This is a throw I made for the Inspired By Pinterest: Home Dec Challenge.
I saw a pic of this throw and loved the geometric pattern and simplicity of the design. The weave reminded me of suiting fabric and made me think of doing this using felted wool suiting.
I've loved the look of the Mary Flanagan textured Felted Wool blankets of which there is a great tutorial on purlbee.com. I've had the thought of doing something like this from repurposed wool fabric for awhile now and have been collecting wool suits whenever I find them in the thrift stores.
I've had a couple of wool herringbone jackets in my stash for awhile now and decided they would be perfect to replicate the Pinterest throw. I wanted brown and tans (rather than the pictured blacks and white) and that matches the colors in my house better. Something along the lines of this quilt
I did a bit of research and found out the design was a classic quilting pattern called Tumbling blocks. There are a couple of ways to make this pattern but I wanted one that kept the squares as intact as possible (versus piecing lots of smaller triangles). I used a template downloaded off the net and basically followed this pattern.
I took apart the jackets and washed them in hot water in order to felt them. Since the material was in smaller pieces from the jacket I had to figure out what size squares would fit the material. I wanted them as large as I could manage. I would have preferred them even larger but was limited by the size of the material pieces. Once I had the template scaled to the proper size I cut out all the squares (actually they're triangles just look like squares from the illusion of the final quilt).
I didn't construct this quite like a normal quilt. I decided not to piece and fold under seams as normal. THe thickness of the wool would make the seams too thick and since the pieces are felted they won't unravel. I basically appliqued each piece to the flannel backing. I used a bit of seam tape to help keep everything in place while I was sewing it. I just stitched around each piece and used the zigzag stitch to hold everything together. I decided I wanted to continue the slightly raw edged look of the pieces to the outer edge as well so I just used a serged stitch to finish it off.
SheBear0320 said... Love the use of wool tweed in your throw -- great idea. The colours are fabulous. Tumbling blocks has always been one of my fave patterns -- I've never gotten around to making one though. Good luck! 3/1/13 0:18 AM
sewfrequent said... love very modern vibe using a traditional pattern and unexpected fabrics. I have a family member who would LOVE this quilt. I was not able to see the zig-zagging even in close-up view. Thank you for sharing how it was made. 3/1/13 5:22 AM
caper81 said... Really cool throw! :) 3/1/13 7:41 AM
Sew Whatever said... this is better than the original. Sounds like a good addition to my lounge! 3/1/13 9:21 AM
Renren said... Very nice! I especially like the 3-D effect the geometric pattern gives when the differently shaded fabrics are used. A project both useful for its warmth and also as a conversation piece. 3/1/13 12:59 PM
butterflyfly said... I love this illusion throw! Good choice of colours, and I like the fact that you used thrifted wool suits - great refashion!
The only correction - they are not triangles, but rhombuses :) (sorry, I'm a maths teacher, just can't help myself.. :) 3/1/13 5:13 PM
Judy Kski said... I just love that 3-D effect. Your choice of fabrics is perfect to make you "feel" the design. 3/1/13 10:17 PM
Love the use of wool tweed in your throw -- great idea. The colours are fabulous. Tumbling blocks has always been one of my fave patterns -- I've never gotten around to making one though. Good luck!
3/1/13 0:18 AM
love very modern vibe using a traditional pattern and unexpected fabrics. I have a family member who would LOVE this quilt. I was not able to see the zig-zagging even in close-up view. Thank you for sharing how it was made.
3/1/13 5:22 AM
Really cool throw! :)
3/1/13 7:41 AM
this is better than the original. Sounds like a good addition to my lounge!
3/1/13 9:21 AM
Very nice! I especially like the 3-D effect the geometric pattern gives when the differently shaded fabrics are used. A project both useful for its warmth and also as a conversation piece.
3/1/13 12:59 PM
I love this illusion throw! Good choice of colours, and I like the fact that you used thrifted wool suits - great refashion! The only correction - they are not triangles, but rhombuses :) (sorry, I'm a maths teacher, just can't help myself.. :)
3/1/13 5:13 PM
I just love that 3-D effect. Your choice of fabrics is perfect to make you "feel" the design.
3/1/13 10:17 PM
Stunning throw!
3/2/13 4:19 PM
what a fun way to do a quilt
3/2/13 10:39 PM
Wonderful! The herringbone pattern in the fabric looks fantastic.
3/4/13 0:59 AM
Those 3D effects always amaze me. Great idea to repurpose suits this way. Very inspiring! Thanks!
3/8/13 6:44 PM