Sunday 3 November 2013

So I accidentally made a quilt...

I'm pretty sure you all know I've been joining in with the And Sew On BOM hosted and designed by the lovely Kristy at Quiet Play as I've been banging on about it all year.  Well now is the time to link up finished projects.  I knew I was going to finish my 9 blocks off and I knew what I wanted, a wall hanging for my craft room.  It didn't quite work out...

After adding the sashing, I added rows of 2" finished squares (a mixture of Marmalade, Bliss and Ruby as those fabrics were used throughout the blocks), measured it and it was massive!  Far to big for a wall hanging. Ah well, in for a penny and all that.  I added some red spotty borders and made some spool cornerstones (I've just realised I didn't take any photos of them!) and called it a lap quilt.  



I am so unbelievably proud of myself.  Yep, the patchwork is appalling - very few matched points in the few junctions where they should match, but I love it.  The picture above is of the flimsy/quilt top.



With fabric being so expensive over here, I never buy over a metre so I had nothing suitable.  In the end I made a block using the tape measure print from the Measure Twice block, sashed it with the binding fabrics and then pieced together the 1/2 yard pieces of some gorgeous fabric I won ages ago ... I think it's called Sugar and Spice?  At the top and two the left are pieces of Perfectly Perched sent to me by my wonderful friend Sandra



I pin basted it on the dining room floor then took a day off work to quilt it.  I did a straight line spiral in the red sashing of each block, then I did some random FMQ in the red dotty borders.  I was beginning to panic at that stage as I knew I needed to add quilting to the blocks and the patchwork but had no idea what to do.  I want to hand quilt them but didn't know if I could then enter the quilt in the linky.  Luckily Kristy said last week we can submit a quilt top, so although this quilt isn't completely completed, it qualifies.




before I quilted it or even made the pieced backing, I thought about binding.  I didn't seem to have anything suitable in my stash and a scrappy binding would be a nightmare as I mainly have charms and the odd layer cake of the fabrics, perhaps a bit too scrappy?  The quilt is mainly red, but my other favourite colour is blue, perhaps why I love these Bonnie and Camilla fabrics so much.  I decided a blue binding would work well.


I didn't seem to have anything suitable, so I got online thinking I could buy something.  I came across the perfect colour in one shop - it was a Summersville print. Then I remember I have some Summersville and yes, I have that print!  I only had a fat 1/8th, but another fat 1/8th in the same colour of the same line helped out and I threw in some DS to round it out.  I can't believe I didn't take a photo of the binding either!  I'm so crap at this whole quilting business - including the photo shoot!



Maybe if you enlarge the photos you'll see the binding?  I alternated lengths of the three fabrics, then added some more of the tape measure down one side.  You can see the spool block above, I had a quick look on line to see how to make it.  There's a tutorial at the Moda Bake shop, but I just had a look how it was pieced, then made up my own dimensions to get a 5" finished block.



See my rubbish quilting?  and there's a great example of rubbish patchwork in the photo above!  Not that I give a monkey's.  


Above you can see the strip of tape measure binding.  I machine sewed the binding to the front, then ladder stitched it in place on the back by hand.  I also worked out for the first time how to do a proper mitre at the back, I can't believe I've been doing it such a hard way up until now.  Photo?  Nope, doesn't look like it!


Here you can see the quilting on the back.  That big block of red is actually a tone on tone print, the two thin red lines are the same as the red sashing and were added to make up the size a little.  I can't believe I also didn't take pictures of the puckers.  I deliberately added some rather large puckers in the back as a design decision.  All quilts should have puckers or they're not real quilts.



My excuse for the lack of decent photos was that today was the only chance I had to photograph it and it rained all morning.  Just before Mr CA had to go to work to load a van, the sun came out so I needed to get the photos quickly.  As the sun was out I couldn't see the screen on my camera.  My excuse.  Sticking to it.  


Maybe I'll get some better photos of the good bits and the disaster spots when I've hand quilted it.  And with that, I need your help.  How oh how oh how do I quilt those blocks???  I'm thinking I need to use something thinner than Perle 8 and I have a lot of embroidery floss - can I use that?  What design??  Please help as this is my baby and I don't know what to do!

I'm linking up at the linky - go HERE, and see what everyone else made!


