When this quilt came out, I thought the original block was not a great fit to the overall quilt. It's a basket set in a pieced frame, and it's just a little too 'cute vintage' to go with the modern look of the rest of the quilt. A lot of people agreed (or don't like to do applique) and either did a focus fabric for the center of the block or pieced the center. On the other hand, I do like that there are a couple of places (including this block) with rounded shapes to offset all the angles in the rest of the quilt.
One block that I really wanted to keep from the original quilt is the blue and white "Drunkard's Path" block. I was very proud of my first curved piecing and it will provide some curved shapes like the basket did. And the outer corners of darker fabric will give some of the 'frame' look. They are both 12 inch (finished) blocks.
The only issue is that this is one of the blocks that was damaged by poor storage. It doesn't look bad in a photo, though you can see the brown spots in the center bottom unit. It's much worse looking in person. I'm going to try some 'Retro Clean' and see if that helps. I do have more of both fabrics to replace the damaged units if that doesn't work.
Soaking away on Saturday. The instructions say to soak 'up to 48 hours'. I think I'll give it a good rinse after church at about the 24 hour mark and see where we are.
(Later)
The only issue that I had with using the Retro Clean is that the water needs to be kept warm for best results. The instruction recommend outside on a sunny day. But in January in Kansas, that would have been frozen soaking, not warm soaking! I did this in a tub in my kitchen sink and periodically I would use a small saucepan from my dye gear to dip out a couple of cups, heat it up, and dump the heated solution back into the tub. (The chemicals in the Retro Clean are not food safe and unlike certain teenagers, I take such warnings seriously. I have several pots and pans and a set of measuring utensils that are dedicated to dyeing, soap making and other such endeavors.)
After a 24 hour soak, the majority of the staining is gone. The only place I can see it is the one unit where it was the worst, and even that area is lightened enough that the surface of the block looks acceptable, but since I have the fabric and it's on the exterior of the block, I'm going to replace it.
This block was hand pieced, and the templates for it are long lost. So I used the old unit to cut and mark sewing lines for the new. You can see the staining very plainly in this photo. The front of the
fabric was less damaged than the back, but replacement is the way to go
on this.
Trim the old unit down to the sewing lines, mark the curved sewing lines using the cut down edge. Plenty of starch on both the old and new fabric will keep everything from moving around.
Hand piecing in progress.
One thing I love about hand piecing is that you can leave the seam edges
'free floating' and press them however they need to go; you can spin them or even
press them open after the fact. Since there are no 'crossing' seams to
keep them locked in one place, anything goes. In this block, I spun the center so it would lay nice and flat. The individual units have the bias edges pressed to the dark. This curve is gentle enough that it can be pressed either "in" or "out".
And all back together, tidy and ready to go.
I like this unit a lot. It's fun to make with hand piecing. I've seen some 'Christmas Ornament' quilts made of Drunkards Path units. And on the list of future quilts, there's a plan to replicate one of my childhood quilts (that was loved to death) which had a curved cross motif made with similar units.
The Solstice Quilt on Pat Sloan's blog with the blocks and layout.
One block that I really wanted to keep from the original quilt is the blue and white "Drunkard's Path" block. I was very proud of my first curved piecing and it will provide some curved shapes like the basket did. And the outer corners of darker fabric will give some of the 'frame' look. They are both 12 inch (finished) blocks.
The only issue is that this is one of the blocks that was damaged by poor storage. It doesn't look bad in a photo, though you can see the brown spots in the center bottom unit. It's much worse looking in person. I'm going to try some 'Retro Clean' and see if that helps. I do have more of both fabrics to replace the damaged units if that doesn't work.
(Later)
The only issue that I had with using the Retro Clean is that the water needs to be kept warm for best results. The instruction recommend outside on a sunny day. But in January in Kansas, that would have been frozen soaking, not warm soaking! I did this in a tub in my kitchen sink and periodically I would use a small saucepan from my dye gear to dip out a couple of cups, heat it up, and dump the heated solution back into the tub. (The chemicals in the Retro Clean are not food safe and unlike certain teenagers, I take such warnings seriously. I have several pots and pans and a set of measuring utensils that are dedicated to dyeing, soap making and other such endeavors.)
After a 24 hour soak, the majority of the staining is gone. The only place I can see it is the one unit where it was the worst, and even that area is lightened enough that the surface of the block looks acceptable, but since I have the fabric and it's on the exterior of the block, I'm going to replace it.
 |
| All apart - you can see the staining is much lighter than before. |
How to make a template or mark a new piece using a 'sacrificial' piece.
Start with the full patch with seam allowances. Measure the old patch, including seam allowances. Draft or cut to that measurement. Mark the straight edges on the template or the new patch with a quarter inch ruler for the sewing lines, then mark the cutting line of any curves from the old patch.Trim the old unit down to the sewing lines, mark the curved sewing lines using the cut down edge. Plenty of starch on both the old and new fabric will keep everything from moving around.
 | ||
| Marking the sewing line. Old unit trimmed down and laying on top. |
And all back together, tidy and ready to go.
 |
| Solstice - substitute for Block #5 |
I like this unit a lot. It's fun to make with hand piecing. I've seen some 'Christmas Ornament' quilts made of Drunkards Path units. And on the list of future quilts, there's a plan to replicate one of my childhood quilts (that was loved to death) which had a curved cross motif made with similar units.
The Solstice Quilt on Pat Sloan's blog with the blocks and layout.
it looks like a really good repair to me - I used to only do hand piecing and loved how you could press pieces whichever way you want to
ReplyDeleteI so grateful to see the matching fabrics in the 'scrap' bin. There are a couple other blocks with the stain on them, but this one was the worst. And the summer when it's hot, I'm going to get enough of the Retro Clean to soak an entire quilt and try to get the staining out of one of my grandmother's quilts. This was just a 'sample' package (enough to do three or four blocks/napkins/doilies).
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