Friday, July 7, 2017

A Blue Plaid Linen Shirt

The back of a blue, plaid, linen shirt seemed the perfect choice for the back of a small quilt.  The shirt had already been washed, dried, and cut apart, but not yet ironed.  It was large enough for my little flag quilt with inches to spare around the edges.  (Surely, the backs of gently used shirts must be a great choice for little quilts!)

blue plaid linen shirt back

Anyone who reads my blog regularly will have seen this quilt twice in the past week or two.  I apologize for that but I did want to record its making and details, finished in one week--from choosing fabrics, to sewing, to hand quilting, to binding.  Many thanks to Cheri Payne for this sweet pattern which can be found here.

Before quilting the top measured about 18" x 21".

small flag quilt top with applique from a pattern by Cheri Payne

For batting I wished for a piece of flannel but having none large enough I overlapped two small pieces of cotton batting (probably Warm and Natural) and stitched the length of them by machine.  The overlap is not obvious on the finished quilt.  Then I layered the quilt, batting, and linen back, basted the layers, and began quilting.  I think the batting was a better choice for thickness.

I don't have a great assortment of quilting thread on hand but I have some wooden spools of old "Intrinsic" thread, size 24, made by The American Thread Company.  I don't know their age but they are sound and the size is similar to, but slightly larger than, American brand quilting thread that I see at JoAnn stores.
 
wo old wooden spools of Intrinsic thread size 24 by The American Thread Co.

I used it.  I reasoned that this is a primitive quilt and took a made-do attitude about it.

My attitude about the quilting was also primitive and make-do.  No fine quilting stitches on this.  I would call it big stitch except that the thread is finer than I've seen most use for big stitch quilting.


It's amazing what the eye misses that close-up photo shows.  All those little details... and mistakes....  Don't look too closely at that star or you'll see some really primitive applique stitches!  Still, it held in place through the washer and dryer.

small hand appliqued and hand quilted star in primitive style

When it came to binding I thought the quilt needed either red or blue.  Most of my red shirts are plaid with lights so I chose blue shirt with low contrast blues for the binding.
quilt binding from plaid shirt

The finished quilt measures 16¼" x 20¼".  It now graces our front door and welcomes visitors.

Small primitive flag quilt from a pattern by Cheri Payne

Thanks for your patience with too many photos and details of this little quilt.  I was glad for a quick finish between other quilts and projects.

--Nancy.

18 comments:

  1. You can never have too many pictures of a patriotic quilt. I didn't realize it was petite. Too cute.

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    1. Thanks, Robin. I'm learning to love petite quilts because they take so much less time. Of course, they cover so much less space, too.

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  2. What a sweet mini quilt!! Thanks for the link to the pattern.

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    1. Thank you, Joyful, and you're welcome for the link to the pattern.

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  3. I enjoyed following your process from start to finish. It's a lovely quilt, and perfect for working on this week!

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  4. This is so sweet -- I love all the plaids, and the hand quilting too. Nice finish!

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    1. Thanks, Monica. I was pleased to have started and finished it all in one week.

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  5. Never too many details and photos for me! That plaid is perfect, and the finished quilt looks wonderful on the door. I go to Goodwill on their color tag days and senior discount day together and I buy plaid shirts there to use for quilting. Especially XL long sleeved ones! With back, two front pieces and 2 long sleeves, there's a good yard of fabric to use! At about the cost of $1.50 per shirt. One year, a friend and I swapped sleeves from such shirts to get more variety in our stash. Sometime soon, there's a plaid quilt in my future again!

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    1. Thanks, Susan. We have several local thrift stores but the ones that have had the best prices are Volunteers of America. It's becoming harder and harder to find shirts with good fabric for quilting. I think men are wearing more knit shirts these days. I'm glad I bought lots when they were available.

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  6. That linen shirt made the perfect backing for this charming and speedy finish. Good for you!!!

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  7. So sweet-- and that shirt is the perfect back!

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    1. Thank you, Karen. I was thrilled to learn that a shirt back is large enough for a small quilt.

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  8. This is a beautiful quilt and the shirt is a perfect backing for it. The hand quilting adds a wonderful special touch.

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  9. Super cute quilt. I like following your processes and accompanying ideas.

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I appreciate your comments and look forward to reading what you have to say. Thanks for stopping by.

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