Make a Throw

Mary Douglas Drysdale, an outstanding interior designer and supporter of craft artists, sent me a note explaining that she is the design chair of the Aspire Show House and was wondering if I would be willing to make a throw for the master bedroom. She included a picture of my pieced skirt.

I thought two things, it would be a fun project, so yes!

And, exactly how big is a throw?

I googled, it’s about 5 by 4 feet. So, bigger than the original skirt.

My general formula: start with enough fabric for two times the size of the finished project, plus plenty extra, because my formula is never exactly correct.

This design is pretty random, there is no set formula and no set outcome.

First step, I cut the fabric into various pieces and then sew chunks together, then I recut and sew again and repeat, until I have a pile of blocks, each unique and different from all the others.

Then the fun part, figuring out how it all fits together. The blocks, you can see some in the upper right corner, are odd sizes and shapes so there is a lot of adjusting, usually by adding more fabric.

I lay the blocks out on the floor, shifting and adjusting until it looks right.

I add a bit more here, cut off a bit there, shift and rearrange.

When it was close to the correct size, I cut off any raggedy edges and squared it up.

The final step is quilting, when you sew the top, middle and back layers together. I’m not set up for that, so for me it’s best done by someone with a long arm quilting machine. Which is Nancy Stovall, quilter extraordinaire, who has experience with designs from the traditional to contemporary.

It’s there in her studio now.

Stay tuned.