Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Prairie Point pondering

So, I had this misunderstanding of prairie points recently.  Which is all fine, since I like my interpretation better.  And it led me to come up with a clever idea for what to do with them: buttonholes!

Prairie points are triangles of fabric that are used as adornment--often in quilts.  I guess they mostly are used along the edge, as shown in this tutorial.  And they frequently overlap, which is facilitated by the fold/opening being on the side.  (In fact, if you want them to overlap consistently, and are willing to use the same fabric throughout--although I am often stubbornly scrappy--there are tutorials available on making continuous prairie points.)

I, however, have used the center-fold method of making prairie points, and have used them to define a line between two fabrics, or to create a border where none existed.

Prairie points on my first-ever quilt.
You can see that the above points were placed with the edge where the folds meet showing (facing outward).

Prairie points used about 4" above the hem of a square dance skirt, to create a border.  These were anchored with a black ribbon over the raw edge.  The points were not identically sized, and definitely didn't overlap.  These are also the center-fold method seen above, but placed so the folds meet on the reverse side, showing only a sleek triangle of material (satin, in this case).
 Okay, so here's where the inspiration struck: I have been dragging my feet on Son's duvet cover, dreading the required buttonholes to finish it.  My buttonholes always look so shoddy!  If only there were a way to camouflage them.  (I have been known to make a welt buttonhole--no easy task--in order to avoid the hated zigzag buttonhole.)  Aha!  What if, instead of the buttonhole being out in the open where everyone can see its awkward ugliness, the stitching is hidden behind the place where the folds meet in the prairie point?  Genius!  (If it works, that is.)

Now that I have the idea, I've got to get going and try it out.  Stay tuned, dear readers...

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