Raevenfea

Maker of various fabric things

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To be a bit cliché, this shoemaker is a professional Web Developer and her child is this blog, but it was past time to launch what I have of a new design. All the content is still here, everything else is a work in progress (kind of like most of my sewing projects)!

Bias Tape Challenge Orange Belt

Posted in Quilting

  • Applique
  • Bias tape
  • mightylucky
  • Mini quilts
  • Quick project

January’s challenge from the Mighty Lucky Quilting Club was to use bias tape to construct curves based on something in your sketchbook. I’m not much of a sketcher, nor do I have a sketchbook, but I do occasionally snap photos for inspiration, and often find it in my surroundings. The bit of inspiration I decided to memorialize was also an accomplishment of mine during the month. Seeing my newly-retired yellow belt hanging alongside my white belt sparked the idea of a design, with the added complexity of knots in the bias tape. The result is this 11″x14″ mini-quilt.

#mightylucky Bias Tape Challenge — Orange Belt by @raevenfea
“Bias Tape Challenge Orange Belt” (front and inspiration), Rachael Arnold, January 2016, 11″×14″

Rather than add the bias tape to the block, then quilt, I made a quilt sandwich and sewed down the bias tape through all layers after quilting the background. I used a walking foot for all of it to reduce shifting. The knots wrap around one strip of bias tape that was intentionally left with a gap in the top-stitching.

#mightylucky Bias Tape Challenge — Orange Belt details by @raevenfea
“Bias Tape Challenge Orange Belt” (details), Rachael Arnold, January 2016, 11″×14″

The technique of using bias tape isn’t any more of a challenge than other types of applique—so long as you don’t try using straight cut strips to get curves (it’s bias for a reason). The intent part of the challenge was much more difficult for me. I’m not sold on the idea of making a normal-sized quilt just to try a new technique unless I’m really excited about it—both from a materials and time cost standpoint. At the same time, I’ve never been a huge fan of mini quilts.

#mightylucky Bias Tape Challenge — Orange Belt details by @raevenfea
“Bias Tape Challenge Orange Belt” (back and progress shots), Rachael Arnold, January 2016, 11″×14″

I suppose this isn’t even technically complete. I haven’t decided how to finish off the edges of the quilt. I don’t want to bind it. I considered doing a faced binding. I’ve also thought about just leaving the edges raw and framing it. But for now, I can call my foray into bias tape on quilts done, and admire all of the gorgeous creations being posted on social media under the hashtag #mightylucky.

January 30th, 2016

 A Long-term Scrap Project
Pear Tree of Life  

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