona Bison
Pattern:	none
Quilting:	practice quilting with variety of motifs

Linking up with

Crazy Mom Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Calico

Recently I've been using up some of the calico in my stash as backing for baby quilts. They are light and soft and cheap. Well, cheap in my mind since I either bought them long ago or inherited them from mom's stash. 

As I was cutting into the last pile I was a bit sorry that they were all gone. Still, I decided to check one more time to see whether I could find a few small pieces or something to add to the leftovers. 

I found a few more than expected! Yay, right? After I pulled them out, I started looking through the pile to make sure that they were all calico and to look at sizes. That led me to thinking that maybe it would be good to discuss calico. 

Calico is a thin, woven cotton fabric made from unbleached, undyed threads. The selvage is slim and tight but barely noticeable or distinguishable from the rest of the fabric. Generally there's no writing or label on the selvage. 

It is generally coarser than other cotton fabrics, but softens when washed. It's about the same weight as muslin and is usually overdyed in small print patterns. One of the oldest fabrics made in mills, it was used for dresses, aprons, and quilts. 

It may have more than one color but rarely has deep, rich colors or large prints and are not colorfast because they are cheaply processed. They work well with solids, especially thin, cheap cottons. Calico is used by fashion designers and sewists who create dummy pieces when designing since it is much cheaper than luxurious, expensive fabrics, such as silk, damask, chiffon, etc. 

Calico makes great backing for quilts, especially children's quilts, precisely because they are thin and soft after washing. I am thrilled to have found more calico in the stash. I think this may be it, though. I'll have to move on to other fabrics when the basket is empty.

Sunday Quilt Inspiratation: Pastels

Happy late Easter everyone.  By this time, all the eggs are eaten, the baskets emptied, and masses prayed.  In honor of Easter I thought I'd use pastel colors. They remind me of the dresses we wore as little girls.  Nothing fancy or lacy, just cotton fabrics in spring calico prints.  Momma made a dress for each of us to wear to Easter mass.  

My favorite was purple flowers, but there were always lots of options.  

While I was looking for pictures of vintage calicoes, I found this picture of yo-yos.  Of course, they remind me of vintage calico quilts.

And that takes us to more modern quilts. 

Join me tomorrow for Modern Monday.  See you then!

Mary