Wonky Fabric Rant

AAARGGGGGHHHHH -- yet another reason NOT to patronize the cheaper places
that sell fabric VBS. I am making a "lap quilt for two" for my DSis to give
as a wedding gift. She is paying for the fabric and I am doing the work just
cuz she's my little sister. DSis sent me the $$ and a picture of a quilt from
last year's Pottery Barn catalogue with a picture of a R/W/B quilt that the
bride would like duplicated -- sort of. I think I mentioned all of this in a
previous post but I'm not sure.
Anyway, the quilt is a very simple one -- just 8" whole cloth blocks. The
bride has asked for a R/W/B autumn pallette (sp?). Just TRY finding R/W/B
fabrics in an autumn pallette! What's available in the LQS and in the "other"
fabric stores is primary R/W/B -- flag colors and mostly flag designs and the
bride does NOT want any flag stuff. The quilt in the picture has at least 15
fabtrics so it's pretty scrappy. Needless to say, I have been buying fabrics
in the required color wherever I could find them. The fact that I am on a
*very* limited budget has a fairly big impact on what I can buy too!
So, I have fabric from the regular fabric stores and from the LQS in both GA
and MN. I just finished cutting out all the blocks today. I figured that I
would buy 1/2 yrd of each fabric. I knew I would be able to get 5 blocks
across the width of ***most*** of the fabrics. That extra 1/4 yd. was for the
few fabrics that weren't quite wide enough for 5 blocks across. HURMMMPFFHHH
-- about three of the not so good fabrics from the general fabric stores were
barely 43" wide and SO wonky that I lost almost 3" in length ! What makes it
even worse is that each selvedge measured 18" but the stuff was so off grain
that once I got it squared up, I was lucky to have enough fabric for that 5th
block!
Not much to be done about it. I just needed to vent and have a nice rant
amongst folks who would understand what a P.I.T.A. that "not so nice" fabric
can be! I had DSis talk the bride about accepting a quit with fewer fabrics
but she *really* wants that mega-scrappy look. She's been warned!!! Needless
to say, ALL the fabrics were pre-washed! Who knows what that cheap stuff would
look like if I hadn't pre-washed it =8-O (mutter, mutter, grumble, grumble
*#&$*&@#*&). CiaoMeow ^;;^
..
PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!

Sounds to me like it'd be hard enough to find R/W/B in an autumn pallet even
if your budget wasn't limited! And I empathize about the cheap fabric,
altho' in all fairness (darn it!) I have gotten cloth from the LQS that
wasn't top notch, either, But to remind myself of quality, I always carry a
swatch of good cloth with me, so when I'm tempted to buy cheaper stuff I can
whip it out and see how it all compares. I know that has saved me from a few
"bargains."

Dogmom
"Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply " wrote in
message ...
AAARGGGGGHHHHH -- yet another reason NOT to patronize the cheaper
places
that sell fabric VBS. I am making a "lap quilt for two" for my DSis to
give
as a wedding gift. She is paying for the fabric and I am doing the work
just
cuz she's my little sister. DSis sent me the $$ and a picture of a quilt
from
last year's Pottery Barn catalogue with a picture of a R/W/B quilt that
the
bride would like duplicated -- sort of. I think I mentioned all of this
in a
previous post but I'm not sure.
Anyway, the quilt is a very simple one -- just 8" whole cloth blocks.
The
bride has asked for a R/W/B autumn pallette (sp?). Just TRY finding R/W/B
fabrics in an autumn pallette! What's available in the LQS and in the
"other"
fabric stores is primary R/W/B -- flag colors and mostly flag designs and
the
bride does NOT want any flag stuff. The quilt in the picture has at least
15
fabtrics so it's pretty scrappy. Needless to say, I have been buying
fabrics
in the required color wherever I could find them. The fact that I am on a
*very* limited budget has a fairly big impact on what I can buy too!
So, I have fabric from the regular fabric stores and from the LQS in
both GA
and MN. I just finished cutting out all the blocks today. I figured that
I
would buy 1/2 yrd of each fabric. I knew I would be able to get 5 blocks
across the width of ***most*** of the fabrics. That extra 1/4 yd. was for
the
few fabrics that weren't quite wide enough for 5 blocks across.
HURMMMPFFHHH
-- about three of the not so good fabrics from the general fabric stores
were
barely 43" wide and SO wonky that I lost almost 3" in length ! What makes
it
even worse is that each selvedge measured 18" but the stuff was so off
grain
that once I got it squared up, I was lucky to have enough fabric for that
5th
block!
Not much to be done about it. I just needed to vent and have a nice
rant
amongst folks who would understand what a P.I.T.A. that "not so nice"
fabric
can be! I had DSis talk the bride about accepting a quit with fewer
fabrics
but she *really* wants that mega-scrappy look. She's been warned!!!
Needless
to say, ALL the fabrics were pre-washed! Who knows what that cheap stuff
would
look like if I hadn't pre-washed it =8-O (mutter, mutter, grumble, grumble
*#&$*&@#*&). CiaoMeow ^;;^
.
PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!

