Saturday, October 25, 2014

Bloggers Quilt Festival - the ROYGBIV Selvage Edition

International Quilt Market is in full swing in Houston this weekend, so that can only mean one thing: I'm not there! Hehe, while that is true, what it really means is that it is time for the Fall Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted, as always, by Amy's Creative Side.

Last spring I discovered (on Instagram) that my friend Diane was using her selvage collection to make string blocks. She asked if anyone wanted to participate in a selvage block-along. I probably had a ton of other sewing to do, but I also had a selvage drawer full to bursting and it seemed like a good idea to just get busy and make something substantial with all of those pretty selvages.

I know myself. I know that true 'random' doesn't work for me. I will always try to group colours or patterns, or match prints even if I'm not trying. So I decided to forego the random string idea right from the start and instead organized all of my selvages into piles of colour.  They almost completely covered my little sewing room floor!  Then I designed an easy 10 1/2" Selvage Colourblock (tutorial here) that would keep my inner organizer happy.

Selvage colour block by Poppyprint

Four of these squares pieced together give you a lovely diamond of solid colour in the middle, surrounded by related selvages in a 20" block!  I chose my longest selvages for the very first strings next to the solid triangles so that they'd have a nice frame around them to start.  And then I went CRAZY RANDOM....within the same colour grouping, of course.

Selvage Colourblock Tutorial by Poppyprint

These blocks came together really, really fast. I had an absolute ball making them and I so enjoyed using the selvages that I'd been diligently saving for four years.  When this quilt top was complete, B said "Cool!......Wait, is that all from your own fabric?!".  I think you know my answer.  The only colour that I had to raid my stash to cut more selvage off was purple.

Little Black Dress selvage colourblock
I used yard-dyed Essex for my black & white block centre and I love how it looks!  I wasn't sure how to fit black into the rainbow, so I ended up putting it smack in the middle of the quilt.

Once all of my 10 1/2" blocks were made I got kind of excited and pulled all of the newsprint foundations off. In retrospect, this wasn't such a great idea. All of those selvage edges cut at 45 degrees are the worst kind of stretchy! Now I was in a pickle. I had to figure out a way to stabilize the blocks and piece them together while keeping the quilt square. In the end, a skinny white sashing was my solution and I used the BigHugeLabs mosaic tool to help confirm my decision.

Selvage colourblock layout option 1
In the final layout, the 1" sashing borders every 10" block

I was seriously loving this quilt (and there was still quite a bit of selvage on my floor), so I decided to keep going and add a border to enlarge it.  The border is colour-blocked, too! I pieced selvage strings into 4 1/2" wide strips of newsprint and planned the border colours to coincide with the outside blocks of the quilt top. The quilt ended up about 75" square. It's quilted with a wool batting (a first for me - I like the puffiness!). I stitched the ditch around each block to stabilize, then stippled with matching coloured thread over the selvages.  The border is quilted with a figure 8 pattern. This quilting may have required a rather extravagant custom Aurifil thread box purchase.  As you might expect by now, the binding was also pieced to match the colour-blocking.

Selvage colourblock by Poppyprint  Selvage colourblock by Poppyprint


I'm so happy that I saved my selvages so that I have this beautiful memory quilt of all my favourite fabrics. Once this quilt was done, I cleaned up my remaining selvage strings, stuffed them in a big plastic bag and gave them to a friend. I won't be making another selvage quilt and it isn't because this wasn't a ton of fun, it's just that I don't feel like saving and storing selvages anymore. I'm on to the next thing!  

Selvage colourblock by Poppyprint
Here's Selvage Colour Block hanging at my traditional guild's show last June. The entire summer and fall got away from me and I still have not succeeded in a proper outdoor photoshoot for this quilt!

Thanks for getting through this super long quilt story. If you've still got any tea left in your cup, go and check out the other festival entries here!

AmysCreativeSide.com



53 comments:

www.randomthoughtsdoordi.com said...

I so love your version of this quilt. It's such a wonderful reminder of all the lovely fabrics you have used in the last few years.

Lysa said...

It's genius and... A-maz-ing!

paulette said...

OMG!!!! I love this quilt!! This is SCREAMING to go into your NEXT book!! I love the way you put the four triangles of solid colour in the middle!! You are genius!! I am starting to save my selvages!! I feel like a hoarder already...now why not add selvages to the mix!! haha Thius quilt has my vote!!
P

Julierose said...

What a spectacular quilt--loving the colored selvage blocks and that border is just perfect! hugs, Julierose

Leanne said...

This is such a fantastic quilt! It's great to see it in the festival.

Lisa in Port Hope said...

I've been saving selvages in case I get asked for a bee block, but I haven't done much with them. Maybe one day I'll do something much smaller -- a pincushion or something :)

Katy Cameron said...

I do love how this came out, perfect choice!

Alisa said...

This is an amazing quilt! My girls Re looking at it too and they are gushing!

Christine M said...

Your quilt looks great.

Lynz said...

It is absolutely amazing!! The white skinny sashing was inspired - it really lets the diamonds breathe. Perfection!!!

Tina Craig said...

I love the quilt and the story! It inspires me to take another look at my overflowing selvage basket.

scraphappy said...

What a fun story. Love the finished quilt.

Jackie said...

That is absolutely gorgeous!! Love, love, love it... and your story is the icing on the cake=)

Debbie said...

oh this is wonderful. I'm not a selvage-saver, but I do love quilts made from them. Your skinny sashing does a great job of setting the blocks and the borders just bring it all together in the most delightful way. Congrats on a really fun finish...

Elsa said...

Love this quilt, with the sashing it looks even better and with the border it's even more fab!

