Chenille

As I stated in my last post, I've been on a bit of a chenille run lately. I really find these to be easy projects, but they aren't cheap. They use a lot of fabric because you have multiple layers. I often use flannel or homespuns, but as you can tell from the last one, I also use regular cotton prints.  The prints don't always "rag out" like flannel or homespuns, but I still like them.

You do have to be careful when choosing fabrics though. If the backside of the fabric (flannel included), is mostly white, that will rear it's ugly head in the final product. I try to make sure the print is bold and large, and that having white show through won't destroy the final look.

Here's the homespun chenille I made for Lynn a couple of weeks ago. She only wanted a small lap quilt for when she rides in a car with air conditioning. Her legs and feet get cold and this is perfect. I started with layers of fabric that measured 1 1/2 yards by the width of fabric. (That's about 54" x 44.") After it's quilted, trimmed and washed, it does shrink up, but it's still a good size for her. Unfortunately I didn't measure this before I gave it to her. DUHHHH  It looks really small in the photo, but that because she took this picture with her phone and e-mailed it to me. That also explains why it doesn't look anything like the purple and tan that is really is.

One way that I can make these so quickly is because I use electric scissors to cut the channels.

You can't believe how this speeds up things. And, it is so much easier on your muscles!

Here are the two, ready for the washer. Stay tuned for pictures of the finished projects.