You will join the squares together to form your pattern after all squares are finished. Wait until all are ready, you may change your mind about the placement of squares in the pattern. I laid mine out on the living room floor and rearranged them several times before finalizing the design. Then stitch the squares together. Piece your silk for the backing and pin together, no quilt batting. Tacking with 6 strand embroidery floss in a complimentary color every 4 inches or so is much easier than trying to align a king sized silk sandwich and put it through your sewing machine.
The binding was made from the backing silk, cut on the bias and stitched on from the back of the quilt first. Next flip over, press and then fold edge crease. Fold and press an additional ¼“ seam under on the free edge. Pin well. Stitch from the front with a decorative stitch or straight stitch. You may have other ideas about binding the edges, be creative! This is your special masterpiece.
There are lots of leftovers that can be used for such things as throw pillows.
Create fabric to use for vests, jackets or other apparel.
Collect your materials, decide on your apparel design. You can find many patterns for jackets and vests at your local fabric store. You can also find some very simple to sew designs at the Martha Pullen.com website. Since there are so many seam lines in your pieced fabric, clothing designs with a minimum of seams will allow your pieced design to take center stage. Crazy patch is not difficult to enlarge (more pieces, not larger pieces) to cover the muslin foundation corresponding to the pieces of your apparel pattern. You can also create strips of flip and fold patterns and stitch them together until they are large enough to fit your clothing pattern.
For a crazy patch design variation: Purchase enough muslin for the clothing pattern you have chosen. Cut clothing pieces out of the muslin. Draw your fabric design on the muslin. Stitch the silk pieces on it using the method that best suits your fabric design. Stitch a seam around the exposed edges of each piece of your silk-muslin clothing pattern sandwich. Then construct your garment using good sewing techniques.
For a flip and fold design variation: Purchase enough muslin for the clothing pattern you have chosen. Draw, in a continuous fashion, your fabric design on the muslin using the increments for your chosen design (strips, or squares, etc.). Stitch the silk pieces on it using the method that best suits your fabric design. Now cut the clothing pattern pieces out of the panels you have designed. Stitch a seam around the exposed edges of each piece of your clothing pattern. Then construct your garment using good sewing techniques.
You will end up with unique items that are great conversation pieces.
New Photos of the Silk Tie Quilt
Original Story on Silk Tie Quilt
More Huntsville Articles
Free Huntsville Newsletter
Huntsville Events Calendar
