The whirlygig quilt

I need something to keep me busy, and need to keep my sewing mojo fed.  I spied a quilt, which I fell in love with, featured in a you tube video from the Kansas City Museum. 

Amazing to think this is all they had to create a quilt.  A pattern without seam allowances.

This is the quilt I'm obsessed with, although, if I could stop watching bed turning videos on youtube, I would stop with this one.  There is something so comforting about this quilt, largely soft pastel shades, I remember some of these fabrics from my mother's wardrobe.  The red striped blocks remind me of a dress my mother had growing up, and the soft shade of blue a dress I had growing up.  Funny what sparks a memory. 

Mine will be a scrap quilt, using what's in the stash, and I don't believe it will look this serene, but let's see what we can come up with while I use my cutting time trying to solve my AC dilemma. 

If you want a little distraction Quilt in a Day has a video featuring an orange quilt collection.  The variety is mind boggling.

Quilt in a Day Antique Orange Quilt Collection.

The misadventures of the Alabama Chanin Kristina's Rose pattern...

 It was my intention to make an Alabama Chanin poncho as a Christmas present, it's not turning out to be as straight forward as I thought or hoped. In this book, there are a number of patterns for templates.

One of them is the Kristina's Rose pattern

Well, I took the book to Office Depot, and asked it they could enlarge it for me.  They said I would have to take the page out of the book first to send it through the scanner.  I normally don't vandalize my own books but this was a special case, I need to finish this before December and the embellishment I have chosen looks to be pretty involved.

So sad.....

After I cut it out she said the scanner can not enlarge this pattern 427%, only 400%.  Grrr. She scanned the page and it started printing, then this happened...

The paper jammed, no one is available to fix the large printer, and she sent me on my merry way.  I just mangled a book, not one of my better days.  Still resolved to get these little stinking roses done, I devised a plan, I would just use the black and white printer and enlarge it myself.  I sat in the car and planned out how many I would need and what sizes.  Then this happened.... This was a solid plan, all of the roses are exactly the same, just different sizes, just a matter of getting them to the correct size, and perhaps I could do a template for each of the four sizes, and lay it out on my fabric and voila!!  None of these are the correct size by the way, in case you were asking...... 

My only other option is to purchase the PDF template from Alabama Chanin and hope the printer at Office Depot is up to the task.... oh wait, guess what, they no longer have this pattern on the website.  This really has been a terrible day... I need my brain cells to regenerate to go forward with this project.

I'm going to try and contact them to see if they have a link or would be willing to find it for me..

My poor little book page, may you rest in your sheet protector......

Let's try this again..... The reverse applique thread experiment...

Here we go.... ironed this time and an additional observation.

No 2) Coats & Clark Hand Quilting thread, Glace, 68% Polyester, 32% Cotton

I may retake the photos tomorrow, but so far, No. 2, the hand quilting thread is noticeably thinner, it will not give you the same look as the AC thread, but it's not a bad look, and would argue that there's a place for this thread if you want a delicate result. If you are going to put your knots on the front, you may want to reconsider, as they are very small.

before ironing..... 

AC thread give you better looking knots.

The next two on the left 

No 3) Coats & Clark Button Craft Dual Duty Plus, Glace Extra strong, 71% Polyester, 26% cotton

The closest to the AC thread but it's slightly bulkier, and it shows up in the knot.  It's not a nice knot.

on the right

No 4) Coats & Clark Dual Duty XP Heavy, 100% Polyester

Against the Button Craft Dual Duty it looks about the same (slightly thinner), but it's 100% Polyester.  

The knots on the left are way bulkier than on the right.

The closest to having the same size knot to the AC thread, is the Coats & Clark Dual Duty XP Heavy, 100% Polyester, with just slightly thinner legs.

Interesting.... raise your hands if you thought you could just go by fiber content.  I did, and it's not apples to apples.  The AC thread also has a slight pronounced twist.

Also be aware, I am not being compensated by anyone for this post.  I was just curious about the alternatives to the AC thread.  None are exact, but some will do.

Random pics of the same project........

 Wow where has the time gone?  As promised here are all of the threads tested on cotton jersey.

This was an old grey t shirt I had in my wardrobe, it will look better....

The scraps from the previous t shirt are being used here.

Here we have the original Alabama Chanin thread.

No 2) Coats & Clark Hand Quilting thread, Glace, 68% Polyester, 32% Cotton

No 3) Coats & Clark Button Craft Dual Duty Plus, Glace Extra strong, 71% Polyester, 26% cotton

No 4) Coats & Clark Dual Duty XP Heavy, 100% Polyester