Monday, August 2, 2010

Whakahekeheke

(pronounced, as far as I can recall, FA-kuh-HEE-key-HEE-key)
It means surfing in Maori. This quilt reminds me of New Zealand and has lots of surfboards and beach-ie motifs so Whakahekeheke to you. That's the secret name. Keep it between us, okay. I'm going to turn it in and call it Surftones. Yeah, Whakahekeheke is way cooler but it'll freak out the ladies who have to read it. You should'a heard 'em when I named a quilt Holaku.
You might guess I used up tons of scraps for this baby. You'd be right. We have boxes of 2-1/2 x 2-1/2", 4-1/2 x 2-1/2", and 6-1/2 x 2-1/2" precut scraps. I dug through and put these together. The only thing I had to cut was the inner border --that wasn't even half a yard. I was trying to figure out the outer border when I realized I still had plenty of 6-1/2" scraps. So I had to use 'em, toss 'em, or put 'em away. Ethically, tossing 'em seems just wrong. And I really don't like to put things away. (Enough from the peanut gallery!) So I made a "piano key border." It involves sewing strips long sides together. Any length will do, but I had these. Not too complicated, it just takes time. The only trick is to backstitch the beginning and end of each seam so it doesn't unravel when you put the whole quilt together.For those who make clothes, but not quilts, backstitching is almost entirely unused by quilters. I know you like to do it. Even if you're inclined to make a quilt. Fine. Go ahead. Don't let me stop you.