Clueless QCAL (As if!) — Week 2 – Piece back and front components
Posted On October 4, 2021
Can I do a moment of real talk with y’all?
I’m not sharing for sympathy, but to let you know others feel this way from time to time, even if people don’t talk about it. I’ve been struggling HARD with my sew-jo lately. I have barely sewn at all over this past month, and when I do, it takes a lot of mental effort and I stop after 10-20 minutes. I have a couple of commissions to do, in addition to my monthly quilty block bee and making my quilt coat–but even those things aren’t enough motivation for me to power through. I’m trying to not feel guilty for slacking off and give myself a bit of grace, but as someone who strives to exceed expectations, I’m struggling with the guilt. Anyhoo…if you are struggling too, just know you aren’t alone and it’s normal. Hang in there and we’ll get thru this!
Sharing on Instagram
A reminder that if you share your progress in a post on your IG feed, be sure to include #cluelessqcal so it’s easy for everyone who is participating to see what you are making! In case you don’t know, you can follow hashtags which is great for sew alongs! The only downside is only a couple posts will show up in your feed, so if you want to see what everyone is up to, click on the hashtag to see all the posts.
Last Week (Week 1)
How did making a mockup of your coat go last week (whether it be muslin, fleece, or an old quilt)? Did you realize after making the mockup that you needed a different size, needed to lengthen or shorten or take in in certain areas?
One thing to keep in mind if you make a muslin version of your coat…your quilted coat will be thicker than muslin. If you are going for the relaxed/baggy coat look, the difference between muslin and the quilted layers won’t matter. But if you are going for a more fitted coat, keep in mind that all things being equal, the quilted version will be a tad snugger. I’m so sorry I didn’t think to include that tidbit last week!
If you haven’t gotten started, have no fear! There are quite a few people who joined relatively *late* and others who were ready but then changed their minds and are still waiting on their new coat pattern and/or fabrics. I made this QCAL a casual pace just for that purpose. Hopefully you won’t get discouraged if you aren’t on track with these emails/the majority of the group, and/or you have time to catch up.
This Week (Week 2)
A reminder that the schedule I created assumes you are piecing each component (front, back, arms), and not making a whole quilt top or using an already existing top or quilt. If you are making a whole quilt, you’ll need to figure out a cutting/piecing/quilting schedule that works. If you are using an existing top or quilt, you can sit back and relax, you’ve got heaps of time!
This week we are cutting out and piecing together the quilt blocks (or solid pieces of fabric, depending on the style of coat you are doing) for the front and back parts of our coats. If you are doing a Party All Over, you’ll be piecing both the back and front; for a Mullet coat you will be piecing the pack and solid fabric for the front. If you are doing a Mullet, you can slow down the pace a bit if needed, as the sleeves and possibly the hood, will be plain fabric (no piecing).
Tips/ideas
I had planned on looking at all of the group chats today to see if anyone had any suggestions/tips to provide for the QCAL, but Instagram (and Facebook) decided to take the day off and I can’t get into any of my chats. I may send a follow up email later this week if I come across any useful tidbits.
The one thing someone mentioned (sorry I can’t give credit…IG being down), is to perhaps use polyester thread instead of cotton for quilting (and possibly piecing?). She mentioned that polyester is more resistant to popping seams than cotton, and since our coats will be exposed to more stress than our quilts, it might not be a bad idea. A quick internet search shows that cotton thread is a bit stronger and softer than polyester, but polyester has a bit more stretch to it than cotton. I can’t say one way or another which one is better (hello…Clueless), but if you only have cotton and don’t want to/can’t buy polyester, I don’t think it’s the end of the world.
I know there was one other tip I wanted to share, but I can’t think of it at the moment. Keep an eye out in the next day or two for another email with tips.
Have a great day!