I've got a whole big bag full of selvages ~ need to get to it and do something with them!

Anonymous said...

absolutely LOVE this one...I am so not a random, scrappy person and enjoyed your scrappy but organized version.

Pattilou said...

I love, love, love string quilts and this one is amazing! Great work at laying out all the colors.

Judy Ann said...

Your quilt is lovely! I couldn't be random about the color placement, either. I'm totally on board with your color arrangements! :-)

grymerspalet said...

Wonderful.

Kate said...

Beautifully done!

Cille said...

What a fun idea to group by color - looks great

Mystic Quilter said...

Stunning quilt!!

Unknown said...

OMGosh this is fabulous! I love it. Love that you made the border to match. So amazing!

pennydog said...

Viewer's Choice here you come! This is amazing, if they were all my selvedges though I'd be feeling incredibly guilty about all of the fabric spend over the years :D

Yvonne @ Quilting Jetgirl said...

This is amazing! I have never actively saved my selvages, but I can definitely see how a quilt like yours would be a wonderful way to remember all the beautiful fabrics you have worked with. I love the attention to detail you have the color order in the binding and border. Gorgeous!

audrey said...

Oh, wow! This is seriously fun! I love it!

Diane Beavers said...

Saving selvages for my stash is something I recently started (I used to give em away). Your tutorial is spot on. THe quilt is gorgeous (indoors) don't worry about shooting outdoors:)

Cheryl said...

Beautiful! The quilt is wonderful and I am so impressed you had so many salvages.

machen und tun said...

Wow, what a beautiful quilt!! I love the colorcombination and admire your endurance to piece this beauty..

Geta Grama said...

I never save selvages but seeing your gorgeous quilt I think I should start doing right now!! I love the skinny sashing; I can't believe you had enough patience even for a pieced border! Beautiful!

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Great quilt. I give my selvedges to others, usually. I'll never do anything with them. I did discover 'cheater' selvedge fabric this summer. I'll do something with that.

Dawn said...

This is amazing!! Now I wish I had saved all of my selvage strips from years of quilting. What great memories you will have from looking at your quilt!

Anonymous said...

Molto Bella! Repurposing to the max with those selvedges makes it even more cool. Good luck!

Hillary

Sharon said...

Amazing use of selvages! I love your ROYGBIV quilt! Sooo many selvages!

knottygnome said...

awesome quilt! i love the border and the skinny sashing.

Beth said...

WOW!!! What a beauty! Don't really love most "selvage" quilts, but this one is wonderful. So glad you shared it.

Katie Z. said...

What a gorgeous quilt! I don't usualy save Selvedges... You might have changed my mind!

audrey said...

Gorgeous! Love the way the white on the selvages gives an airy look to your quilt.

Live a Colorful Life said...

Well, you might be surprised to find out that I totally LOVE this quilt. I would love to do the color block version. However, I would have to reorganize my selvages as they are sorted by "category." Which is sometimes good (like for something specific like holidays) but bad for a project like this. Hmmm.

Anyway, I love your quilt!

Rene' said...

I totally love this quilt Krista! So glad you picked this one to share in the festival.

the zen quilter said...

Incredible result - who would have known such a beautiful piece could be made from selvages - love it and the creativity behind it!

Heather Graves said...

I knew I was saving my selvages for a reason.... inspired!

Sheila said...

I love this, I have been saving selvedges for some time now but don't think I have enough for a quilt yet. Note to self - buy more fabric!

Goldogmom said...

Krista, I've never saved selvages, and now, looking at yours, I want to start for at least a pillow. LOL Maybe something bigger.

I do have a question. I am assuming you cut these off the first time you are going to cut into the fabric for a project. Do you use a sticky or something to label the fabric left over, as to the designer or manufacturer? You might be one of these sewists who recognize anyone's fabric line and don't need to do this. I don't alway recognize who designed something, but I do recognize what I like. I can imagine needing to know what fabric line it is, down the road, maybe to match something. So I would think I would want to label them after cutting off the selvage. Just curious what your process includes?

Michelle
SMQG

Camilla said...

Would love to make something like this, I don't have enough selveges yet, but one day! I'm wondering how much you trim when you trim the selvege from the fabric?
I've recently started cutting 1" but many of mine are quite a bit skinnier.

Hilary Florence said...

Well, I think all your salve edge saving ending up with a very effective and beautiful quilt - as you can see from all your comments. As someone who dyes their own fabric, I never have printed salve edges - but I am curious - how many quilts have you had to make to gather that amount of salve edge?

Anonymous said...

wow, I never would have guessed that selvages could be made into such a beautiful piece of art. It's gorgeous!

Benta AtSLIKstitches said...

I'm making one too, but random selvedges, this version is fab

Nina Lise@Mrs Moen said...

How fabulous, Krista, I love the crispness which comes from grouping the colours like this! I cannot imagine how many yards of fabrics it takes to get this amount of selvages!

amy said...

Easily the best selvedge quilt I've ever seen!!

Jane Holbrook said...

Selvages are a favored collection of mine, too. I sell them in my etsy shop, and so my guild all give me theirs. I have a huge amount, and have been marinating ideas for a selvage quilt. Her I am, with a super inspiration. Love love love. Happy Sewing, Jane

Susan P said...

Wow, I LOVE this quilt. I've been saving selvages for the last year and want to make this quilt. Thanks for the tutorial too!

Sarah said...

This quilt is awesome! I just don't have enough selvages. I never thought to save them til last year, then I gave them away because whilst I'd love to, I think I'll never get to using them in such a quilt. Too many other projects will jump in line. I can't do completely random either. I love how you've grouped the colours.