Waggas

A Wagga is an Australian utility quilt (also sometimes termed a Wagga Rug).

Its origins lie with men who traveled across country working as shearers, drovers, or farm laborers. Often called swagmen, they slept rough, and the wagga was an essential part of their gear. It might be used for warmth, to keep off the rain, or as a groundcover for sleeping. Waggas were made of found materials--hessian bags, jute flour bags, etc.--sewn together with twine. Batting might include old clothing, bits of fleece from the shearing, and even, in some cases, newspaper. They were roughly made for hard use.


Note: Clicking on the first four photographs will take you to links about them.

 

Elderly swagman

 

A Traditional Wagga Rug

In later years, the wagga became a domestic item as well. Tailor's samples of wool suiting, household bags (such as sugar or flour bags), and printed feed sacks were used by homemakers to create warm quilts for use by their families. Construction of these waggas was more refined. The fabric was cut and the pieces sewn together as patchwork.

Wagga Rug made of wool suiting

The wagga is thought to derive its name from the town of Wagga Wagga, New South Wales, Australia. The flour mill there used wheat bags and jute flour bags, and according to Wendy Hucker, writing for Australia’s National Quilt Register, “There is anecdotal evidence that the Wagga Flour Mill late last century [19th] and early this [20th] had a special place where staff put flawed wheat bags and 150 lb. jute flour bags that couldn't be reused. The men were welcome just to collect these. One way or another opportunity and necessity in the Wagga district reflect the origin of the wagga."

Wagga Lily Flour Bag

 





When I first heard this term, I was intrigued. I have no connections to Australia (I've never even been there.), but the idea of a utility quilt sewn in rough conditions of found materials caught my attention. I have since made a couple of waggas of the domestic type. Of course, I had to purchase the materials, but I tried to construct them simply and make them warm. I found wool-blend fabric (54" wide) on sale for less than $4 per yard (traditionally thrifty!), so I was soon on my way.



This wagga was my first. It is made of wool-blend coating fabric. I washed the fabric in hot water and dried it in a hot dryer before making the wagga. I wanted to see if the fabric would stand up to the heat, and I'm glad to say it did very well. It didn't felt or shrink as pure wool would, so I cut it into bricks and sewed them together. I used a washable wool batting, and wool-blend backing, and rather than quilting with stitches, I tied the layers together with #3 cotton thread. It is very warm, it washes well, and it is not unattractive. The only drawback is that the wool-blend backing is a little itchy next to the skin.

This was my second wagga. It is made the same as the first, but I backed it with cotton flannel--goodbye itchiness! The top pattern was even simpler this time--just wide strips of fabric. I rounded the corners on both of these waggas--trying to miter a binding corner with such thick fabrics would have been very difficult.

I have some more wool-blend fabric (in pinks!--what would the swagman think of that?) waiting in the wings, so I will be making more waggas in the future. I enjoyed making these especially since I was learning the history of the traditional wagga along the way.


G'day, mate.

Ohio Star Block

Since posting the hourglass or Quarter Square Triangle (QST) block last week, I've been looking for ways to use it. Today, I tried an Ohio Star block.



I pulled out some 7" squares from the piles that I cut a couple of weeks ago.

 
I made the QSTs as shown here: Hourglass Blocks




The Ohio Star is a 9-patch block made of 4 QSTs, 4 plain background blocks, and one plain square in the center to match the print of the QSTs. You can see the layout below.

Putting them together is just like any other 9-patch. Pay attention to the orientation, so your stars will emerge.

Here's another.

This is a fun block to make. Give it a try! I'm looking forward to making more to combine in a scrappy quilt.

Hourglass Blocks

I've been cutting scraps like mad! Today, I thought I'd see what size hourglass blocks made from 7" squares would be since I have cut so many of them.



I've seen this technique, but I'd never tried it. It begins with HSTs (Half Square Triangles). Make these as usual by pairing two squares, drawing a diagonal line, stitching on both sides of the line with a .25" seam, and cutting on the drawn line.

Next, you pair your HSTs as shown below. With right sides together, place one HST atop another. The seams will line up and nest, because you are putting contrasting colors together. In this picture, my bottom HST has the red on the upper half, and the top HST has the red on the lower half.

Draw another diagonal line and stitch on both sides of it, just as you did before.

Make sure your seams line up. I placed a pin in the middle, to keep the seams nested.

 

After stitching, cut on the drawn line and press the block open.

Congratulations! You now have two hourglass blocks.

 Mine measured approximately 6.25", so I trimmed them to 6" to make sure they were square. I lined up my diagonal line on the ruler with the diagonal of the square. Note that I place the ruler so the 3" mark was exactly at the center where the triangles meet.

You can arrange the blocks in different ways:

I wanted to see them in combination with some four-patch blocks, so I made a few with 3.25" strips.

Here are a couple of different layouts:

Sorry about the blurriness of this picture!

