Thursday, November 19, 2009

blueberry pie

Continuing the blue theme...

I finished this quilt on January 2nd of this year, so I can't cross it off my current WIP list. I haven't blogged about it until now because I was thinking of using it for a quilt in a bag pattern (much like this set). But that idea has come and gone. This quilt was donated to Margaret's Hope Chest, which surpassed their goal of collecting 400 quilts for homeless kids, by the way. Woo-hoo!

It measures 64" square.

I stippled it and bound it in a blue stripe. The back (which I didn't get a decent photo of) is a light blue dot.

I like this quilt, but it is a good example of why I prefer scrappy quilts. They are so much more interesting.

On another note, I made my own spray starch this morning. The idea came from Tara. I did a google search and found a few different variations of the recipe and made up my own proportions.

I used 12 oz water, 3/4 tablespoon cornstarch and 3 drops lavender essential oil. Mix well in a measuring cup and pour into a spray bottle.

There were recipes that called for cooking it, but I chose this method because it was quicker. The corn starch will settle, so you will need to shake it before using it. It smells wonderful and it works really well. There was no flaking whatsoever. I bought the 12 oz spray bottle at Target, because a cute new bottle was a must.

70 comments:

beth said...

cute bottle and blue too! sure fits in well with your blue theme! Thanks for the helpful hint about starch! I would have never thought of that.

Shawn said...

Very pretty quilt, you bought a blue spray bottle Amanda loves blue too.....

Kim B said...

What a beautiful quilt! And homemade spray starch is so smart.

pippinsequim said...

I like the quilt too, but I don't know if you can blame its non-scrappy-ness for making it uninteresting. The Raspberry Lemonade quilt is the same pattern and I think it is more interesting. :) I think because there is more color variety.

Thimbleanna said...

LOVE that blue quilt! I feel the same way you do about scrap quilts though -- I like them much better than the well-planned coordinated quilts. THANKS for the starch recipe -- I'd love to try it -- I get really tired of the flakies!

Helby said...

That's beautiful!

Janelle said...

Ooooo, I like it!

ale balanzario said...

Beautiful, beautiful quilt, love the color,

Thanks for the starch recipe, great idea.

Hashi said...

I love the name, it's perfect!

Mama Urchin said...

I was thinking about Tara's starch too.

Val said...

I love this starch idea. Can you use it on clothes also?? Just a thought.

Alice Grace said...

Gorgeous Blue! Great idea on the starch!

Di~ said...

I love Blueberry Pie! oh how do you give those away...?
Cornstarch in spray starch, who'd have thought?

Sara said...

Another beautiful quilt...I really like this one...and glad to see that it went to a very worthy cause.

Oh, I like the idea of making your own starch...I'll have to remember that...

Anonymous said...

Oh what a great idea! I can't wait to make my own.

I like the simplicity of this quilt very much. It will bring a lot of comfort to a child who really needs it.

Tina

Mandy said...

I have been waiting for you to blog about this quilt=) (I saw the name on your sidebar.) I absolutely LOVE it!!! I think it is every bit as interesting as a scrappy quilt, just in a different way. I love blue! LOVE IT!!!

carol said...

Cornstarch in water? Who'd have thought???

Suzanne said...

Glad to know I'm not the only one who has a backlog of crafts to post about.

Do you spray starch all of your blocks?

LizA. said...

You need to be careful using cornstarch as it attracts silverfish bugs. You can buy liquid starch in gallon & half gallon containers and then mix them with water depending on how much "stiffness" you need. I usually go 3:1 for general use and a little less water for stretchy fabrics like flannel.

Ann said...

Thanks for the homeade starch idea. That is great! Also, I noticed you purchased a new blue bottle. Is that because you like blue so much, or did you want it to match your iron and the rest of your home :)

leigh said...

thanks for the starch idea. i've been wondering if there was something else available besides aerosol cans.

Angela Nash said...

I agree - scrappy quilts have a good character!

