Show Ribbons Part 2

I've totally finished this wall hanging and delivered it back to its original owner. She is very happy with it! And I'm so glad.

Here are a few more process picts and the final product...

A finished square (more or less, its a bit off square) but it still needs to be trimmed. There was a buckle/bubble in the middle of the star that I was really worried about. I took in the seams a bit - lost my points in the centre, but I felt more encouraged that it would lie flat. Incidentally, when I basted it before quilting, it stuck down with the spray adhesive and there was no more buckling.

Auditioning borders and binding:

What I did for the binding was take some of the leftover ribbon and sew it on the front, with a 1/4" seam allowance. I did opposite sides of the wall hanging first, and just trimmed those tails square. I wrapped the binding around and stitched in the ditch from the front to catch the binding on the back - like you'd do for regular sewn on binding, except it wasn't folded. On the remaining opposite sides, I wrapped the ribbon around the bound side and secured it

Then when I flipped it

Then I trimmed a little and folded it like wrapping a corner on a present. When it was stitched down, all the edges were neatly enclosed and I didn't have to wrestle with trying to fold  the binding in the corners.

I added a sleeve and 2 triangles in the bottom corners - in case it needed to be held in the bottom too.

Here's the finished product. It's roughly 36" square.

And the back side. It's very lightly quilted (around the outside of the star, the spines,  and in the middle; then both borders).

I am happy with how it turned out and the struggles while making it were worth it. My friend is very pleased and will certainly enjoy it. I included some fabric so she can make a label and a sheet of care instructions for it as well. I would make one of these again - now that I've done one I know what I'd charge and what I can and can't do.

Show Ribbons Part 1

A very good friend from university days entrusted me with her prize show ribbons she has won for showing Clydesdale horses. Those are the really big ones, with the really big feet. My friend grew up on a farm and her grandpa and dad were both involved in showing/breeding and she loves it so has carried on the family tradition.

Liz gave me a laundry basket full of ribbons - there are 97 ribbons in there, almost 90 with rosettes.

I didn't quite expect this many, but it was fine. I set about taking them apart and ended up with a pile of rosettes and a pile of ribbons.

All the ribbons sorted by size and type (with writing and without)

Liz sent me a picture of a ribbon quilt she'd found online so I had an idea of what she was looking for - a star shape to start.

I decided I was going to paper piece it. I did some research online and I found a few people who do it two different ways - some do a zig zag and butt them together, and some piece like they were cotton with a 1/4" seam allowance. I opted for the 1/4" seam allowance because I liked the look of it a bit better and the sample image had been done that way.

I did a couple of mock ups and this one got approved.

(don't mind my feet there)

I drew out a lonestar shape on paper and got busy. There were a few snags, especially when cutting angles. I had very little wiggle room in my seam allowance because the ribbons were already a set size (2" width and I sewed at 1.5" width). I'm a decent paper piecer, mostly because I cut my fabric much bigger than it needs to be so I have lots of room when pressing. I also found that I couldn't iron the ribbons like cotton - they could melt (and some did a little) and once there was a seam in them, if I ripped out the seam, the needle holes showed and wouldn't disappear. Wetting the ribbons resulted in a water stain. This added some complication (and a little swearing once in awhile) but I got it together. I used a size 70 needle and grey aurifil thread.

I'm almost totally finished - I'll post more picts soon.