This is strictly technical stuff today, not the most exciting, but since this blog is a bit of journal of my creative pursuits, this is what has been on my mind the past few days. Working with vintage textiles presents some interesting challenges, and I certainly don’t want to discourage anyone from creating with them. Just be prepared!
My next step for my latest collage was to cut the batting and backing to size, wrap the extra 2” of backing inside the batting, put all three layers together, then quilt. I keep going back to this idea of mine to not have a visible border or binding to my collages. Right away, there was a problem. My dyed damask napkin that is the base of the collage is not square. Take a look at this wavy edge:
A bit discouraging, but I am stubborn. I am going to make this work. Yes, I had to re-trim my initial cut of batting… twice, despite careful measuring. I had to trim (and trim again) so that none of the batting/backing was showing from the front. Finally, I achieved that little goal, and wrapped the backing fabric around the batting, and ironed it into place:
So, this ended up being a fussy process, and it will be acceptable for a small project like this, but I cannot see it working at all for the larger whole tablecloth that I have in the works. Back to the drawing board… Meanwhile, my concern right now is quilting my trial piece.
Later in the week, I promise something much more interesting to look at!