Studio, What's on the Design Wall

Update on “The Challenge”

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

I keep getting away from blogging as I seem to be having a very busy summer. We just returned from Chicago where we met up with my brother and his family for the weekend. Tomorrow my sister arrives and we go on a road trip to celebrate her birthday for a couple days and I show her a little of Colorado. Then the following week I head to a quilt retreat on the Washington coast.

I did in between traveling, get the quilt top done on the quilt I discussed in the post The Challenge… , of my friend’s late mother’s favorite clothes that she asked if I could turn into a quilt. As I shared in that post, here is what I started with:

The challenge laid out

The sweatshirt, T-shirt, jean jacket, jeans and shirts did not scare me. The sweaters, scarf and the velour robe did!

I bought woven interfacing (like 12 yards of it) and fused it to all the deconstructed clothing (my first step was to deconstruct the clothing).

Deconstructing the clothing

I was able to pull out the logos on the t-shirt and sweatshirts; and embroidery on the jean jacket. After fusing all the non denim fabrics to the woven interfacing, I was able to cut them into 5.5 inch x 5.5 inch blocks and create 10.5 inch by 10.5 inch 4-patch blocks.

What to do with these sweaters?

I did consult with my friend Wendy who suggested Solvy, a water soluble stabilizer. Wendy has a lot of experience with Solvy. Wendy did a little workshop for me at her house years ago and I made a little thread bowl with thread scraps like in her book Fast, Fun & Easy Incredible Thread-A-Bowls: 2 Techniques-5 Projects-Unlimited Possibilities. I still had a sample of it that she gave me.

image credit – amazon.com

Solvy is a little on the messy side and I decided to just try using the woven interfacing on a section of one of the sweaters as a test. It worked, not perfectly, but good enough. I was able to cut some hearts out of one of the sweaters, and then fuse the heart to a 10.5 inch by 10.5 inch block and satin stitch it down:

Ta da – was able to use one of the sweaters

I did not use the other two sweaters, I am returning them to my friend.

So here is the completed quilt top which I will machine quilt myself to batting and backing fabric; and then figure out what to use for binding.

up on the design wall

It’s not my greatest work as the fabrics were very challenging to work with and I cannot believe I added a thin polyester scarf to a quilt, but I did it! Don’t even get me started on the velour robe – the deconstructed fabric shed everywhere and was a disaster when I tried to press the blocks with it in it. But I made it work also…

It does look better in person, you’ll just have to trust me (smile).

When I get it quilted and the binding sewn down, I will give you all the final photo as well as what ended up being the measurements on the quilt.

Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

47 thoughts on “Update on “The Challenge””

  3. Yay! Tierney it looks wonderful 🙂 And I’m sure it will be cherished!! I took a project on many years ago with similar challenges… I haven’t accepted another one since! LOL

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  6. Wow! That was definitely a challenge, with all the different types and weights of fabrics, especially the sweaters. But you made it work! That is a lovely gift for your friend, and I know she will cherish it 🙂

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  7. Hi Tierney, I think the quilt turned out beautifully! It is going to be so special for your friend to have this. Well done.x

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  10. Tierney, I love how you thought outside the box to incorporate the one sweater with hearts. The results thus far are beautiful. This is truly a quilt to be treasured.

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  15. Hi
    I like the final quilt and thought you did a great job withholding balance and the hearts have the memorial touch
    When I first saw the fabrics – I thought it could be very busy – but you used such variety with a calm and sweet vibe

    Liked by 1 person

      1. Did you know I have a bag of clothing items and I always wanted to have a little toss blanket/quilt made with the items
        However – not sure I do want one anymore because we are downsizing and I already am finding it hard to figure out what memorabilia to keep from
        What I already have a
        But what a great idea to make a memory blanket with fav clothing items of a loved one! Hat can sure help with bereavement !

        Liked by 1 person

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