So do you spray everything? Just the finished block? Haven't ventured into that yet.

Diane said...

OOOh, starch spray. Why did we not all think of this? hmm.... The blue is pretty and it made to think about stipe fabric and would I run the stripe up and down or across... I like them up and down like you did it but the paralyze me so I just stick to using them as binding.

CitricSugar said...

Thanks for the starch tip!

And the quilt, as usual, is lovely.

Ms. Fine said...

Stunning. I'm in love with this quilt--and I need the striped fabrics! Where did you get those!

Mary on Lake Pulaski said...

What a sweet quilt for a homeless child Amanda Jean! So kind.

Tamera said...

With the starch mix...I've heard that if you use essential oil, you need to use some alcohol to emulsify the oil or you'll end up with oil drops on your fabric/clothing. I add 2oz of cheap vodka to my starch mix.

lera said...

Love the blueberry pie. Love that you donated it, too.

Sherry said...

Great of you to give you quilt to the Margaret's Hope Chest what a great idea.I also happy to read about how you made you starch I can't wait to make it and use it. Thanks for the great idea

Unknown said...

Pretty darn cute and a fast quilt if you need a gift! Thanx!

Curry Made said...

Thanks for the starch tip - will have to try it. Cute quilt!

Victoria Findlay Wolfe said...

you read my mind, I was just about to look up a spray starch recipe, and i came to your blog and there it was! thanks! ;-)
Hey, girlie, you know those bits you put on the back, like the last blue one you did... it would look super dooper for an entire quilt! go for it!

Loralynn said...

I really love your blue quilt! It turned out so cute! Thanks for the starch recipe...I never even though of making my own. I have been using "Best Pressed" and love that it doesn't flake, but it is expensive. I'll have to give yours a try!

Blogful said...

You always have the cutest happiest names for your quilts. It's like opening up a box of crayons.
This is gorgeous, but your little triangles on mostly white, was about the cutest little quilt I've ever seen. I agree that too much pattern sometimes ruins a quilt.

Jessica Christensen said...

Such a do-it-yourselfer. A woman after my own heart. = )

Jenn said...

Thanks for the starch recipe. I need it so rarely that I normally just go without because I can't make myself buy a can at the store. Water and corn starch (and a variety of essential oils) are always readily available in our house though, so I'll have to give it a try!

Unknown said...

Amazing! Lovely work!

Janet said...

That's great news about the di=onated quilts, yours is lovely.
I'll write down the starch method, that's going to be handy, thank you.

QAMom said...

I love that blue quilt, blue is my favorite color!

Julie @ Jaybird Quilts said...

simple but adorable.. and if i haven't said it before you rock at naming quilts!

Bonnie said...

Quilt is great, as usual. Thanks for sharing about the starch - it's a great idea!

PunkiePie (Jen) said...

Beautiful blue. I love it. It's so simple and I love the name!

Beth said...

I'm wondering just what you use your spray starch for. I've never used it when quilting but am guessing it stabilizes your blocks? I love the center of this block, by the way.

Jeri is said...

Thank you for sharing the recipe for spray starch. I like not using aerosal sprays and love to pinch pennies with my husband out of work! I've got to find some essential oil and I'll be on my way. Thank you!

ara said...

Thank you very much !!!!! your tutorials have allowed me to make a quilt.
Kisses

Rebekah said...

such a cute quilt! The design is so pretty and it's definitely making me want some blueberries right now

The Girl in the Pink Dress said...

I absolutely LOVE this one! Awesome! Def gonna try it...it's perfect!
The Girl in the Pink Dress

Margaret T. Zenk said...

More inspiration! I want to do something similar in reds. You prewashed, right? I noticed that blue fabrics, like reds, tend to bleed nowadays.

Lisa at Sun Naturals said...

Ooh thank you for the spray starch recipe. I need something like that; I don't like the commercial sprays. Have a great weekend!

tarabu said...

blue bottle for a blue week? Now I want pie!

