Sewing It Forward
- fabman556
- Sep 22, 2017
- 5 min read
Making a Memory
Back in 2008, when I marked my 30th anniversary at Jo-Ann Fabric and Crafts Stores, my Quilt Shop teammates at the corporate office in Hudson, Ohio surprised me with a celebration and a commemorative wallhanging quilt (made from fabrics I had bought) which was signed on the back by my co-workers throughout the building. (The male pinup applique represents a line of holiday fabrics that were quite notorious, and great sales drivers, at Jo-Ann during my time buying the Holiday Shop fabrics. That's a story for another time.) This quilt meant so much to me then, and still does today. When I was promoted from assistant buyer to buyer, I gained an office and proudly displayed this quilt on my wall as a reminder of what a caring group of people I worked with.
Recently we learned that my boss at Springs Creative, the VP of Sales, was stepping down after 20 years to take advantage of a new opportunity. I've known him since 2008 when the Jo-Ann fabric buyers first started coming down here to the Cotton Factory in Rock Hill to work with Springs on product development, and have reported directly to him since May 31 of this year. Although our time together has been short, he is another great leader I've had the good fortune to work with over the years.
When thinking about his upcoming departure, I remembered my special anniversary quilt, and decided to pay (or sew) it forward. My boss is very involved with the creation of the art we print on fabric in our entertainment license category, so I gathered 16 cotton fabric samples of prominent properties from our assortments, like Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Frozen, Marvel Comics, Peanuts and many more.
These fabrics were cut into 9.5" squares, to be sewn together 4 blocks across by 4 blocks down. For the backing I selected a tonal green print (pretty close to the green color of our Springs logo). While not a solid, I think this backing will be fine as a background for writing comments or best wishes. Because the licensed prints are so varied in color and unrelated to each other, I decided to separate them with narrow sashing also made from the green tonal fabric. "Sashing" refers to the strips of fabric inserted between quilt blocks and can act as an internal border to separate the individual blocks and make them stand out. Here's a simple quilt made with sashing and rectangles:
After cutting the 9.5" squares, I cut 1.5" strips across the width of the green fabric to create the sashing, which will measure 1" wide after sewing. The big blocks were stitched together in four rows with sashing between the blocks and a strip on the top and bottom of the upper and lower blocks.
Next, the four rows were stitched together with long sashing strips in between and on the outside edges, completing the quilt top. Seam allowances were pressed toward the sashing.
Now the quilt top was completed. (Watching the Cleveland Indians baseball game on the computer again...they're having a great year!)
To assemble the quilt on the cutting table, I created a quilt sandwich. The bottom layer was the green backing, right side facing down, then a layer of batting. For a project like this, I prefer a low-loft (less bulky) batting called Warm & Natural, which is more like padding.
The final layer added was the pieced quilt top, facing up. After checking to make sure the fabric grain lines were straight on the top and bottom layers, I then pinned the layers together in the sashing at every "intersection" (the corners where the printed blocks meet) and around the border. With everything secured, I trimmed away batting and backing that extended beyond the quilt top.
The next step was to add some stitching to attach the layers together throughout the quilt. In this case I simply stitched in the ditch around each printed square. What is "stitch in the ditch?"
After the quilting was completed, I cut 1" bias strips of the green backing fabric to use as binding around the edges of the quilt. Bindings are typically cut on the bias rather than the straight grain in order to go easily around curves or corners. Going around the corners with the binding meant some mitering, and while I could have spent the extra time to do so, I was just not in the mood.
Instead I applied the binding first to the horizontal edges and then separately to the vertical edges. To apply the binding, I placed the binding strip face down at the edge of the quilt and stitched it on using the usual 1/4" seam allowance, and after stitching, I trimmed off the excess length. The strip was then folded to the back of the quilt and the remaining 1/4" seam allowance was turned under and pinned in place. A row of machine stitching from the back of the quilt attached the binding.
After all four sides were bound, I created a sleeve for a hanging rod, using more of the green backing fabric, following these easy instructions. (As you might expect, I "interpreted" the instructions a bit.)
The top of the sleeve was machine stitched in place along the border stitching line. The lower edge, however, could not be machine stitched in place because that would show on the face of the quilt. That means I actually had to hand slip-stitch it in place. (shudder) Here's how to slip-stitch:
To allow space for the rod within the sleeve, I folded up the bottom of the sleeve about 1/2" and slip-stitched along that line to make more space within the sleeve, so the rod will not create a ridge on the front of the quilt when the quilt is hung.
With the sleeve in place, I added a row of decorative stitching in a contrast color centered over the binding seam on the front of the quilt, for a frame effect.
We will use fabric markers to write our messages for the boss on the back of the quilt and present it to him with our best wishes at his farewell event. He'll be greatly missed on a daily basis, but the good news is this: he will continue to work with us on a contractor basis for some specific ongoing projects, so he'll be in the office from time to time!
Designing and creating this memory quilt was great fun, and all the while I was remembering the kindness of my fellow Quilt Shop team members back in 2008 on my special anniversary at Jo-Ann. It was my pleasure to sew it forward!
Have you made something special to create a memory for someone? I'd love to see it! Send me a picture at the email address below. Until next time, keep those sewing machines humming!
DTFM
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