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Spice Up Your Quilt Blocks With Lame`

© Jeanne Marsh

Here it is August and summer is nearly over. When my "heavenly blue" morning glories bloom, it's time for back to school sales, huge stacks of school supplies appear in the stores, and new Christmas fabrics are displayed in quilt shops. A few glorious blooms appeared on our south deck over the weekend so that means it's also time to think of new Christmas wall hangings, couch quilts, table runners, and more.

A few years ago I made a Christmas log cabin star wall hanging. I had been to a Pfaff class (not that I have a Pfaff!) where such a wall quilt was shown with gold lame` stars. Gold stars? I had never thought to try putting lame` in a quilt block. I was hooked, I HAD to try it.

Lame` is woven of metallic threads and unravels easily when cut. It is also slippery to work with. The needle holes close to the edge of lame` can cause the seam to pull out, so I had to find a way to solve these problems. My "bible" The Quilters' Ultimate Visual Guide had a page on lame` use and said to back that lame` with fusible interfacing before cutting. The interfacing gave it some body and solved both the slippery problem and the raveling of the edges.

My quilt pattern called for many triangles of the lame`. I usually make a sample block then cut all the sections of the quilt blocks before I start to sew. This time I cut only a few lame` triangles at a time. I didn't want them to be handled very much as I was concerned they might ravel in spite of the interfacing. The first few blocks went well, and I was pleased with the finished product.

Some words of caution in working with lame`. Use a press cloth and a warm iron - - - lame` melts! Press from the back side. Lame` backed with interfacing is fairly stiff so be aware of that when you plan where to use it. Lame backed with interfacing can be washed as very delicate. It may come apart when washed if it has no interfacing. There is a "tricot backed" lame` that is soft and can be used in clothing, but it is difficult to work with in quilts.

Add a little sparkle to your Christmas projects this year. Use lame`.

A tree skirt made for us on our 50th wedding anniversary in 1996. The skirt

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