In the top layout, the four-patches are each surrounded by four matching triangles. In the second, the four-patches are surrounded by two different colors of triangles.




I'm not yet sure how I will put these together, but I did find out the size of the hourglass block made from 7" squares which was what I set out to do in the beginning. Sometimes, you just have to experiment to find your answers. :)

Cutting Up Scraps

Sometimes, when I am between projects, I like to cut up scraps into the sizes I use the most. Doing this creates order out of a chaos of leftover fabrics. Storage of the cut pieces is more efficient for me. Plus, there is the added benefit of having one step already done when it is time to start a new scrappy project.



This is the result of today's session.

Many systems for cutting scraps exist--one that many people follow is Bonnie Hunter's. You can find her ideas here: http://quiltville.com/scrapusersystem.shtml

Another good system is found in the book Scrap Therapy by Joan Ford.



I find that these systems, while full of great ideas, don't really address the sizes that I use most, so I cut 7" squares, 5" squares, 3.5" squares and leftover strips for string quilts.

• I use 7" squares when making HSTs--they are 6.5" after trimming, so four of them sewn together create a 12.5" square--a very common size of quilt block. 
• The 5" squares can be used in charm square patterns or can be used to create 4.5" HSTs. 
• The HSTs created from 3.5" squares can be trimmed to 2.5"--another very common unit in quilt patterns.
• Leftover differing width strips are great for string quilts.

These are the sizes that work best for me--you may find others that better fit your quilting style. Some people prefer to wait and cut as they create quilts, but for me, the organizational benefit of cutting my scraps is important--I like order!

Calico Sunny Lanes

The Sunny Lanes block is a traditional block. The basic unit looks like this:

When the blocks are put together, they form diamonds among the patches.

This diagram and the one of the block above it are from Quilter's Cache--a wonderful resource for quilters.

When I began my Sunny Lanes, I went about the construction a bit differently. I have a big pile of 16-patch blocks I made when a friend gave me a bunch of 3.5" squares (over 2700 3.5" squares!).

 I wanted to use those in the quilt, so rather than making the block the traditional way, I used my 16-patches and constructed the chevron blocks from HSTs.

I chose to use a calico for the "lanes" in these chevron blocks rather than the usual solid color. I think it creates a more old-fashioned look.

This is a quilt where layout is very important. I checked back with the diagram many times to be sure that my diamonds were formed correctly. The assembly itself is easy--just sew the 16-patch and chevron blocks together.

This is before quilting.

I used a pretty, neutral fabric for backing. One reason I chose it is because it has a large repeat, and I wanted to show off the print. Cutting it up too much would cause me to lose the overall pattern. I used a red binding to bring out the reds in the quilt.

Here is the finished quilt.

Taking a different route in construction is something you may sometimes need to try. Don't be afraid to make your quilt your way.

Warm Wishes For A Football Fan

My husband asked for a quilt for watching football this season. I decided to go with the Warm Wishes pattern. You can find the link to download this free pattern here:Warm Wishes

This is a very simple and very adaptable pattern. It is made up of only two blocks: a rail fence (block made with strips) and a plain block of your focus fabric. I say it is adaptable because you can make the blocks any size, so if you have a focus fabric with a large pattern, you can use it without cutting it up too much.

To begin, decide what size you want for the blocks. You will make the rail fence blocks first. They are made of three strips. I made mine with two 2.5" gold strips and one 3.5" burgundy strip.

You can use three different colors if you like. Make the strip sets all the same (the colors in the same order), so that when you put them together, you get the interesting "frame" effect. You can also vary the widths if you want to emphasize particular fabrics.



Making the strip sets is easy; simply sew the strips of fabric together on the long side to create a pieced strip of fabric. Press your strip set and measure the width. Mine was 7.5", so I sub-cut the strip sets at that same measurement to create square blocks. Your sub-cuts will depend upon the width of your strip set--if you have used wider strips, your set might be 9" wide--in this case, you would sub-cut your strip set into 9" pieces. The key is that you want square blocks after cutting.



Using this same measurement, you can now cut your focus fabric into squares that will be the same size as the rail fence (three strip) blocks. I cut mine at 7.5".



Putting the blocks together is easy. Each horizontal row will alternate a focus fabric square and a rail fence square. As you look at the photo below, notice that the rail fence blocks change orientation with each horizontal row. In this example, Row 1 has horizontal rail fence blocks; row 2 has vertical ones. This creates a "frame" around some of the focus fabric blocks.

I used more of the team fabric for the backing, and I used a black binding to set off the colors.

Ready for kickoff!

RIP Mr. Batting

I buy my batting by the roll. Because I needed to clean out and sort the closet where I keep the roll, we had a visitor in our living room this spring:

Eventually he made it into the closet where he belonged. He was a generous guy--he gave and gave.


This morning, I am sad to say, he came to an end:

 RIP Mr. Batting--you were a great guy--warm, soft, and generous.


PS--New guy on order!