Finished Quilt!

At long last, I can say my first quilt is finished! It turned out beautiful & I love it! It's found a new home on our couch and since it's backed w/ Minky ... everyone wants to use it! Here are some pics of the finished quilt and a few more tips I learned in Quilt Class with the talented Louise @ Scrapbooks, Etc. It's true - even if you know how to sew, you can always learn SOMETHING from a class! Plus group sewing is just fun.

I guess the story of this quilt would be this ... I fell in love with this fabric and spontaneously bought a jelly roll. I thought I'd make pieced pillows with it, but, then while at the Sew Sampler class with Sarah back in March, I saw this quilt sample on the wall. I chatted w/ the instructor, asked some questions and quickly became convinced that I could do it! SO - I bit the bullet. I signed up for the class, reserved the jelly roll for the quilt front, and then picked up some additional fabrics for the center squares, border & binding. The class was taught over the course of a month w/ meetings every Monday night (I have links at the bottom of this post w/ my progress week to week).

  

the quilting is a pretty swirly design that resembles butterflies - compliments of Louise

quilting detail on front side

Tips I learned during this process:

• Learn how to properly thread your bobbin. Duh. My bad.
• Put the needle all the way down WITH THE PRESSER FOOT UP ... slide fabric RIGHT up to needle, and THEN lower presser foot. This ensures proper tension, especially if you have an "auto" tension gauge on your machine, which I do. I never did this before, but it does seem to be helping.
• Use a thimble when hand sewing the binding. You will suffer injuries w/o one. :)
• When pressing seams (which you do ALL THE TIME  when you're quilting) "heat" the threads before you press the seams. What? If you have a 2 squares sewn together, while they are still folded (presumably w/ right sides together) ... quick press ("heat") the seam on the wrong side. When you open up the two squares to press them flat, it'll be easier. I love it.
• If you use a Singer, buy a walking aka even feed foot if you're going to use Minky.
• Do not use steam when you're pressing fabric that has already been cut to its precise size. Steam will distort the fabric and that's not good. I've not put steam in my iron since I learned this a few weeks ago!
• If you're using precut fabrics (like a jelly roll, etc), chances are it has pinked edges. When cutting such fabrics, measure by and to the OUTSIDE tips of the pinked fabric, or the widest points.



corner close up

In this class, I also learned how to attach bias strips so that they lay flat when attached, to make mitered corners, and how to attach binding to quilt and hand stitch with a blind stitch. I'm thankful to have these two tips in my sewing arsenal!

All in all, this was a fun class and I love the outcome. I will probably take another class sometime, but it may be a while. It's a serious commitment - a quilt that is. I really liked having a "long term" project going while I continued w/ my usual quick fix crafts. Someday, I'd love to learn how to actually do the quilting part because I don't think I can fancy myself a quilter until I actually do the entire quilt!

 Fabrics Used:
• Robert Kaufman Daisies & Dots Line (jelly roll for the blocks + yardage for border & binding)
• Aqua Minky (front center squares and back)



I absolutely love the contrast of the aqua minky & the bright red binding. I think this is a color combo that will never get old to me!

The rest of my quilt class posts: Class 1, Class 2, and Class 3. PS: One of these days, perhaps my actual sewing will reflect the very long mental list of things I want to make ... like coordinating pillows with all the wonderful scraps I have from this quilt!

I am participating in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side!

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Quilting Class, Part 2

My quilt top is *almost* done - yay!

my little model cannot resist being in the pics!

This week in class, our assignment was so "square up" the 20 blocks. In a perfect world with perfect seamstresses (of which I am so not), the blocks would be 12.5" squares. Let me tell you, NOT ONE of my blocks was this size! I blame the Minky ... ok?

My squares were almost all 12.25" (that's good right? that they were consistently wrong?) so that's what I cut them down to. Quilting is apparently all about uniformity. I like it.

The cutting to squares took me a while so I spent most of class on that. But then, the FUN part ... Arranging the 20 "perfect" squares into their final spots! As I am quite indecisive, this too took me a while. I had about 10 arrangements before I was happy with it. Then, I sat down for more stitching, more pressing. Finally - all 20 blocks were together!  I am pleased w/ the placement and my nearly perfect squares. :)

Next week in class, we'll learn how to properly cut and attach the front border pieces. Then ... the quilting. I've made an executive decision that I wil opt to have the teacher quilt mine for me - because, well she is a professional and I know it's going to look fabulous if she does it! I still want to learn / attempt  machine quilting, so here's what I am going to do (i.e., my homework for Monday's class) - use my scraps to make coordinating pillows. The 'teacher' says that if I do my pillow fronts and bring in batting / muslin to get me to three layers, I can totally learn the quilting - but I'll get to give it a try on a much smaller item which will be easier for me!

One more pic in closing ... someone "real loves" HER new blankie. And insisted on sleeping with it ... she loves those minky squares because  -- her special lovie is backed with white minky and apparently all the minky in the world is meant for her.

More next week!

Oh, and our cocktail party was a big success last night ... if we get our act together, we just might have a post on it tomorrow. Teaser - this party's craft was a raging success and I'm  wearingTWO of my creations today :)


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