Wednesday, March 5, 2014

[workinprogress]

A new week and a new project.


As much as I LOVE the look of linen and linen blend fabrics I have found that they aren't always the easiest to work with. The open weave and the bulkier weight of traditional linen fabrics can make patchwork sewing more difficult, quilts heavy and garment less practical.  


I was recently introduced to the range of Melange Yarn Dyed (Chambray) Cottons by Lecien [Melange meaning: a varied mixture, and chambray meaning: a cloth with a white weft and a colored warp]. Well that makes sense.


Melange Yarn Dyed fabrics by Lecien are 100 per cent cotton with the cross weave creating a textured appearance much like traditional linen. These fabrics are similar in weight, and wash, press, cut and sew like standard quilting cotton.  


I have pieced this simple quilt top - combining the yarn dyed fabric with Liberty Tana Lawn and as well as quilting cottons. The quilt top came together quickly and I enjoyed the fabric play ~ red, white, black, and a touch of pink.

I am keen to add texture and detail with the quilting. I think the quilting stitches will further emphasize the quality and the weave of the fabric ... you will want to touch it.

More soon.


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29 comments:

  1. You're right. I DO want to touch it!! Beautiful as always ... and my favorite colors too!! x

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  2. The darker gray is beautiful too... it would look great with neon green and yellow, don't you think?

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  3. It looks like linen fabric, great colors.

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  4. Looks like another perfect Red Pepper Quilt!!! It makes me swoon...and it is so simple...I don't know how you do it, but you do it pretty darn consistently :) Have fun quilting!

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  5. Love the color combination, beautiful as always!

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  6. beautiful fabric and beautiful quilt :)

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  7. Fabric is beautiful but YOURS is the artist eye to bring it together just right!

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  8. I really love the color combination of this quilt!

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  9. I really love this top. I learned to sew many, many years ago but just recently started learning to make quilts. I wanted a look different from the traditional quilt tops so I am using linen. You are so right about the weight making it difficult to work with. The fabric stretches too, but spray starch helps. This is a real challenge for me but I am determined to finish it. I think I will take a serious look at the melange yarn dyed fabric for the next one because it really does look like linen. Thanks!

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  10. Not sure why but this quilt has a vintage vibe to me. Do the red prints harken back to childhood dresses of mine or is it the linen? hmmmmm. Love, love, love it.

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  11. I've stayed away from linens/blends due to their texture, but this sounds promising!

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  12. This is beautiful! I've quilted with actual linen (ugh), as well as the Essex yarn-dyed blend, which I found much easier but I don't trust it for the long run. Not more than 15 minutes ago I just loaded up a cart with some Andover chambrays, so I'm very glad to read that you've had a good experience with these. They do have such a lovely texture.

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  13. What a great find. Thanks for sharing!

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  14. Oh Rita, you are so good at mixing colours and prints!

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  15. That sounds amazing! I love how linen looks....but I've just never loved ironing and starching that much. Sounds like someone come up with a great solution.

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  16. Ooooh, now that's a find Rita! I agree with you. Linen is tricky to combine with quilting cottons. But you just may have found a perfect alternative! Thanks for sharing. Ros x

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  17. Lovely fabric. I like the idea of a cotton that looks like linen. Your quilt looks beautiful .

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  18. The colour of the 'linen' really emphasises the other colours in the quilt. It looks eye catching.

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  19. I think I need to try some of those...looks beautiful...as ever

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  20. these cotton/linen fabrics are appearing here too so good to read you have tried them and they work well, I wondered whether they would be a different weight as seeing them on line you cannot tell

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  21. Really nice choice of colors! Great project :)
    Jolana

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  22. This is great information, thanks! I work with linen in quilt fairly often and you're right, sometimes it does make things difficult.

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  23. I love linen! Thanks for the information on this wonderful linen look alike. I don't usually have issues with linen, but it does stretch easily which make accuracy more difficult.

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  24. Beautiful! Sure makes me want the fabric. Hopefully it will soon be more readily available.

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  25. Lovely & I love the linen next to those fresh colored fabrics! Thanks for all the info.

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  26. Thanks for the tip. I am using a lot of linen at the moment as I love the look, but it has its drawbacks. If nothing else, it is scratchy!

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  27. Lovely in it's simplicity with great colors and texture. I wish the melange fabric was more accessible in the states!

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