What to do with Loud Border Stripe Fabric
 

Several years ago I was given a good amount of new fabric from a particular range - Makower UK Windsor. All the fabric incorporated into various quilts, bags, totes etc, except a 4 meter cut - The Border Stripe Fabric.

It is so 'in your face' and loud. I don't have any solids would go with it and I am not keen on buying any more fabric as I am busy stash busting. If it was of more muted colours a striped wholecloth look might have worked. The stripes are too wide to cut into triangles to make "striped boxes" blocks.

I don't have a camera (have a dumb phone!) and this is the only link I could find to show what it is https://www.ebay.de/itm/60-cm-Makower-Patchworkstoff-Serie-WINDSOR-Blumen-gestreift-stripe/163167102000?hash=item25fd846430:g:w6kAAOSw4GVYKfP d


The only thing I could think of is to cut it as strips and make a jelly roll type rug. Any thoughts?

HettyB

Check out this MSQC tutorial -perfect for striped fabric.:-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8xgM1H2X18

dumb phone! l love that. me too!!!

I've used some in scrap quilts, cutting them various sizes . . . some 2 1/2", 3 1/2", 4 1/2" . . . and used them that way. I am reminded of Bonnie Hunter's words: If it is still ugly, you haven't cut it small enough.
Have fun with creativity!

I'm also a dumb phone user!

I'd cut it into strips and use those. If the strips are wide enough, you could make squares out of them for some 9 patches. That would be cute!

I made that one. It was difficult to match all the stripes (not the seams) as the fabric was not printed exactly straight. When I finished it, I did not like it. It was so much of the same thing, it was not attractive to me. I tried sashing it, and that helped, but it still sits there in the ufo pile. At $.02 per square inch to get it quilted, it will likely stay a UFO.

I like your fabric, so I'd make strips out of it and use it for a log cabin or a rail fence.

bkay

What about something like this?
from Mary Quilts

https://maryquilts.com/amish-stripes-and-strings/

60 degree table runners for Christmas gifts; I think the fabric is lovely and not loud at all.

The jelly roll rug is very popular now so I would cut into strips and make the rug. That way the strips don't have to be perfect, just close, and your rug would be color coordinated. Whatever you make, show us the finished product. Have fun.

I think I am going to cut it into strips. I have been wanting to try the jelly roll rug, and as greensleeves says the colours will coordinate. And I don't mind the colours, it was the combo of pattern, colour and size.

HettyB

My little Samsung cost me £5 a month. Doesn't have a camera on it and only makes calls or sends texts and that suits me just fine. What I save on monthly phone charges pays for quilting retreats!

whirlygigs pattern from Moda is strips cut into triangles. I"m thinking of doing that one soon.

Someone made a jellyroll rug out of fabrics she considered ugly and she loved the outcome. I did too! It looked great.

My thoughts exactly! I went shopping specifically for border fabric to use in 60 degree triangle table runners. The pattern names are Triangle Frenzy Runner and Triangle Frenzy Swirl. They are gorgeous! Try it!

Cut half square triangle blocks. Easiest way you will ever make them. The sides will be bias but if you starch before cutting you should be fine. You have some pretty combinations. When you look at just two fabrics at a time they look lots tamer.

That's exactly what I would do. :thumbup:

I love how someone can always come up with a solution I never would have thought of. I love stripes, and buy a lot of them. I just don't use them very often!!

I like to use striped fabric for binding. I've seen One Block Wonders (I think that's what it is called) done using this type of striped pattern too. I've never made one but there is a design link to help with it... I saved it for future reference... I copy/pasted your fabric in design helper and it looks pretty cool...

http://oneblockwonder.com/design-helper/

If you cut it into narrower strips you could use it to make a rope basket.....you know what I mean, where the fabric is wrapped around clothesline and then sewn together with a zigzag stitch.

I think I would make 4 patch posies (like one block wonders but cutting the stacks into 4) Could be very interesting.

What does the "wrong" side of it look like? Sometimes fabric that is "in your face and loud" on the right side is softer and more muted on the "wrong" side. I do that all the time......
But using in a jelly roll rug or any of the solutions offered would be a good use.

One option would be to use it sort of like "cheater" fabric to make a rail fence quilt. I don't know how wide those stripes are, but if, as an example, they're 2", you could cut 6 1/2" blocks (sacrificing 1/4" of the adjacent blocks on either side for your seam allowance). I think I'd select a group of three and make the entire quilt from those, and it looks as if there would be at least enough stripes to make 2 little quilts. If you're not fond of it, it would still make attractive quilts to donate. Another idea would be to cut across the stripes in something like 6" lengths and join them to make a piano key border for a quilt that has similar colors. It would really streamline that project, and look great. Or combine the rail fence idea with the piano keys from the same fabric. 4 meters is a nice amount. If nothing else, it would make an attractive backing for a lap quilt.

This is the quilt your fabric suggested to me. I hope it inspires you to look at that fabric differently. You know the old saying “if your fabric is ugly, you just haven’t cut it small enough”? Lol.

https://youtu.be/05OwI46u1oY

Dumb phone -- Me too! by choice.

Seems to me you have enough for a back! Stash bust some more and put it all together :)

Depending on how wide the stripes are, I would cut it into sets of 2 stripes, or 4... then I would go ahead and use those for cutting into triangles to make all kinds of interesting blocks. You could do the ones shown in the Jenny tutorial, or make triangle frenzy type blocks. I think the fabric is pretty, just a challenge to use creatively.

I had a good sized one given to me. I ended up using it as a backing. It looked very good on there.

That’s exactly what I would do.

ekuw,
Thanks for that tute from MSQC. I am going to have to get me some striped fabric.