The Cozy | Hemming

My Cozy quilt is finished! SO different than my typical quilting project, it was absolutely a joy to do.

After all the hand-stitching and cutting away the shapes, it was time for trimming the edges, and surprisingly, that was one of the most worrisome parts of the process. Where the center fabric and my stitching ended weren't always completely the same, and because of that, I chose to make a 3/4" hem rather than the suggested 1/2". But it all worked out! The hemming itself was fun to do, and I used several colors of Wonderfil perle8 for that, just like I had throughout the stitching of the quilt. I've come to love the trimmed 3/4" 'tails' even on the binding.

Just for fun, I'll give you a glimpse of the back, where my stitches show up pretty well, I think.

So that's a wrap! I kinda miss stitching on it already!

Past Cozy quilt posts, for reference:

The Cozy

The Cozy | Middle Layer.Basting.Marking

The Cozy | Stitching

The Cozy | Cutting

The Cozy | Cutting

It took me exactly four weeks to do the stitching on my Cozy quilt. Let's just say, I enjoyed it immensely, and I'm kind of sad that it's done. Unfortunately, I had a terrible time photographing the stitched quilt. Inside or outside, photos make it look like a crumbled mess. Due to the jersey knit, it really does have much more drape than a regular quilt, but it's so beguiling in person, I hope I can capture it better once it's complete.

That said, it was pretty exciting to move on to the cutting step. I hadn't really planned on saving all the cutting to the end, but I'm glad that I did. It took me just three or four sittings to complete that step. I should say, I cut out all the complete shapes. There were several partial shapes along the edges, that I left to trim as I was preparing for binding.

Karen Kay Buckley's Perfect Scissors, Medium 6-Inch Micro Serrated Blades, were suggested for the cutting step, and I'm glad I nabbed a pair. Being serrated, they seemed to grab the knit just the right amount to do the trimming.

It felt like things just got better and better as I trimmed the shapes. I had been a little worried that my Cozy would be boring, compared to all the brightly colored versions I was seeing from other Cozy quilt-makers.

But once the trimming was all done, I was more than happy with what I saw! I was able to get a decent photo of the trimmed quilt, even though the front porch was barely big enough. I think laying flat gives a better view than having the quilt hanging. Whatever, it's on to the hemming now!!

Past Cozy quilt posts, for reference:

The Cozy

The Cozy | Middle Layer.Basting.Marking

The Cozy | Stitching

The Cozy | Stitching

After making the center layer, and all the basting and marking, it was finally time to start stitching on my Cozy quilt! Size 8 perle cotton was suggested, so I went ahead and chose a palette of threads I thought would go with my Cozy fabrics. Below is my first selection, though I have since added two different grays, and have yet to use the solid black and the dark green. I'm kind of choosing colors as I go.

I began stitching in the center, and am slowly working my way out to the edges.

Here's a closer-up view below! As you can see, I'm choosing to go with the 'tails on the front' method of beginning and ending my stitching around each shape. I've never ever done that, so this seemed the perfect project for it. Plus it's easy, though I do take the time to carefully trim the thread tails to 3/4".

I'm trying to stitch for an hour or two every evening, so it's going to take me a while! I'm still debating on when to start cutting away the excess fabric on my quilt front. On one hand, I'm not intentionally waiting until the stitching is done, but so far, the stitching has been enough. Just taking one day at a time.

Past Stitch Club posts, for reference:

The Cozy

The Cozy | Middle Layer.Basting.Marking

Original Stitch Club - November 2020

Stitch Club Kantha Quilt - June 2022

Mini Series Sew Along - November 2022

The Cozy | Middle Layer.Basting.Marking

It was back in November(!) that I joined The Cozy Workshop & Sew Along. I had never seen a quilt quite like the Cozy, and wanted to experience it for myself. I have participated in several sew alongs hosted by Alison Glass in the past (listed at the end of this post), and I always learn something new. 

