Several years ago, I got a stack of fat quarters from the then-newly-released Grafic collection by Latifah Saafir. Immediately I decided I was going to finally put that Clammy ruler to use and make myself a clamshell quilt. First I made a few patchwork squares, then cut those and the rest of the 10” square pack into clamshells.Then I stacked them neatly and put them on a shelf…where they would live for the next five years.
Apparently I wasn’t the only one who planned to do a Glam Clam quilt and never actually finished it because in 2021, Latifah started a Glam Clam Finish Along. Brilliant! Lots of folks signed up to cheer each other on and it was just the push I needed to start putting it together.
I took some time to work through the layout, moving the values and colors around until I felt like it worked okay. Then I got some help to figure out how best to sew it together.
I’d never used Latifah’s Clamshell tutorial before and she makes it much easier to put together than I’d expected it to be. So it was an easy refresh for me. Latifah is a fabulous teacher and explains it all in a way that is absolutely do-able for the average quilter.
As always I was surprised at how much smaller it got as I sewed it together. But it worked out beautifully, I think. I cut the edge clamshells in a bit more than half as I was piecing it together. TBH, if I had it to do again, I would nicely trim the clamshells just past center as it made it a bit harder to square up the way that I finished it.
https://sewingarts.com/products/sparkle-cuddle-glitter-navy-silverI finished the piecing earlier in 2021, but it just sat there until it was time for us to move out in December. I shipped it off to The Quilt Parlor in Battle Mountain, Nevada for Stephanie to quilt it. She quilts a lot with Cuddle® for backing, so I thought I’d throw her a tiny curve and send the Sparkle Cuddle Glitter Navy/Silver for her to use. It’s amazingly soft despite the “glitter” on the Cuddle® and it quilts up beautifully.
Stephanie quilted it for me and shipped it to me at Willow Tree Fabrics in Alabama where I got to finish it up. Originality, I’d figured I would just square it up and bind it, so having it wonky on the sides wasn’t a big deal. But I was scheduled to teach a “Self-Binding a Cotton Quilt with Cuddle®” class and figured this was the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the technique.
I have to say it worked out pretty well with that 1” border of the Sparkle Cuddle® coming around to the front. I finished it off with a serpentine stitch and ta-da! I love it!
It’s a perfect little throw size for the RV and soft already thanks to the backing. I love the way it sparkles and it’s fun to have a little Los Angeles with us on the road.
Do you have a Glam Clam to finish? Get to it! There are so many more quilts to make; it feels great to get one done and off the to-do pile.
Happy sewing!
