Playing with Cuddle Fabric

I have been connecting more closely with the local quilt shop where I bought my Gammill.  The team at Olde City Quilts is very nice, and it is totally worth the drive to visit.  I mentioned to the owner that I would be willing to make shop samples.  I had no idea how enthusiastic Judy would be.  She gave me three projects – I finished the first one today.
The first project is a quilt made from Cuddle fabric, from Shannon Fabrics.  It is super soft and cozy.  The pattern I made is from the Crazy 8 Cuddle Kit – Dolce Luxe.  I selected a stripey faux fur back that is so soft.  Faux fur has come a long way.
There was some mention in the shop about putting the fabric in the dryer to prevent shedding.  I didn’t pay much attention, just skipped out of the shop, in a hurry to get stitching.  I am here to tell you, shedding is real.  Particularly if you cut the fabric.  Once I pulled the strips out of the box and unrolled them, the honeymoon was over.
It is fair to say that I am a little uptight about clean floors in my studio.  Sometimes.  Today was one of those days.  I was sad.  Also, I look like I took a nap under a hedge.  I had to cut some of the strips into smaller pieces.  Holy smokes.  I vacuumed for the second time.  Then I threw all of the strips in the dryer with a wet washcloth for 20 minutes.  It filled up my lint trap, but everything was less messy.  Make a note – unbox your fabric at the dryer and toss it in immediately.  Don’t shake freshly cut pieces in your studio.  Gather them up carefully, and put them in the dryer.
The pattern calls for layering backing and batting, using spray baste, and then doing a stitch and flip maneuver along the entire quilt.  I can only imagine how wonderful things would be with the bits of fur flying around and sticky vapors in the air.  No.  No spray baste for me.  I’m hot stuff and have a longarm.  I like seeing what it can do for me to make quilting faster.  This will be a piece of cake.
I loaded the backing, laid on batting, and laid the first piece of cuddle at the top of the batting, and basted it down (with visions of teaching a class on a new technique).  Or I tried to.  It shifted a bit, but not too bad.  It would be covered up by the binding.  I laid the next strip on, pinned it down a bit, and attempted to stitch it down.  It did not work.  That fabric writhes about like mad.  I backtracked a few times, then it occurred to me to check the backing.  Fail.  I picked out the two rows of stitching and just pieced the top on my Bernina.
I layered the top onto the longarm, did straight quilting mostly in the ditch (fur hides a multitude of sins), bound it with cuddle strips, and done.  The quilt is heavy and super soft.  James is hoping we get it back for winter time.  I might buy a kit and make one for him.
It finished at 58″ x 70″.
Judy had mentioned she would like me to make an infinity scarf if there was enough backing left over.  There was plenty, and I used a tutorial from How To Sew that went together very easily.  (This is the backing for the quilt.)
I had a small strip of backing, some binding, and a strip of elephants left, and it was shedding all over my cutting mat.  I turned that into another scarf.  James has claimed it as his own.  Somehow I seem to be raising a hipster.  He wears fedoras, adores bow ties, is growing his hair out, and is valiantly attempting to grow a mustache.  I feel like allowing him out of the house in a ladies scarf with elephants on it is going to delay the time when I have to learn to deal with girlfriends.  So, it’s a win for me.
Beauty was kind enough to model for me.  She’s bringing glamour back.