I made more basket blocks and double 4 patches last night. I wasn't sure about the light blue with dots as a background, but I like it in there now. I have a lot more cutting to do before I will have a good variety to work with. And.....it may become 2 separate quilts by the time I am done making blocks.
Here are the fixers. When the guy from the gas company came to mark where their line is on my property I was telling him I was glad the cable company was going to take care of burying the cable right away. He then proceeded to tell me about the houses he has marked 3 or 4 times, over several seasons that didn't get taken care of. 
I was so happy yesterday when the doorbell rang and they were here. They even listened to me when I said I thought the line should be buried near the driveway instead of right up the center of my lawn.
So now I am ready for winter without a cable laying across my sidewalk.Another note about the selvages yesterday: I never remove the selvages right away when I buy fabric. A lot of strip pieced projects need the whole width of the fabric and the strata selvages will be trimmed with the clean up cut. If I trimmed ahead of time, I would have to piece another whole strata for the 1-2 cuts that I couldn't get out of the first set. I also like to leave the information there for a later time when I will be using the fabric.
When I sew a seam in backings, I always make sure the printed selvage edge is at the outside edge where it will be trimmed off after quilting.
Removing the selvages from fabrics back before 45" fabric was made was a common practice because the selvages would shrink more than the rest of the fabric and it was hard to layout a clothing pattern with a puckered edge on the fabric. There are very few fabrics that have that type of problem any more so it is almost like an old wives' tale that has been passed down through the generations, that you would need to remove them before you can use the fabric.
10 comments:
Thank-you for commenting about your selvages. I just finished tearing a bunch of selvages off (the fabric I was recently given) and shortly regretted it; like 5 minutes later I was saying; darn there are dates on some of those selvages and now I won't remember how old the fabric was... and I will probably like to know the designer's name later.
The cable company always buried our cable quickly, usually 1 or 2 inches deep so that our neighbor (whose yard it also runs through) was always cutting it when she worked in her garden. They are supposed to go 12" under. FINALLY, after a few years, they did. And it hasn't been cut since!
I love the quilt, the colors are wonderful.
Your quilt looks great! I am so glad that you have gotten your cable permanently fixed. And not having the cable running across your walkway is a good thing! I agree with everything that you say about the selvages. It is true that they do not shrink like they once did.
Can't tell how many times I've used the info on selvages to purchase more of a fabric that I would otherwise have no idea what to search for online... but save them once they're cut off, I do!
Love the baskets.
Thank you for the info on the selvages! I've learned, the hard way, to keep them on a fabric. Ran out of a fabric once and it was very difficult to hunt for more of it -- as I had cut off and discarded the selvage.
I love those basket blocks. Gorgeous!
I love the baskets! Is it a Cake Stand block? I want a basket quilt really bad - actually I want two - one with *Liberated* and a *regular* one too.
Glad your cable finally got buried. I love the basket blocks and agree that the few blue backgrounds really add to the effect.
I love this new piece, I'm always drawn to precision ... baskets look so fresh and the diamond blocks are perfect with it. Always fun to see what you will add or change tomorrow.
Cable guys ... I had forgotten about them, as it has been awhile since this all happened. Your patience is to be admired.
J~MT
Good advice on selvages--thanks!
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