Saturday, July 16, 2011

my first quilt!


I had always assumed that making a quilt was WAY beyond my reach, but I'm proud to say - I DID IT!

Let me preface this by saying that I did NOT piece 12,034 bits of fabric together.  I did it the laaaaazy way and did cute printed cotton on the top and white kona fleece on the back.  I basically followed the pattern for the 'reversible tied quilt' in the modern crib set from Amy Butler's 'Little Stitches for Little Ones' with a few of my own changes (which as a novice/moving into intermediate territory sewer, I'm finding I need to do a lot of).


I didn't take any pictures of the quilt making process, but to anyone who can sew the instructions are very straightforward.  I cut my blue and white fabric 36x50 inches, and the fleece and quilt batting 2 inches wider (so 38x52 inches) to allow for better piecing.  The patterns calls for 2 layers of batting, but I used one and think it looks and feels great as is.  I just bought a package of crib quilt batting, so there was only minimal cutting required.  I pinned all 3 layers together with safety pins while I sewed.  I did french straight binding, which seemed easier then bias binding to me.  My fabric wasn't long enough for the required piece (190 inches) so I had to sew extra on the end, and I'm happy to say you can't tell where it's joined.  To attach the binding, I matched the raw edges of the cotton and the binding and sewed around.  You can then trim the batting and back fabric to match the front, and fold over the binding and attach to the back.  Doing the slip-stitching around the binding on the back was definitely tedious, but it's a good sit in front of the TV activity to keep one's hands busy.  I tied it with light blue embroidery floss, spacing the ties about 6 inches apart (which conveniently fell in the middle of the white dots).  The finished size of the quilt is 36 x 50 inches, plenty big for a crib, and big enough to last well into toddlerhood.


The blue/white/brown colors go so well with the baby's room, and I see this quilt getting plenty of use for years to come.  White might not have been the best choice of color for the back, but it looks beautiful and the kona fleece is soooo soft.  Now I'm gonna have to make one for my daughter too (you've gotta be fair after all!)


It's a mad scramble trying to get a few last minute projects done before baby comes.  I've just done some placemats, and I'm trying to work on some Christmas crafts in preparation for submission to show at got craft in early December.  Next up is an apron for my daughter - stay tuned!

Linked up here



2 comments:

  1. That is so cute! I haven't attempted a quilt yet but I'm sure it wouldn't turn out as well as yours. We would love for you to come share this at our "Strut Your Stuff Saturday" link party! http://sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com/2011/07/strut-your-stuff-saturday-week-2.html

    Love,
    The Sisters @ sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com

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  2. Nice job! Be careful though, quilting is addictive!

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