So when I signed up, I ordered the Amber Cozy Knit Kit, four yards of 100% cotton jersey, which will be used for both the top and backing of my Cozy quilt. Other supplies I ordered included:

Pre-Cut Stencils - Falling Leaves 
Sharpie Twin Tip Marker 
Cozy Needles - Milliners 3 - Set of 25

And then for Christmas, I received a pair of Karen Kay Buckle 6" Micro Tip Scissors, which is also a suggested item. I'll also need #8 perle cotton, which I have on hand, but I have yet to decide what colors I want to use.

Back in November, I also thought I'd use my collection of Carolyn Friedlander fabrics for the quilt's middle layer, but I changed my mind along the way. Instead, my focus fabric ended up being Desert Wilderness by Boccaccini Meadows for FIGO fabrics, a dotted print I've had stashed for several years. I also included Hush Hush Gridlock by Amber Kemp-Gerstel and Forgotten Memories by Minki Kim for Riley Blake; Metallic Pepper Dotted from Collection CF for Robert Kaufman; an unknown Art Gallery black and white print, and finally a couple of strips of a cotton batik, which wasn't in my original layout above, but made it into my final layer, shown below.

It was highly recommended that both the jersey, and the center cotton layer be prewashed before layering. Since I don't routinely prewash my fabrics, I did that after the center layer was pieced. Not ideal. To safeguard the seams, I tucked the center layer into a pillowcase and sewed a long basting stitch across the hem to close it. I did make the center layer oversized to allow for any shrinkage.

Even safely tucked into the pillowcase, there was still some fraying of seams, though not too bad. My biggest concern was that the different fabrics used seemed to shrink at different rates. I think that's what happened, as the whole thing was a little skewed. Once I'd pressed it a few times and trimmed it to size (54" x 70"), I felt ok about it, and went ahead with the basting.

Pin-basting 12" apart is what was suggested, so that's what I did. The Falling Leaves stencil I purchased was one-quarter the size of the anticipated quilt size. I held it in place with pattern weights and a few pins, and interestingly enough, then proceeded to mark the design using a Sharpie, as directed. That was a first!

The stencil had to be moved several times to mark the overall pattern, but sliding the quilt sandwich around on my dining table made it all pretty quick work. Alison assured us that this is a very forgiving project, and I'm trusting that to be so. ;-)

So the prep work is done, and now I wait patiently until Wednesday when the stitching instructions will be released. That's the part I've really been looking forward to!!

Past posts, for reference:

The Cozy

Original Stitch Club November 2020

Stitch Club Kantha Quilt June 2022

Mini Series Sew Along November 2022

The Cozy

I'm sure you've noticed by now that I do enjoy a little handwork on the side of my main creative endeavor of making quilts. And when opportunities arise to learn new methods or techniques, I at least take notice. 

So when Alison Glass emailed about her upcoming Cozy Workshop & Sew Along, I was intrigued. "The Cozy Quilt is a jersey knit, raw edge, reverse appliqué project (throw quilt or floor pillows/sampler) made out of high quality, 100% cotton, medium weight jersey knit, quilting cotton, and Perle cotton thread." Yes, it's a quilt workshop - but with jersey? Raw edge? Reverse appliqué? Yep. Alison was originally inspired to try reverse appliqué by seeing the work of the work of Alabama Chanin, which I'm familiar with, but not to a large extent.

Needless to say, I'm joining in The Cozy Worship & Sew Along. It officially begins in January 2024, but we are receiving some information early so we can prepare the middle layer of our quilt, which will be made of quilter's cotton. I'm planning on piecing an improv middle layer out of stashed Carolyn Friedlander fabrics, and meanwhile have ordered the Amber Cozy Knit Kit - four yards of 100% cotton jersey, which will be used for both the top and backing of my Cozy quilt. Other supplies I've ordered include:

Pre-Cut Stencils - Falling Leaves 
Sharpie Twin Tip Marker 
Cozy Needles - Milliners 3 - Set of 25

We'll also need some perle cotton and some micro-tip scissors, but I already have those. Anyway, I'll report back one my middle layer is under way. But I'm looking forward to learning a new way to make a quilt in the new year.

Be sure and let me know if you're joining in too, so I can follow along!