Related posts

block 1 - Measure Twice
block 2 - disaster
block 2 - You little ripper

26 comments:

Crochet Addict UK said...

Wow I love it. It looks brilliant. So envious. You should be so proud!

Samantha said...

It looks beautiful!!

legato1958 said...

Your quilt is so pretty and fun , and as a bonus, you have a good story about piecing it together! The spools are cute in the corners, and I love the red dotted fabric.
Hand quilting the blocks will make it just perfect!

Susie

Alison said...

It is absolutley gorgeous!
Alison
x

Sarah said...

Absolutely gorgeous!! The colours all look fantastic together. Go you! :-)

heart of charnwood said...

Well it looks fab, and we can all look for the mistakes in our quilts, there are always loads in mine, but who gives a monkeys, as long as we love them! :o)

Vera said...

Looks great! Love the dots and those tiny squares and the whole thing. Well done!

Fiona said...

it' fabulous Wendy - great job... I don't hand quilt but I understand embroidery thread is not the way to go as it is not as strong.... use a heavier weight thread or you can use Perle thread - it makes a lovely accent quilting.... I think it will depend how much you want it to show...
Hugz

Heather said...

It's a very lovely accidental quilt. I understand how that can happen. A few times I thought I was only making a wall hanging and ended up with almost a twin bed size. oops.

I hope you do look at the Zentangles, they are fun to do. I've yet to apply them to fabric, but have some ideas in mind...

Beth in IL said...

Nice job! Love the colors.

moira said...

brilliant. I've never quilted anything but a straight line so you've done fab. Love the binding - inspired choice

Kristy @ Quiet Play said...

Oh it looks fabulous! I don't see any rubbish quilting or puckers so I think it's a great finish! I love how it looks like the blocks are sitting on a patchwork background - and the red polka dots are fab!

Yay! So glad you stuck with it to the end and have such a fab lap quilt to show for your efforts!

Sooli said...

I love what you've done with these blocks. The red sashing really emphasises the blocks and the spools for cornerstones were a great idea. Well done!

JoJo said...

I don't see a single flaw! It's awesome!!!!

Pam @Threading My Way said...

A beautiful, beautiful quilt, Wendy. The combination of colours works SO well. I love it!!!

Jane said...

It looks fabulous, and you could still put it on the wall if you wanted. I have some quite large quilts hanging here.

margaret said...

why oh why are you so critical and hard on yourself, this is a wonderful quilt which I would be so proud to have made. I do like that you have put an interesting backing on it works so very well. You mention quilt fabric being pricey, well I have been so lucky, found some for £2 20 a metre, showed my local supplier (the market where it is £4.50) and they could not get over the price so went back and bought 2 metres of quite a few, some they did not have enough of but what a great buy and maybe one day they will be used!!!
The shuttle will be at K & S and they have good priced fabric so maybe your purse will be rattling empty after your visit to the show, I plan to get some too.

Anonymous said...

Wendy this is brilliant, it looks bright and cheerful and cosy. Love those spool corner blocks - they finish the edging off really well - great job!

ukcitycrafter@live.co.uk

Crafty Tokyo Mama said...

Oh my, you are way too hard on yourself. Your quilt is stunning! I love your sashings, borders, and binding. Everything is so nicely coordinated. Your quilting is marvelous as well. Great finish!

pennydog said...

If this is your first ever quilt I am astonished,this is great and I especially love the tape measure binding addition!

Anna said...

Très, très, très joli !
En plus, j'adore le rouge...
Bonne semaine !
Anna

Maya Kuzman said...

I think you did a great job! As for the second "mismatched" piece I love it! So unique!

Anita said...

So I accidently made a quilt!! lol That's so funny. It looks lovely and it's really nice how the reds have really highlighted the printed fabric you've used. Pretty awesome quilt.
Cheers, Anita.

Nicky said...

What a happy accident!! It's absolutely beautiful...

Carrie P. said...

Congratulations! It is a fantastic quilt. I have seen other bloggers doing those blocks. The quilt is going to look great hanging in your craft room.

Celtic Thistle said...

It's fantastic you are way too hard on yourself!
With all the seams in the blocks any quilting is going to be tough to do. Some outline quilting of an element in each block might be just the ticket. Think that embroidery floss might not be strong enough too.