Crayon Quilt & Magic Binding

I made this Crayon quilt to use as a sample for a project I will be doing with the Ukrainian Immersion students in Dauphin. The Manitoba Parents for Ukrainian Education contacted me to create a fabric art piece for the 200 years of Taras Shevchenko Celebration.  There are 92 students in grades K-8 that need to work together to create one piece, and I thought crayon quilting would be the perfect choice.  I also knew that I wanted my sample to have a totally different subject matter so that students wouldn't feel compelled to copy something I had done.  My wonderful family helped me with the sample, and we decided that memories of the 11 years we spent living in Flin Flon would be perfect.

The crayon technique is quite simple.  

You need only need a few supplies:

• 100 % cotton fabric that has been washed to remove any sizing etc.
• freezer paper cut to the same size as your squares to stabilize the fabric for coloring
• good quality standard crayons (not the washable kind)
• paper towel 
• iron

I cut my fabric into 6" squares and ironed freezer paper to the back.  Some of us drew directly on the the fabric, and some chose to trace images before coloring them in.  You can easily see through the fabric so drawing your idea out on paper first is a viable option. The beauty of this technique is that you color directly on to the fabric as if it were paper.  No chemicals or complicated processes involved.  Just remember that you will lose a 1/4" to a seam allowance all around your design, so don't sign it in the very corner!  Once you are satisfied with your design, remove the freezer paper.  Place a few layers of paper towel over your image and press with a dry iron until no more wax transfers onto the paper towel.

For this project I decided to try a new binding technique and I was quite pleased with the results.  You can find the tutorial for "Susie's Magic Binding" here.  The binding is completely sewn on by machine and the bonus is the piping that is also created.  The binding is sewn to the back of the quilt and top stitched down from the front in the ditch between the piping and the main binding fabric.

 There is an extra line of stitching on the back, but it was neat and tidy, staying on the backing fabric, and not wavering between the binding and the backing as sometimes happens.

The corners were a breeze as well.  I know I won't always use this technique, but I happy to have it in my bag of tricks.

 Last but not least, one of our Highway 10 Designs customers shared photos of her Pedal to the Metal quilt that she is making for her grandson.  Judy said this is only the second quilt she has ever made.  I think she chose great masculine fabrics, and that it is looking fabulous.  Thanks for sharing Judy, you made our day!