Friday, November 11, 2011

Corduroy!

I had no intention of making a corduroy quilt when I first read about Corduroy Appreciation Day in LeeAnn's blog.  I didn't even have corduroy in my stash.  However, just before Halloween, a bag of orphan fabric scraps was left at my home.  I looked through the stuff and pulled out some corduroy.  Bright blue, bright red, dark green, and a little bit of green velvet. Yummy stuff.  How could I ignore the challenge, especially since the red was already cut in large, elongated triangles?

I decided to let the red triangles take the lead in terms of size of my pieces and put together whatever I could with what I had. Free form piecing.  The result was stimulating.  So much so that I took my husband's cords right out of the dryer and cut them up.  (Yes, I did get his permission.  They were too big for him anyway.) This introduced the gray green.  Almost done, but not quite...


It still needed something more, so I asked my neighbor, who sorts clothing at the Kiwanis Thrift Store, to bring home some trousers.  She brought me at least six pairs, but I chose to cut up only two, the dark blue and the dull red.  Finally with borders made from these pants, I had a quilt that felt right. It measures roughly 65" x 50".  I am not going to square it up, so some spots may be longer or shorter than that.  (The picture doesn't do justice to the wales... they go in all directions making a cool design element.)



Now I gotta figure out the backing and quilting.  Hmmmm.

It is hard to see that all the pieces are corduroy - the bright red, bright blue and dark green are fine wale, the gray-green is regular (medium?) wale and the dull red and dark blue are wide wale.  The bits of dull green beneath the bright blue is velvet, which, to me, is a really dense corduroy.

Thank you, LeeAnn, for introducing me to corduroy for quilting.  This stuff is addicting.  I just might take the scissors to the other trousers from Kiwanis and do a patchwork puzzle with them !

16 comments:

  1. Great! I see a glorious landscape in that! ;-) happy finishing! Love how rich the colors are when using corduroy!

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  2. Lovely photo! I love your colors and how this quilt reflects the light. This is way too much fun! You are right!
    It is going to be a cozy quilt!

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  3. Wow love this quilt and your use of thrift fabrics.

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  4. I LOVE your quilt and your story of the magical ways of corduroy just slipping into your life! This is true improvisation! The result is stunning and original. So glad you could play along. Save the wales!

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  5. I can see blue sails in the sunset. This is really beautiful. I love that you added some velvet for even more texture. Wonderful.

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  6. This quilt is so striking!! The red and blue really pop!! And the borders frame it so well. It's fun cutting up pants isn't it!

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  7. Yes! Sailboats at sunset! I love it!

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  8. Wow, that turned out great! Corduroy is obviously a good influence to be under. ;- ) Someone else's castoffs are often my favorite place to start. You done good!

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  9. Love it; and that you up-cycled. Very nice.

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  10. Wow, this is wonderful! I love your improvisation. Great triangles - they do look like sails. Isn't it fun how the different wales reflect the light differently? Happy 11-11-11!

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  11. Oooh! I love your quilt and am trying to figure out batting and backing as well! I think I'm going to use flannel for the back, no batting and ties ALL OVER!

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  12. THAT'S FUN! I remember hearing something about it being corduroy day...I just remember the awful sound my 7th grade corduroy, poorly homemade-by-me pants sounded when I walked. That turned me off corduroy for life, although this looks great! (Did it go "wubba, wubba, wubba" in the breeze while you had it on the line outside?!?)

    Looks like you are off and running. Now that the concert is over, I am looking forward to reading back through your posts!!

    In stitches,
    Teresa :o)

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  13. When is silk necktie day...I have a lot of those!!!

    In stitches,
    Teresa :o)

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  14. Neat design and colors! I also enjoyed your Storm at sea and Blue Chips quilts. Love the idea of the crumb quilt!
    best from Tunisia,
    nadia

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  15. really fun and I bet it's amazing to see and feel that texture in person!

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  16. wow! It's great! makes me wish I had joined in on national corduroy day.

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