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Saturday 7 January 2023

Tempted by Teeny Tiny Quilting Techniques

tight quilting lines
Skinny quilting?
I'm starting to realize I have a love/hate relationship with quilting.

Every time I'm required to quilt lines on something that's larger than a sheet of paper, I invariably grouse about it: it takes too long, it's laborious, it makes my eyes go buggy, it's boring, etc.

Sure enough, however, not too much time passes before I find myself drawn to something that's intricately quilted, whether it's in terms of using tiny pieces of fabric or employing tightly configured lines.

Back in November, I encountered a new (to me) YouTube channel featuring a crafter who painstakingly creates otherwise run of the mill bags and pouches out of teeny tiny patchwork quilting.




To me, this is really teeny, tiny: take a look here.

image courtesy of Jagheng Quilt
image courtesy of Jagheng Quilt on YouTube...

She makes entire panels out of mini squares and rectangles to use as the basis for her sewing projects. Here's how intricate the process can be...

image courtesy of Jagheng Quilt
image courtesy of Jagheng Quilt on YouTube...

By the way, do you recognize the pattern shown above? It's for something that's been featured on many YouTube sewing channels, commonly referred to as a "magic pouch" because of how it sits once unzipped; it sort of changes shape to open up like a flat tray.

Every time I've come across it, I've felt a slight pull to make one. When I saw how this one was made out of teeny tiny little patchwork pieces, I knew that I wouldn't do it that way. But it did give me inspiration to make one not just out of ordinary fabric.

Do you remember the reverse side of my kite project

Quilted Kite Wall Hanging by eSheep Designs
Front and back view of scrappy quilted "fabric"...

Maybe not, since the project went largely unnoticed. What I did was lay down a bunch of scraps on top of some fusible fleece and then (fused and) quilted the entire surface.


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I decided to use the technique to make the exterior panel for this pouch.

using scraps to make a fabric panel
Preparing to "scrapify" a piece of fusible fleece...

Upon rescuing various scraps of Robert KaufmanTim Holtz, and Boundless DECOdent fabrics in shades of grey and brown from my collection of discards, I randomly arranged them on top on this fusible fleece piece (which was cut larger than the pattern template to accommodate the shrinkage and/or distortion that usually results when a piece is quilted).

Once filled in, I went to my ironing station and fused everything. Pointy little bits that overlapped fabric were glued into place with fabric glue.

using scraps to make a fabric panel
Scraps fused on and ready to quilt...

I had recently seen another YouTuber do a similar scrap piecing/quilting project, again to an extent that I would never do.

Here is Don Kim's version of a teeny tiny quilting technique.

image courtesy of Don Kim on YouTube
image courtesy of Don Kim on YouTube...

He started the same way as I did, by simply throwing scraps on top of the fusible interfacing. But then he went on to draw and quilt diagonal lines three times, each time going narrower to end up with the width that you see indicated in the photo above.

While I had decided to go beyond my usual comfort zone, it wasn't going to be that far.


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That said, I still wound up doing about an hour's worth of tiny quilting on this relatively small panel. The quilting lines on this are about a 1/4" apart.

using scraps to make a fabric panel
My version of a teeny tiny quilting technique...

They were done freehand style, so certainly not perfect, and certainly not even across the surface. In the picture below, you can see how I had to double back when I ran out of room.

using scraps to make a fabric panel
Aiming for unique, not perfect...

In terms of teeny tiny quilting, I appreciate this more organic approach. Just like I wouldn't have liked following a plan to cut squares and rectangles to a certain size in order to quilt in a certain order — and then hope to achieve a certain level of perfection — I wouldn't have liked having to sew along drawn lines repeatedly.

Something about that just screams "work" to me. (You'll see what becomes of this panel in the coming weeks.)

'Til next...

7 comments:

  1. Interesting ....wondering what you will make with it!๐Ÿงต๐Ÿงต

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Ah, so you've never come across that pattern shape? Well, then it will be a surprise for you. ;-)

      Delete
    2. Indeed!๐Ÿ˜„๐ŸŒท๐Ÿ’•

      Delete
  2. I like your way MUCH better. I'm with you on no teeny tiny piecing, which she looked like she was doing by hand, which is a big no from me. Look forward to seeing the finished product.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think she was just pinning, but I get it — no hand sewing of teeny tiny bits for me either! Some folks just have the patience to do those things on YouTube; kudos to them.

      Delete
  3. Love the tiny quilting and scraps - reminds me of thin lines in Korean quilting.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you! I believe — although I could be wrong — that Korean quilting is what the original YouTube inspiration video was demonstrating.

      Delete

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