A short while ago, I decided that I needed to make a quilt - or blanket - preferably both -or even better, two of each! You see, one of the things most fought over in our living room are the two blankets 'draped' over the chair and one of the sofas.
All four children love to snuggle under when watching television or reading, but there's not enough to go around and (ahem) they are actually 'artistically draped' to cover nasty awful splodges caused by aforementioned children, that just won't wash out of the covers (ink anyone?) So actually, I seem to spend half my time 'artistically re-arranging' them back over the spots-to-be-hidden, or adjudicating between who is to have them.
So, as you do, I set myself the task of making four covers - quilts, blankets, whatever, that can be used to snuggle under, while keeping the functional ones in place. Not that I have anything else to do with my time......?!
Consequently, I've been following (very much lagging behind actually!) the 'Mystery Quilt' that has been featured in the last four issues of '
Sew Hip' magazine, choosing red, green and blue as my base colours.
I've got no idea what it will look like when finished, but it sure will be bright! I'm a bit nervous about the whole quilting bit of the escapade though - I've never done any before and it seems awfully tricky - any tips?
A short while ago, I decided that I needed to make a quilt - or blanket - preferably both -or even better, two of each! You see, one of the things most fought over in our living room are the two blankets 'draped' over the chair and one of the sofas.
All four children love to snuggle under when watching television or reading, but there's not enough to go around and (ahem) they are actually 'artistically draped' to cover nasty awful splodges caused by aforementioned children, that just won't wash out of the covers (ink anyone?) So actually, I seem to spend half my time 'artistically re-arranging' them back over the spots-to-be-hidden, or adjudicating between who is to have them.
So, as you do, I set myself the task of making four covers - quilts, blankets, whatever, that can be used to snuggle under, while keeping the functional ones in place. Not that I have anything else to do with my time......?!
Consequently, I've been following (very much lagging behind actually!) the 'Mystery Quilt' that has been featured in the last four issues of 'Sew Hip' magazine, choosing red, green and blue as my base colours.
Four blocks pieced together,
five cut out ready to sew...
and three still to be started.
On my single bed quilts i cheated, and got them quilted professionally. On Aaliyah's cot quilt, I did simple machine quilting.For the best results you need a walking foot. This ensures the 3 layers of material all go through together at the same rate.
ReplyDeleteHand quilting can be done, its just slower. Looks great though!
Love your choices of fabrics!!
Happy sewing ; )
sHARON XX
Those fabrics are all so pretty, I'm sure they'll come out beautifully! Sorry I can't offer any help, I've never done a quilt ;)
ReplyDeleteI love the fabrics and colour combinations you've chosen! I agree about the walking foot if you want to machine quilt - I don't have one yet and have been quilting by hand, which I really like but it is pretty slow. For a really quick result you could always tie your quilts. I think the best tip though is to not skimp on basting - it's the worst bit but if you rush it or don't use enough pins you could end up with horrid puckers and an uneven quilt.
ReplyDeleteHope that helps!
I think they would be lovely!
ReplyDeleteThese are gorgeous fabrics and your blocks are looking great! I've made a couple of quilts for exactly this purpose; snuggling on the sofa, reading, watching tv. They also make the roof of a den or a blanket for an indoor picnic!
ReplyDeleteQuilting isn't as hard as I thought it might be - I really like free-motion quilting, which allows me to be as wonky as I like, and squiggle thread patterns all over the quilt. For that you need a darning foot or free motion quilting foot, and drop the feed-dogs. A walking foot is a definite for straight line quilting, as others have said! Be sure to use cotton thread not poly, a nice cotton batting, use extra-long pins (and plenty of them!) to hold it all together. Oh, yeah, start quilting in the centre. And be kind to yourself! It's a labour of love and it will be wonderful :)
Sorry for going on so...