June 2013 - I-spy Flannel quilt

 

The top for this quilt was made in July 2010 and the backing was together and ready to baste in January 2011. ( I also made the pillowcases the same month).

 

In June 2013 I finally pulled it out, added a few strips of fabric to the backing, basted it and quilted it. I did straight lines 1/4 inch (ish) from the seams in the borders and around each of the squares on the front and then added a square double line of quilting in each 4 patch. I used a red/green/blue/yellow variegated thread on top and bottom and the stitching blends nicely into the busy prints.

 

The hardest part was deciding on the binding fabric. Jack had selected a green spot but it was the wrong colour and I didn't want to stare at it for hours while I stitched the binding down,  so I dug around and found a blue multi-colour-spot that we were both happy with.

 

 

 One side of the quilt is all flannel fabrics and it is a simple, ordered design. It was easy to make and I think it looks quite effective.

The other side is all quilting weight novelty cottons and is a riot of colour and pattern. This was lots of fun to put together. I got all the directional prints to face the same way to match the other side of the quilt (so there is a top and bottom) and I'm pretty sure I only used each fabric once. 

 

 The quilt ended up at 206cm x 154cm (roughly 81" x 60") and as you can see from the top photo it is a perfect size for a single bed.

 

 It was wonderful to get this quilt complete, and even more wonderful that it has been slept under every night since then. We often have games of ' I spy' or 'Can you find...?' using both sides of the quilt.

Makes me want to finish more things.

 





One step closer to a finished quilt

The back is done!

I finally sat down and got the last of this quilt back put together.

I'm not sure about the 'train squares' panel in the top third - I'm thinking about pulling that section apart and replacing that bit....I'll let it go for a few weeks than have another look.

What do you think?

Here is the front.

I might bind it with a blue and white spot or something red to pick up the colours in the sashing.

And here are the two sides together.

I think I will add something around the edges of the backing to give myself a little extra playing room for quilting - maybe some strips of the binding fabric.

A new flannel quilt in progress

A few weeks ago I recieved this snuggly bundle of fabrics in the mail from http://www.fabricshack.com/

I recently found out that you can fit four yards of flannels in a $13-ish envelope (from the US) and set about working out how to get something special using as many prints as possible. I played with a simple design and then spent a bit of time online picking out fabrics. Jack joined in and narrowed down the selection, and we ended up with 1 yard of the bright stripe fabric, and 1/4 yard of each of 12 different novelty prints.

I spent a few hours one Saturday cutting and the rest of the weekend sewing, pressing and trimming and ended up with a completed quilt top. The best part is that the whole quilt top cost less than $40, including the cost of fabric postage.

Here it is laid out on a queensize bed. Jack calls it his 'new kilt'.

The top turned out a bit larger than I had imagined, but it looks like a perfect size to use on a single bed instead of just as a throw/lap quilt as I had planned.

The four yards were cut rather generously so I managed 9.5 inch squares from each fabric, with only a small strip of each remaining. The stripe fabric worked really well for the sashing and there is only a very tiny scrap left over.

Jack's favorites are the 'Rescue' range - the multi prints of fire engines, police cars, trucks etc. There is one with a blue background and one with a beige background in the quilt, and they were very thick, soft, rich fabrics - lovely to sew with.

I was a bit disappointed with the Riley Blake (2 x green car prints) and the Michael Miller (black multicolour owls and black icecream prints) fabrics as they were much thinner. The colours and designs are great but they were harder to handle and I'm worried they won't wear as well.

I'm busy picking fabrics for the back from my rather large stash of novelty cottons. I need to go on a search and rescue mission to find the ones Jack has pilfered from the pile over the last few days.

The back will be a crazy-ish random eye-spy creation and the binding will most likely be a plain solid colour. I'm thinking of either quilting in the ditch or in a diagonal grid pattern.

Hopefully I'll have the backing completed this weekend and will be able to get it sandwiched and quilted by the end of the month.

More WIPs

Here's some more items from the depths of the sewing cupboard that have been put aside for one reason or another. I'm hoping that listing them here will keep them top of mind and encourage me to finish them. Still trying to decide which one to finish first - must sign up for the challenge....

First up, a lovely charm square quilt in pinks and yellows. This is the same as the brown one in my first post but I did the embroidered border on this one. Instead of backstitch I started the vine in stem stitch and it took forever. There is only a tiny section of vine and leaves to complete then it needs some scattered flower buds and quilting and then it is done. I have a lovely yellow velvetine all ready for the backing and enough fabric scraps to make some matching cushions.

Second, a flannel quilt top based on the Tuscan Sun pattern from AP&Q several years ago. This just needs quilting and binding but I didn't think my quilting skills were up to it so I put it off. I was thinking of using a yummy stripy polar fleece in similar colours for the backing, and a patchy binding using the patterned flannels. The dark purple background is flannelette not quilter's flannel and I wish I had searched for better quality fabric because I think this will wear much faster.

Third, a raggy quilt made without a pattern. It is roughly cot size but smaller than intended because the cotton fabrics on the top shunk badly when I pre-washed them. The dye that came out was amazing - just as well I washed the oranges and greens separately. It has flannel in the middle and polar fleece backing and was pretty simple. (Shocking photo, really bright fabrics and all different patterns that have dissappeared here) Now all it needs is the seams clipping, a good fluff up and then needs a home. Surely I can finish this one this month?