*#&$*&@#*& on your behalf, slamming the lid on the trash can and kicking
something. Sharing your frustration, Polly

(mutter, mutter, grumble, grumble
*#&$*&@#*&). CiaoMeow ^;;^
.
PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^

I have a solution for wonky fabric - instead of trying to straighten
the grain across the width of the fabric, folding and cutting the strips
as you are used to doing - work with the fabric piece using the
selvage edge as your straight edge to begin your cuts.
Don't try to line up the cut cross-grain edges - let the fabric drape
its own way.
Once you have cut off the selvage, you have a straight edge which is
on-grain to measure strip sets from, and the fabric length is 45" by 18"
wide. Whether you cut the quilt pieces single or double thickness
depends on how badly the piece is warped and how big the pieces are that
are to be cut.
Jennifer in Ottawa
--------
Group: rec.crafts.textiles.quilting Date: Tue, Aug 5, 2003, 11:15pm
(EDT+4) From: ekoluvr
(Tia=A0Mary-remove=A0nekoluvr=A0to=A0reply)
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0AAARGGGGGHHHHH -- yet another reason NOT to
patronize the cheaper places that sell fabric VBS. I am making a "lap
quilt for two" for my DSis to give as a wedding gift. She is paying for
the fabric and I am doing the work just cuz she's my little sister. =A0
DSis sent me the $$ and a picture of a quilt from last year's Pottery
Barn catalogue with a picture of a R/W/B quilt that the bride would like
duplicated -- sort of. I think I mentioned all of this in a previous
post but I'm not sure.
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Anyway, the quilt is a very simple one -- just 8"
whole cloth blocks. The bride has asked for a R/W/B autumn pallette
(sp?). Just TRY finding R/W/B fabrics in an autumn pallette! What's
available in the LQS and in the "other" fabric stores is primary R/W/B
-- flag colors and mostly flag designs and the bride does NOT want any
flag stuff. The quilt in the picture has at least 15 fabtrics so it's
pretty scrappy. Needless to say, I have been buying fabrics in the
required color wherever I could find them. The fact that I am on a
*very* limited budget has a fairly big impact on what I can buy too!
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0So, I have fabric from the regular fabric stores and
from the LQS in both GA and MN. I just finished cutting out all the
blocks today. I figured that I would buy 1/2 yrd of each fabric. I knew
I would be able to get 5 blocks across the width of ***most*** of the
fabrics. That extra 1/4 yd. was for the few fabrics that weren't quite
wide enough for 5 blocks across. =A0 HURMMMPFFHHH -- about three of the
not so good fabrics from the general fabric stores were barely 43" wide
and SO wonky that I lost almost 3" in length ! What makes it even worse
is that each selvedge measured 18" but the stuff was so off grain that
once I got it squared up, I was lucky to have enough fabric for that 5th
block!
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Not much to be done about it. I just needed to
vent and have a nice rant amongst folks who would understand what a
P.I.T.A. that "not so nice" fabric can be! I had DSis talk the bride
about accepting a quit with fewer fabrics but she *really* wants that
mega-scrappy look. She's been warned!!! Needless to say, ALL the fabrics
were pre-washed! Who knows what that cheap stuff would look like if I
hadn't pre-washed it =3D8-O (mutter, mutter, grumble, grumble *#&$*&@#*&).=

CiaoMeow ^;;^

PAX, Tia Mary =A0 ^;;^
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!

Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply wrote:

AAARGGGGGHHHHH -- yet another reason NOT to patronize the cheaper places
that sell fabric VBS.

Neatly trimmed...

Not much to be done about it. I just needed to vent and have a nice rant
amongst folks who would understand what a P.I.T.A. that "not so nice" fabric
can be! I had DSis talk the bride about accepting a quit with fewer fabrics
but she *really* wants that mega-scrappy look. She's been warned!!! Needless
to say, ALL the fabrics were pre-washed! Who knows what that cheap stuff would
look like if I hadn't pre-washed it =8-O (mutter, mutter, grumble, grumble
*#&$*&@#*&). CiaoMeow ^;;^
.
PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!


GRRR in sympathy! I have also had supposedly good fabric that was like
that! Luckily it was a garment and I had lots of spare yardage.
--
Kate XXXXXX
Lady Catherine, Wardrobe Mistress of the Chocolate Buttons
http://www.diceyhome.free-online.co.uk
Click on Kate's Pages and explore!

Mary:
Gotta confess ... I am totally lost here! I've always thought
that the Autumn Palette was a group of colors that one
sees/associates with changing colors of leaves in the Northern
Hemisphere during October and November. Gold, bronze,
yellow-green, brown, rust, brick red maybe. Red, white, and blue
are not Autumn Colors as far as I know. What is the bride
thinking? I think of red and white as part of the Winter Palette,
with some Navy Blue and other colors of course. Light or bright
blue are generally for Spring or Summer, depending on tone.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it!

This is why I do NOT tell people "I'm giving you a gift, what
color do you want?" I just make a pretty quilt and present it
with love. Special order gifts turn me off. JMO.

