a Little Fling
Yesterday I had a little fling with my linen scraps. Summer is the time of year for linen, after all! And these scraps are tempting.
I keep my linen and linen cotton blend fabrics separate from my quilting cotton fabrics. That’s because these fabrics have different properties. Linen tends to be a looser weave and a stronger fiber. I have found that if I combine linen with quilting cotton in patchwork, the linen can unravel and the seams can tear. If, on the other hand, I make patchwork of just linen or linen-blends, the fabrics are equal and the patchwork is as durable as you’d expect.
Still, I sew such linen patchwork with 3/8” seam allowances. That extra wide seam allowance is extra insurance against unraveling.
Sponsor of the Week
Quilt Sandwich
Introducing the Garden Party collection by Liberty Fabrics for Riley Blake! At Quilt Sandwich you’ll find 3 different 5" stacker packs (charm packs), yardage from 8 selected Garden Party bolts, and a lovely fat quarter bundle of their favorite Garden Party prints.
True to the anything-goes spirit of summer, I sewed improv blocks with my linen scraps. Here I have begun with some of my favorites. Most of these are leftover from apparel sewing projects, plus some linen scraps I was gifted by a friend.
I like this beginning. The browns feel earthy and grounding. Combined with the whites, grays, yellow and blue, it has an optimistic, airy vibe.
Here’s where I stopped a bit later. But honestly, I don’t like how it developed. Perhaps introducing the turquoise was a mistake. Perhaps it’s just too diverse in terms of prints. Unfortunately, this is not where I want to be heading. That is as important to feel and acknowledge as one’s thrilling successes.
I am going to take these down now and go back to sewing happy, scrappy dottie blocks. Taking a break from this project will do it good. I already have an idea, actually, for transforming these linen blocks into the centers of large-scale linen stars. I will come back to that later after my summer travels!
