Sunday, August 19, 2018

Borders on the Truck 2 of 3

Too much blue
After completing the potholders, I was ready to work on the truck project. I cut the pieces for the border and then spent the rest of the day picking up in the studio. The next day, I came down with a fever and a nasty headache. No wonder I didn't make much progress on the truck project the previous day!
Auditioning other fabrics for border

Three days later and when my headache had gone from an eight to a four on the pain scale, I started to stitch the border fabrics together. The blue batik that I had found in my stash for the outer border sure wasn't "it." I was so happy that I had only stitched one border so I didn't have too much to rip!

This brown fabric is the one
It is a good idea to audition the fabrics, which I did when the fabrics were in pieces; but I should have auditioned the strips as that would have shown me that the blue was too light!

Next, I searched through the stash to see if I had a better fabric for the outer border. I found a piece that was too red (right side of photo), a piece that was too dark/dull (bottom of photo) and a piece that seemed just right.

I cut some strips and then auditioned the strips. I liked what I saw. I stitched the three strips or one border together; then I placed it on the project. It would work! So I completed the other three borders.

Appliqué to the rescue
It was time to miter the corners. Rather than try to stitch each miter using my sewing machine, I opted to applique the miter in place. I used silk thread and a few pins. This was a great method. It only took about 20 minutes for me to complete all four miters.

The frame adds to the project and I'm happy that I waited to continue until the fabrics "felt" right. The next step is to layer and baste this project which I will do once I figure out how to press the organza. I used a warm iron and had some success. I turned up the iron and took off some of the paint off the seam allowance and yet, in both cases, the seam allowance doesn't lie flat. I may leave it that way and quilt it the way the seam is positioned.
Old truck--framed

2 comments:

Nancy said...

I definitely like the brown border better than the blue one. I'm glad you took the time to take it off. You'll be much happier this way.

I've never ironed organza, but I would probably try to iron it from the back to see if I could get more heat on the seam itself. And, you're right, some of that seam will sink into the batting when you quilt it. I look forward to seeing your quilting on this one!

TerryKnott.blogspot.com said...

Nancy, the brown border was better. . .I can't remember why I nixed it in favor of the blue one to begin with!!!! Stay tuned for the ironing dilemma!