Chenille the sequel.....

This week, I had another bash at Chenille quilting. Implementing the technique tweaks I picked up first time round, I made another FQ mini quilt.


Fabric credits: (left to right in glorious sunshine)

Flea Market Fancy, Bouquet in Grey by Denyse Schmidt

Elements Floral Impressions by Makower - (from the bargain bucket)

Garden Trellis in Taupe by Micheal Miller

A bright floral print - unknown,  (again from the bargain bucket)

Flea Market Fancy, Eyelet in Grey by Denyse Schmidt

What I did differently:

▪ At the quilting stage, I roughly doubled the spacing between each line - a shade under 1/2" versus 1/4" the first time round.

▪ At the cutting stage, I made a scissor snip at the beginning of each row, so combined with wider spaced quilting it was much easier to slip in the chenille cutter.

▪ I went with a wider binding to echo the wider quilting.

▪ I only washed and tumbled once. At this point I was happy with texture, I liked being able to make out the Flea Market Fancy print and retaining the vibrant orange. With another print I may have washed and tumbled at least once more.

The finished product.

 

Both mini quilts side by side for a texture comparison.

My conclusions:
▪ Quilt line spacing - 1/4" spacing is too tight for comfortable cutting, but, anything from 2/3" upwards seems fine, and how wide you go is dependant on the look you want to achieve.
▪ Similarly, how many times you wash and tumble depends on how "fluffy" you want the end result. Bare in mind more "fluff" results in a more abstract looking print and more subdued colours. So once again choices will vary from project to project.

Finally, here's the duo in use as covers for my treasured sewing project baskets.

If my amateur 'makes' inspire anyone to have a first go at chenille quilting I would very much like to see the results and hear what worked (or didn't work!) for you.