Vintage linens are rarely used and are often tucked into drawers. Get them out, and let’s make Lexies! with Cindy Needham ’ve been a hopeless linen turning point in my life. Not only pieces, damaged linens, and lace Iaddict since the early 1990s. had I created the world’s first yardage that are just begging to When I got the bug, I was buy- linen wholecloth quilt, but I also be used. ing every linen in sight, knowing justified my hefty linen stash as I At my Love of Linens exhibit at that someday I would do some- created beautiful pieces out of my the 2016 Houston Quilt Festival, thing with them. I stashed them old and imperfect collection. my booth was right across the in every available closet and I received a fair amount of criti- aisle from a millefiori exhibit with dresser drawer. I found myself cism when I started creating these all the beautiful English paper- sneaking in through the garage quilts. People felt I was not hon- pieced quilts inspired by Willyne door at night and hiding them oring and respecting the linens; Hammerstein. I was in awe! before my family realized I had some thought I shouldn’t touch Becoming hooked on English come home with MORE! them. This couldn’t be further paper piecing (EPP), I wondered About the same time that I was from the truth, as my intention if I could do something like that becoming bored quilting tradi- when turning vintage linens into with my hankies and linen parts. tionally pieced quilts, I spied an quilts is always to be very respect- Of course I could! Hexies are the old linen on my nightstand that ful of the original maker’s work. perfect shape and size to show- was already damaged and won- case the beautiful handwork of In addition to my beautiful stash dered what it would look like if I the linens. That’s how my Lexies of linens, I have baskets of parts, quilted it. It became a beautiful (Linen Hexies) were born! American Quilter | September 2018 41 40-47-lexies-needham.indd 41 7/5/18 3:59 PM Are you ready? Pull out your linen stash, and be prepared to have some fun with three different ways to make Lexies. Don’t cut the ones you love. Creating Lexies involves cutting hankies, linens, and lace. I have some beautiful heirloom pieces that I would never dream of cut- ting. I am respectful of those pieces, and I choose to leave them as they are. The ones that are being cut are not near and dear to my heart, and many have been previously damaged. Some pieces have tattered has soaked, lift it out of the areas and may be torn or water with both hands under- If you don’t have a stash to pull have embroidery that is com- neath. Thoroughly rinse it with from, or if you can’t bear to cut ing undone. I have used June cold water and very carefully your linens because of their Tailor’s Fray Block with very lay it out on a large towel to air heritage, visit your local thrift good results. I apply it very dry. Lightly press it after it dries. stores, antique stores, or garage sparingly to tattered areas Fibers are very delicate and sales. Linens are quite plentiful, to keep them from unravel- can tear easily when wet, so be and you will be amazed at the ing more. Apply Fray Block very respectful when you are variety of designs, textures, and before washing. transferring to the towel. colors you’ll find. Clean carefully… The Personality Many vintage linens/hankies of the piece are soiled and stained. If you The first and most important feel you need to wash your fact about linens and hankies pieces, my suggestion is to use is that they are never perfect; Retro Clean soap. I’ve used each piece has a personality it for many years on my most and appeal all its own. If you are delicate linens and lace with the OCD type, you need to relax excellent results and highly and enjoy the imperfect pieces recommend it. and consider it part of your cre- ative process. Irregularities are If you are washing a very deli- charming, and some pieces cate piece, be careful when you have more charm than others. are handling it. Once the piece 42 American Quilter | September 2018 40-47-lexies-needham.indd 42 7/5/18 3:59 PM MAKING LEXIE QUILTS WITH CINDY NEEDHAM Cindy Needham …and stabilize. Because many hankies and lin- ens are delicate or have open cutwork areas, I stabilize them before cutting. I use and rec- ommend Bosal or Pellon woven cotton fusible stabilizers. EPP TIPS Use an acrylic hexie tem- plate for marking cutting lines, or simply cut the pieces ¼" larger than the paper pieces to allow for seams. Want to fussy cut and don’t have a template? Trace the paper piece onto clear template plastic and visi- This quilt is made up entirely of 2" hexies. I went through my bly align the piece before basket of linen and hankie parts, chose my favorites, and stabi- marking and cutting. lized the back of each one with fusible woven cotton stabilizer. A Sewline glue pen works great for lightly applying a thin line of glue to the paper pieces, near but not right on the edge. Fold the ¼” seam allowance snugly over the glue on the paper template as you move around the piece. Hold two edges of covered pieces together, accurately I traced my paper hexie onto clear template plastic. This allowed matching corners, and hand me to see how the linen motif would look before cutting and whipstitch. gluing (see EPP Tips). Before basting for quilting, I hand stitched all of the Lexies together into an arrangement remove the papers. Use that pleased me. I mounted the whole unit to a solid piece of the point of an old seam black linen yardage, stitched it in place, then trimmed the back- ripper to loosen the fabric ing away to expose the stitched hexie unit. for easy removal. American Quilter | September 2018 43 40-47-lexies-needham.indd 43 7/5/18 3:59 PM Now it's time to quilt! I kept this very simple by simply stitching in the ditch around the Lexies. Some of the Lexies were created from a damask napkin, so I added some of my Baby Clams quilting in them to add some interest. I stitched Mama Clams in the black linen background. I always love to embellish my quilts with beads and buttons from my stash, and this piece was begging for special touches. Embellishments include vintage miniature buttons at the intersec- tions and vintage white beads sprinkled throughout the Lexies. I LOVE how this piece turned out! It is a fabulous way to show off small parts of beau- tiful handwork from damaged linens and hankies. Now check out a different Lexie quilt that uses bits and pieces of vintage lace. In addition to my stash of linens and hankies, I have an embar- rassingly large stash of vintage lace. I use vintage lace yardage for borders and hanging sleeves on my quilts, but I also have lots of parts and pieces that are too small to use for much of anything. A Lexie quilt was the perfect way to show these off! 44 American Quilter | September 2018 40-47-lexies-needham.indd 44 7/5/18 3:59 PM MAKING LEXIE QUILTS WITH CINDY NEEDHAM Cindy Needham For this quilt, I used 1" hexies ditch. I quilted Leah Day’s swirly and the same damask napkins feathers on the background. that were used for the previ- ous project. After making damask Lexies and sewing them together in rings (see EPP Tips—and be sure to knot the end of each seam), I Adding some beautiful tatting placed the rings on top of the lace yardage next to the binding circles, stitched them into place, made a pretty detail. I drew a 6" circle on tan linen and then assembled the units. yardage and lightly sprayed I trimmed the excess fabric to I chose not to quilt the lace the circle with spray baste. within ¼" of the Lexie ring edge. in the middle of the rings, as the beauty and integrity of I went through my lace stash, When the Lexie unit was com- lace is its texture. When lace chose my favorites, and care- pletely assembled, I placed it on is quilted, it becomes flat and fully placed each piece of lace top of the brown silk, stitched it is not as attractive. Instead on the traced circles, making down, and then cut away the silk I attach the lace with beads sure that I ran the lace PAST to expose the back of the Lexies. and buttons to add more tex- the drawn line. ture and detail. I lightly pin-basted the layers and stitched the Lexies in the American Quilter | September 2018 45 40-47-lexies-needham.indd 45 7/5/18 3:59 PM Now check out the last quilt using hankie corners! This method shows off larger pieces. For this quilt, I chose to use hankies that were pre-sta- bilized with cotton fusible stabilizer. You can use any size hexie you wish for the border around the hankies; I used 1" hexies, so I had a 6" space to fill in the middle. I made a clear 6" circle template, placed it on top of a hankie corner, traced, and cut.