Quiltangelady

I am looking for a pattern to use linen calendar towels to make a quilt. I have not been able to find anything online and wondering if there is a book. I see plenty of pictures on Pinetrest.

thepolyparrot

I would remove the hems and assemble a top using borders to make them all the same size for a symmetrical quilt, or turn the calendars in different directions and make embroidered linen blocks or pieced blocks to fill in empty spaces, like a sampler quilt.

How fun!

oksewglad

I would think you could use many of the 2/3 yard panel patterns and adapt measurements to the size of the the towel.
Bear Creek Quilting Company has many free patterns, many using panels.

https://bearcreekquiltingcompany.com/free-patterns/

juliasb

First of all what a wonderful idea! How many towels do you have? I would cut them leaving 1/4 all the way around the design of the towel for a seam allowance. Placing a sashing between each block that will even out the towels. Hopefully I am making sense. then build the quilt. These may be a great Quilt as you go project too.

Karamarie

What a great idea for repurposing. Hope you share it when complete.

Tartan

If they are all in good shape, I might sew them all together for a backing.

Dave411G

Thanks for putting up the link.....a bit early for me, but something to look at, understand and later to work towards......Thanks

QuiltE

Lots of ideas and so many possibilities as to what you could do with them.

While I have not worked with linen tea towels for a quilt project, this subject grabs my attention, as I have been considering a similar project. A series of unused hand embroidered tea towels. All embroidered when I was a kid, long before I even thought of being married!!! Sooooooo 55-60 years old??

Someone please correct me, if I am wrong!!!
And provide guidance/feedback for QuiltAngelLady and myself!
Thank you!!

Linen tea towels are a looser weave than quilting cottons and shrink when washed.
Will pre-washing tighten them up enough?
Will the embroidery threads/colours run?
Once the quilt blocks are cut, should a zig-zag edge stitch be done?
Is the looseness conquered, or would an iron-on stabilizer be necessary?

Linen tends to be wrinkly ... how will that factor into a quilt for the long term?

With the loose and wrinkly factor in mind ... should one Best Press (or starch) like crazy before starting?

Just some food for thought here ... I might was well make them into a quilt, or actually get using them! Look forward to seeing your project come together, QuiltAngelLady!!

Thanks Everyone for your input!

thepolyparrot

Yes, a bit - and it will fluff up the fibers to also fill the empty spaces in the weave.

Possibly, but maybe not - the old floss makers touted their colorfastness. Don't use bleach on them and if the embroidery is done in silk thread, don't use OxyClean, either.
You could do that or serge the edges - linen will fray quite badly on unfinished edges.
I personally wouldn't use a fusible stabilizer unless absolutely necessary. The woven fusibles will shrink terribly when laundered and the non-woven is polyester, so it would defeat the breathability in a project.

If the weave is still very loose after laundering, I would face it with a pre-shrunk white muslin or quilting cotton - sewn to the edges within the seam allowance, possibly or glue basted with an Elmer's School Glue purple glue stick.
It softens in laundering and use and doesn't wrinkle so badly after a while - one of my favorite nightgowns used to be of lightweight white linen - so soft and cool!
I made large and small linens for my church for years - I starched the heck out of the pre-shrunk linen before I cut or hemmed the church linens.

Linen has a mind of its own but you can starch it (almost) into submission. For the large altar linens (54"x 120" or more) I actually resorted to making my own cooked laundry starch and squishing it through the washed and dried linen, letting it dry, then steaming it as flat and square as I could make it.

I used the drawn thread method to find the actual crosswise grain for squaring.

One tip - linen feels very cool to the touch - even when it's bone dry. Don't keep ironing it just because it feels cool and possibly damp. Iron it just until it's flat and smooth enough to cut and sew accurately.

Hope that helps - I love linen, but I have shed a few tears when working with it. I learned little tricks for managing it along the way.

QuiltE

ThePolyParrot ... what a wealth of knowledge and experience you are!
Thank you SO much for sharing, and giving me the encouragement I need.

About the floss ... they are all just regular DMC, Anchor or Coats & Clark, so I think they should be colourfast. I just get "scared" of it, hearing so many speak about issues. And with nothing ever having been used, definitely no bleach or oxyclean will get near anything!

What I really need to figure out is what I want to do with them. Meaning, what pattern, etc. A wall hanging would be nice, but I only have a small open wall. So to keep them together it would not work. Would I really want a quilt for another room made with them? I just don't know!! I think that is what has kept me from doing anything with them. Time will tell!