Hope your cutting problem works out. PAT

Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply wrote: ...cut to the color
issue...
Anyway, the quilt is a very simple one -- just 8" whole cloth blocks. The
bride has asked for a R/W/B autumn pallette (sp?). Just TRY finding R/W/B
fabrics in an autumn pallette! What's available in the LQS and in the "other"
fabric stores is primary R/W/B -- flag colors and mostly flag designs and the
bride does NOT want any flag stuff. The quilt in the picture has at least 15
fabtrics so it's pretty scrappy. Needless to say, I have been buying fabrics
in the required color wherever I could find them. The fact that I am on a
*very* limited budget has a fairly big impact on what I can buy too!

I was in JoAnns last night, and this thread was on my mind. What I saw
and what got me thinking was that if it *has* to be red/white/blue and
she wants "fall pallette" versions of those colors, then what colors
that I would use a

Ivory (to replace white)
burgundy and various red-orange shades (for the red)
and muted blues (for the normally bright blue)

just my 2 cents.

Larisa



Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply wrote: ...cut to the color
issue...

Anyway, the quilt is a very simple one -- just 8" whole cloth blocks. The
bride has asked for a R/W/B autumn pallette (sp?). Just TRY finding R/W/B
fabrics in an autumn pallette! What's available in the LQS and in the "other"
fabric stores is primary R/W/B -- flag colors and mostly flag designs and the
bride does NOT want any flag stuff. The quilt in the picture has at least 15
fabtrics so it's pretty scrappy. Needless to say, I have been buying fabrics
in the required color wherever I could find them. The fact that I am on a
*very* limited budget has a fairly big impact on what I can buy too!

That's exactly the colors I thought of but you could use light tan & cream
for the white.

What came to mind for me was this "American" style. Sort of Shaker (or is
it Quacker) style & milk paint. Very New England...




"CNYstitcher" wrote in message
...
I was in JoAnns last night, and this thread was on my mind. What I saw
and what got me thinking was that if it *has* to be red/white/blue and
she wants "fall pallette" versions of those colors, then what colors
that I would use a

Ivory (to replace white)
burgundy and various red-orange shades (for the red)
and muted blues (for the normally bright blue)

just my 2 cents.

Larisa



Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply wrote: ...cut to the color
issue...

Anyway, the quilt is a very simple one -- just 8" whole cloth blocks.
The
bride has asked for a R/W/B autumn pallette (sp?). Just TRY finding
R/W/B
fabrics in an autumn pallette! What's available in the LQS and in the
"other"
fabric stores is primary R/W/B -- flag colors and mostly flag designs
and the
bride does NOT want any flag stuff. The quilt in the picture has at
least 15
fabtrics so it's pretty scrappy. Needless to say, I have been buying
fabrics
in the required color wherever I could find them. The fact that I am on
a
*very* limited budget has a fairly big impact on what I can buy too!

What came to mind for me was this "American" style. Sort of Shaker (or is
it Quacker) style & milk paint. Very New England...

Would that be a 'Duck Egg' blue then ???
Flossy
Malvern England
***** Queen of Plaids ******
http://photos.yahoo.com/flossy3353

If you say so, but I'm with Pat. I can't think of a single blue I'd call an
autumn color.
--
Ruth in Happy Camp
"Tia Mary-remove nekoluvr to reply " wrote in
message ...
From: Pat in Virginia

Gotta confess ... I am totally lost here! I've always thought
that the Autumn Palette was a group of colors that one
sees/associates with changing colors of leaves in the Northern
Hemisphere during October and November. ...........

Well, I agree with you but there are R/W/B colors that appear in
autumn.
There aer loads of leaves that turn some sort of red shade and a sort of
off
white really pale beige shade. For an autumn blue, think of the color
blue
flowers turn in autumn just before the go to flower heaven :-). The
colors are
sort of muddy looking and I don't particularly care for them. I much
prefer
the "regular" autmnn shades of gold and copper with the reds and purples
thrown in :-).
If you have ever been color draped, you learn that there are shades of
all
colors that are specific to each season. I guess those are the R/W/B
colors
that this youn woman wants. Several years ago, I had promised DSis that I
would make a quilt for this young woman when she finally got married. At
that
time, I was silly enough to agree to make it in whatever color & pattern
the
bride would want -- more fool MOI -- LOLOL! I'm just happy she wants
something
as simple as 8" whole cloth blocks :-)!
I make lots of baby quilts for DSis to give as gifts. Started off
asking
what fabric, colors, style etc. the mom would like. that didn't last long
as
some of those woman had NO clue about making quilts!! One woman wanted
velvet
& chenille in a baby quilt that she planned to use. Imagine how much fun
making THAT would have been to make. Now I just ask for a general color
preference and do my own thing :-). CiaoMeow ^;;^
.


PAX, Tia Mary ^;;^
Angels can't show their wings on earth but nothing was ever said about
their
WHISKERS!!
Nothing is complete without a few cat hairs!