Also, I don't think I have starched anything since my husband got out of the Navy!

peaknits said...

Another gorgeous quilt:) And thank you for the starch recipe - the one I had involved cooking, and therefore was a hassle:)

Laurel H. said...

I was WONDERING about your Blueberry Pie quilt! It was listed as one of your completed projects for 2009, yet you'd never blogged about it. Thanks for sharing! (Looking forward to hearing about Lazy Summer Days and The Tide is High, as well!) BTW I generally don't like blue, but I do like this quilt. Well done, as always!

Eli, Cattails Quilts said...

I was wondering how your quilts always look so sharply pressed! I am always impressed with how clean your pressed seams are, and if this is your secret, you bet I'm stealing it!!

Do you prewash your fabrics, or no? If not, how do you deal with bleeding of dark fabrics?

What Comes Next? said...

nce again a lovely quilt! thanks for the starch recipe, I must give it a whirl.

Anita D. said...

I like blue. A lot. That's just one reason to like this quilt.
I like the symmetry too.

robin chapa said...

I'm really very almost totally obsessed w/ "Best Press". Are you familiar? Would you say your recipe produces something similar to that?

Ann said...

I love the simplicity of your new blueberry pie quilt, and it looks simple enough for even a new sewer/quilter like me to attempt! (I'm going to rely on the magic of pre-cut fabric strips in a jelly roll -- I'm still not very good at accurate rotary cutting.)

Esther said...

I do love the blue quilts you have been doing, this one is quite simple in feel but very strong.

sulu-design said...

Pretty! And I love that fabric that you're starching... can't wait to see where it shows up.

Aimee said...

Beautiful! I agree, scrappy quilts are more interesting, but I like the woven effect this one has. Great idea to make your own starch...

Anonymous said...

huh. It might be worth experimenting to heat up the cornstarch in water to emulsify it, so that you don't have to shake it up...

(untested, so far)

but I really like the DIY cornstarch. I've been avoiding using starches because there is a decent environmental impact with all those spray-cans.

Anonymous said...

Hi there
I love your little blog and was very interested in your starch recipe. I am new to this quilting business and I was hoping to make a quilt effect cushion, however, the fabric I have for it is quite flimsy and I was wondering if this starch recipe would help to stiffen it up a bit?
Thanks
Suzanne

Amanda Jean said...

Suzanne,

if you are making a cushion, the starch won't help your somewhat flimsy fabric. I'd recommend finding a thicker fabric right off the bat. (or you will have to rework it. I've tried it before.) hope that helps!

Amanda

Anonymous said...

I just made it and it works great. I like it better than the spray starch we got at the grocery store. Thanks for posting this recipe.

Sara said...

MUCH cheaper than buying this at the quilting store!! Thank you and now to get some Lavender Oil:)

Joan said...

Thank you so much for the starch recipe...I just made some and it worked a treat...I do need a better spary gun however :) I found some corn cornflour - and used that...as we dont have corn starch here and the usual thing that we have is corn flour which is made with wheat :(
YOur blue quilt is realloy lovely too :)

débemsucedida said...

ola eu gostaria de saber para que você usa o spray com amido?aonde aplica?

Anonymous said...

This is so beautiful! Blue is my absolute favorite color. I like to throw a little lemon yellow in to lighten a little sometimes. I so wish I was your neighbor. ( was that stalker-ish? sorry :/)

robbiejoy

Radhika said...

Dear Mrs.Amanda,
Thank you for running such a nice and inspiring blog!
Hats off to your patience and dedication!
God Bless You!

Anonymous said...

Hi, I just found your post by following pinterest. One of my relatives was following you too. I love making home made starch and have been using it for years. I do mine a bit different. I buy the half gallon container of liquid starch in the grocery store, cheap. Then following the directions on the bottle for strength found out it works better than the can(s) of starch I had been using for years. I use any left over spray bottle but found I like a fancy bottle best. You have a great site and I will follow you. Thanks. Char