The Unmentionables Series: Double D

This is the second in a series of quilts, The Unmentionables. My mother always called our underwear “unmentionables.” Do you see the unmentionables?

In March 2022 while scrolling through my Instagram feed, I saw a post and thought, “that’s a great minimal quilt.” I clicked on it and soon realized it was an ad for Pact underwear, called High-Rise Hipsters. I shared this funny story with my guild mates on our Instagram chat. They said, “You need to make that into a quilt.”

The conversation then explored the idea of actual underwear used in a quilt or a bra made out of a quilt- maybe a bralette.

I said, “I’d love a quilt bralette.”

A guild mate said, “quiltkinis lol

Another suggested, “Psychic outlaw makes quilted corsets.”

Another said, “You are my weirdest friends. And I say that with awe and admiration.”

Another friend said, “Seriously you must make this.” I agreed.

Another quilter suggested, “I can see a quilt series of womenswear under garment shapes.”

I responded, “Like bras garters pantyhose sports bras, and — depends.”

She said, “And those old sanitary napkin straps. What were they called?” That was before my time. She said, “Lucky you. They were awful.”

Eventually I wrote, “It’s something I’ve never given much thought to. This series could be life changing. Long live granny panties!!!!

They insisted I had to make this quilt and make a series of quilts, exploring our relationship with unmentionables and other female issues such as periods and birth control.

I began sketching in my Procreate app. I immediately made the Double D sketch.

I made the High-Rise Hipsters quilt first though. I exhibited it as part of our guild’s exhibit at Mid-Atlantic Quilt Festival in 2023.

High Rise Hipsters

So, I ask you to imagine what your unmentionables might look like.

If you want to see Double D, it will be on display at QuiltCon 2024 in Raleigh in the Negative Space category.

Hexagon Applique Tutorial

In my Random Perfection quilt I used hexagon applique. To avoid the problems I encountered where the fabric came out,  you will need to make sure some of the folded fabric comes underneath each stitch line. Also, I didn’t use Aleene’s Fabric Fusion glue which is a permanent glue. That may explain why the folds came out as well.

First I’m going to show you how to make a perfect hexagon applique. Then I’ll show you the “more fabric” way which will result in all the edges staying inside the hexagon applique even without permanent glue.

There is more than one way to make a perfect hexagon for applique and English paper piecing, but I like this method.

A PERFECT HEXAGON APPLIQUE (7/8 inch)

Cut a strip 2 5/8

Cut a strip 2 5/8″

Cut across the strip 2 1/2

Cut across the strip 2 1/2″. The piece is now 2 1/2″ by 2 5/8″.

Add a dap of glue to your paper hexagon (this is 7/8

Add a dab of glue to your paper hexagon (this is a 7/8″ hexagon)

Trim around the edges. There should be at least 3/8

Trim around the edges. There should be at least 3/8″ from the edge of the paper to the edge of the fabric.

Spray regular starch into lid of starch and apply a small amount around the edges.

Spray regular starch into lid of starch and apply a small amount around the edges of the hexagon with a brush.

Press the hexagon with an iron.

Press the hexagon with an iron.

This is a perfect hexagon applique. You can remove the paper and there’s no basting strings to remove.

A BETTER APPROACH FOR THE MODERN HANDCRAFT TECHNIQUE

Use more fabric and don’t trim the fabric into a hexagon. Instead, do this:

Dab a little glue on paper and attach to the fabric. Do not trim into a hexagon shape. Press.

Dab a little glue on the paper and attach to the fabric. Do not trim into a hexagon shape. Press.

hexagons more fabric

LET’S EXPERIMENT

  • Make a few hexagons with the “more fabric” method and apply them using glue. I used Appli-Glue (it washes out).
  • Draw lines 7/8″ apart.
  • Space the hexies 1/4″ apart (1/8″ inch from the hexie edge to the drawn line)

hexagons experiment measuring

  • Make a quilt sandwich:

hexagon quilt sandwich

  • Stitch straight across the points. It takes three passes to get all the points.

hexagon stitch hexagons quilted

  • Square up and bind.
  • Wash it.

What happened?

hexagon experiment closeup

hexagon experiment

Success! None of the ends came out.

Taking a break from experimenting,

Wanda

I’m linking up with The Late Night Quilters’ Tips and Tutorials Tuesdays.

Random Perfection

Birds fly.

Over the Rainbow, why then, oh why can’t I?

If happy little bluebirds fly beyond the rainbow, why oh why can’t I?

                                         —Over the Rainbow, Lyric by E.Y. Harburg, Music by Harold Arlen


One of my goals for 2015 was to finish my yellow hexagon applique quilt. The yellow hexagons led me to thinking about The Wizard of Oz musical which I saw last summer and the song, Over the Rainbow. I took the words and used hexagons as musical notes.

I hand appliqued the “notes” and added green and orange hexagons to my rainbow. I machine stitched them using the method I saw on Modern Handcraft.

I added orange for the binding and it looked fabulous.

  • Then I washed it!

why ohwhy can't II noticed that sides of the appliques were not stitched down and were coming out. This was caused by the way I folded the hexies. See in this photo the way the fabric was folded straight down. The stitching across the point of the hexagon did not catch the fabric. Some of the fabric caught and some didn’t.

yellow hexies up closeI fixed some of them. But, man, what a chore.

I’m looking at it and wondering, “why can’t I just embrace this?”

I took off all the hexies which weren’t nailed down — 303 hexies to be exact.

303 hexies

And, I loved the outcome:

random perfection

I would not have placed these hexies in this configuration, but it feels better than the pre-washed quilt. That’s Random Perfection.

Finding home in the random,

Wanda