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Saturday, April 21, 2007

Applying the False Back to the Crazy Quilt

After I took a little two and a half hour detour to get the lavender piping sewn on last night, I was ready to construct my CQ "sandwich"this morning, of top, drapery lining batting, and a false back of very thin cotton lawn.
I described this process in the latest issue of CQMagOnline so I will just post some pictures here.

Here is the layer of interfacing going onto the back. I have the quilt laid out on a puffy towel so that as I gingerly iron on the interfacing, I won't squish all the beautiful silk ribbon work on the front of the quilt. As before, the release paper goes between the iron and the interfacing as I fuse. Adding this layer of interfacing helps the quilt to hang really nicely.

The batting layer and then the cotton lawn are being pin-basted into place here.

The quilt is rolled up and ready for the hand-quilting (more like basting, really) from the back. With every stitch I have to flip the quilt over to make sure it doesn't show through the front.

When there is a heavy embellishment on the front, I take some extra stitches to give it more support from the back.

This beaded polymer clay face on the block by Linda Boudreau of Nova Scotia, is what was given extra support in the above picture. Really sweet, isn't it?

Here is the completed false back. You can see the little islands of extra stitching corresponding to where the heavier objects are on the front.

Tomorrow, the "fancy back" goes on and French Facing edge finishing technique will complete the quilt! ....except for the sleeve...but I will try and get that done too.

8 comments:

  1. This is such an amazingly delicate operation! The quilt is going to look like a very fancy victorian lady when finished. It is so rich! What a lot of talented quilters.

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  2. The process is superb! What a treat to watch this project come together~
    x,
    vic

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  3. I am learning so much following you through this process. I don't think I ever would have tackled a full quilt before but now I'm really considering it, thanks to you! I also enjoyed your CQMagonline article. Thanks bunches!

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  4. Thanks so much for blogging this process. So far I have only had the courage to complete baby-size crazy quilts, that have very little embellishment other than embroidery. Your clear decriptions are giving me the courage to think about trying something larger. The blocks are beautiful and your completion doea them justice.
    Sally

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  5. I am learning SO much from this series, Allie. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

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  6. I love seeing your process here. It really makes sense, & gets my gears turning, thinking of others ways I might use the process. Thanks so much for sharing it ALlie. You're a PEACH!

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  7. Tricky stuff! I love the colors of the front. It's great to see how your things go together.

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  8. I adore the idea of a "false back". You know I'm obsessed with that whole back thing because of one mean spirited quilter, so I love it when you show the crazy backs! It makes me happy. Plus, I'm glad I don't have to do it. As always, beautiful work.

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