The One That Got Away

I finished this shop sample yesterday. 

Of course with us being located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland we are all about the 

Chesapeake Bay Blue Crab. 

I first designed and made this quilt with just one crab blue and the rest oranges and reds. In case you didn't know, the crabs are blue when they are alive and they turn red when they are steamed. Therefore, the name, The One That Got Away. It is traditional to eat the crabs outside on a picnic table covered with newspaper. So, the backgrounds for the crabs are fabrics with lettering and text.  

We had the AccuQuilt Die made of  the crab for last year's Row By Row, so we thought it would be a great idea to kit this quilt. There are 42 blocks with 22 different fabrics for the crabs (2 of each red/orange plus one blue). 

The crabs are all pre-cut and pre-fused, and the background blocks are all pre-cut. We thought it would be a great idea to also kit it with all blue crabs. It seems like today a lot of people decorate with blue. 

Now I am not so sure if that was a good idea. We have sold a lot of the kits with the red/orange crabs, but only a couple with all blue crabs. 

I have been desperately wanting one for myself with all blue crabs, so I thought it was time to get one made. I will use it in the shop for a while, and when we are done with it there I will take it home.   

Before I fuse my crab to the background, I like to stiffen it a bit with Terial Magic. I prefer this to a stabilizer applied to the back. The more Terial Magic you use the stiffer the fabric becomes, and the best part is it washes out. No stabilizer to pull off. After I have the background as stiff as I like it, I then fuse the crab in place. 

Once the crab is fused in place it is time to stitch it on. I like to use a double blanket stitch because it really outlines the crab. First I stitch around each leg, and then come back and stitch around the shell. 

Then I sew on all 84 eyes with the machine. First I put them all on with glue stick so I don't have to worry about them getting out of place. Then using a regular zig-zag stitch, I set the length to 0 and adjust the width to fit the holes in the buttons. Once you set up for the first button the rest is a breeze. It probably only took about half an hour to sew on all the buttons.

Now it is time to lay out the blocks the way you would like to piece the top together. I wasn't sure how I wanted to lay out the first one I made, so at I tried it with all of the crabs facing the same way, and then scattered. To me there was no question, scattered was much better. 

I quilted with a simple wave from side to side. This could easily be done on a domestic machine. 

 As soon as I got the binding done I threw it in the washer and dryer. 

I absolutely love this quilt!

I can't wait to take this one home. 

Now I hope we can sell all of those blue kits we have made up.

If you would like one, call the shop and we would be happy to ship it to you.

410-476-6166.

The One That Got Away Kit is $139.99. 

This includes everything to complete the top of the quilt including binding.

 Does not include batting and backing.