knittedgems

Posts Tagged ‘quilt’

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Not Enough Fabric

In Quilts on April 22, 2013 at 6:00 am

Actually, it depends on who you ask as to whether or not I have enough fabric.

Elly will tell you that I have the perfect amount of fabric.

It is just the right amount to snuggle in with 2 baby dolls.

It is not the right amount to back the Dresden quilt with. When I bought the fabric, I based it off the fact that the squares to which the Dresden plates would be appliqued to were to be 25″. Yet, I bought extra fabric to cut the squares out of. There was enough to make 26.5″ squares. Since bigger is better, I cut the maximum square allowed out. It never occurred to me that the backing fabric would not be enough to cover the backside of the enlarged quilt.

But, all is not lost. Plan B was concocted last night. It involves piecing the back together out of the backing fabric, the sashing fabric and some grey fabric I had in my stash. It might even look better than Plan A when finished.

Here’s hoping.

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Quilt Blocks on the Floor

In Quilts on April 10, 2013 at 6:00 am

Typically, I would stack my quilt blocks on a table, but these quilt blocks are gigantic. They measure 26.5 inches square. It is far easier to piece them together on the floor.

Dan is not a fan. He has been sick and has graciously relegated himself to the guest bed so as not to get the rest of us sick. Thus, he has had to weave his way around the blocks to get in and out of bed.

Hopefully, I can finish pinning the sashing to the quilt blocks in the next day or so. Then at least they will be off the floor.

The plus side of the gigantic quilt blocks is that it will be quicker to piece the quilt top together, since there are fewer pieces to sew. Which in turns means that I can hurry up and get to the part I love: hand quilting.

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A Quilt for Me

In Quilts on March 18, 2013 at 6:00 am

Every single quilt I have ever made has been given away as a gift, mostly to expectant moms or to my own daughter.

This time, I am keeping a quilt for me. It is to hang in our bedroom once Dan nails a short board to our wall.

The quilt started as a cloth calendar that I purchased because I loved the picture.

Not needing a calendar of 1978, I cut the calendar section off and went about saving the picture. Two borders that highlighted the blue and orange color scheme of the picture, which happens to be the color scheme of our bedroom, were added.

Then, I hand quilted around the trees, clouds and shrubs. I learned that a good needle and a good leather thimble are worth their weight in gold.

Finally, I added a black border to make it blend in with the rest of the pictures hanging on our walls. The end result looks like this.

I sewed velcro on the back of the quilt as that is how the quilt will be adhered to the board on the bedroom wall.

 

Though Dan has never been a fan of the bright orange accents I like to add around our bedroom, he does like this quilt, which is a good thing because I’m giddy to see it hanging in our bedroom.

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Beginnings of a Dresden Plate Quilt

In Quilts on March 6, 2013 at 6:00 am

I love to quilt, but I hate to cut the fabric all up only to have to piece it all back together again. Plus, I have learned that I hate being relegated to my sewing room. I would rather be hanging out with my daughter, husband and dog.

So, when I ran across Dresden plates already pieced together, I bought them.

The fabrics are kitschy and fun.

Yet, the center fabric looked boring. So, I removed it.

From my stash, I found some fabric labeled “River Qui” on it. Though it doesn’t necessarily match the transportation theme of the Dresden plate, it is still fun.

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Repairing a Quilt by Hand

In Quilts on February 4, 2013 at 6:00 am


(Machine embroidered quilt label purchased from CannStitch)

As mentioned in my last post, the Sue Bonnet quilt has been repaired with two days to spare. To do so, the entire top row of Sue Bonnet girls was cut off. Out of the 4 girls, only two could be saved. The saved appliques now adorn a matching pillow.

Rather than rip out all the quilting stitches, I cut around the Sue Bonnet appliques, leaving the batting and backing attached. Then, I bound the edges with bias tape. Finally, I attached the Sue Bonnet mini quilts to a remnant of machine quilted fabric with a simple running stitch. For good measure, I quilted around the Sue Bonnets dresses to make sure the appliques stayed in place.

The pillow was made in the regular fashion though I did insert a zipper first. I am after all giving this to a 3-year-old who will almost certainly get it dirty. Being able to just wash the pillow cover will make my job easier in the laundry room.

The quilt was much easier to fix. The hardest part was picking out a fabric to bind the edges with. At first, I was going to use yellow, but I couldn’t get an exact match to the original yellow. In the end, I chose a vintage looking fabric that complemented the flowery fabrics used in the doll’s dresses. The fabric is also similar to the pillow fabric without it being too matchy matchy.

Cutting the top line of Sue Bonnet girls did make the quilt too short for Elly’s twin size bed, but I’m OK with that.

The original quilting did require a touch up here and there where the stitches had fallen out. Reworking the stitches reminded me how much I enjoy quilting by hand. I already have my next 3 quilts planned in my head.

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A Tradition Made

In Blankets, Knitting, Quilts on February 1, 2013 at 2:48 pm

Without planning it, I have started a tradition that I’m not entirely sure I can continue.

It seems that I have made Elly a quilt or a blanket for every year of her life plus an extra year.

The quilt I made for her birth

The blanket I knit for her 1st birthday

Look at that chub! I miss it.

The quilt I made for her 2nd birthday.

And now the quilt I repaired for her 3rd birthday.

The odds are good that she will get yet another quilt for her 4th birthday, since I have one in the works for her.

It should be mentioned that she doesn’t lack for quilts and blankets. Her great aunt hand stitched her a Winnie the Pooh quilt for her birth. Her Gram has crocheted her 4 blankets plus made her 1 quilt. I have actually put away all the store-bought blanket I received at my baby shower, since handmade blankets are far superior in my book.

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Permission to Root through Fabric is Granted

In Sewing on January 6, 2012 at 8:00 am

Elly’s rag quilt is in the dryer right now!

To celebrate, Elly and I are sitting in a mound of fabric.

Some of my favorites thus far:

A patchwork quilt just waiting for batting and backing fabric

This painted fabric

I’m thinking about making a tablecloth or two or better yet Roman shades

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Organizing Tons of Fabric

In Mother-in-law, Sewing on December 28, 2011 at 3:43 pm

Thanks to my mother-in-law’s generosity and amazing good luck, the guest bedroom/sewing room is in major need of an overhaul. This is the before shot:

The trash bags piled high on the bed are filled with fabric and notions. My MIL received the goldmine from a coworker who was moving to London. She didn’t want to pay the enormous shipping fees to send it overseas and would my MIL want it? “Heck yeah” answered my MIL as would any sane woman answer!

My current system of stacking the fabric in the china cabinet won’t work; there’s not enough room.

Enter plan b.

Plan b involves shuffling the bookcases, buying a new bookcase, and reorganizing my current stash of fabric and notions. It also involves finishing the rag quilt before I open the bags of fabric. I know me. If I open the bags first, Elly might have to wait another year before she sees her quilt.

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