BLOG 143

This week, on a whim and just for the sheer joy of it, I decided to make a scrap quilt and nothing makes me happier. A precious little girl I know has moved into a single bed and whether she likes it or not, she is getting a quilt! This is how I went about it.

I started off by drafting a pattern. I had seen a lovely quilt when trawling quilting websites but, when I tried, I couldn’t find it again. I don’t know the originator but one glance told me that I would like to try and make something similar in scrap fabrics. Here’s my own version of the pattern. No seams are level to speed up construction.

 

                                                      Pattern

 I chose a 3 metre length of a light fabric that would be constant throughout the quilt and I cut it into 5 different widths: 1½”, 2½”, 3½”, 4½” and 5½”

                                              Light fabric

Then I went to my mound of coloured fabrics and started to iron and cut the same widths in as many different bright fabrics as possible. I cut sorter lengths so that I could get more variety.

                                         Bright fabrics

All the strips, when joined, will measure 6½” so, beside my sewing machine, I matched up the strips in sequence: Light 1½” + Bright 5 ½”, Light 2½” + Bright 4½” and so on…..

 

                                       Matched strips

I chose a grey neutral thread and wound up 3 bobbins so I didn’t have to stop when I got going. I put ¼” foot on my machine and just started to sew.

                                ¼” seam allowance

When I had sewn 2 strips of each combination, I took the strips to the ironing board. Placing the dark fabric uppermost, I ironed along the line of stitches to settle them into the seam.

 

 

                                   Settle the stitches

 Then I lifted the dark fabric and ironed the seam open. That ensured that the light fabric seam is always ironed towards the dark fabric seam.

 

                                            Lift the dark fabric

Keeping them in sequence, I laid the pressed strips next to my cutting board.

                                         Pressed strips

To trim the raw edges of the strips, I lined up a vertical mark on my ruler with the edge of the strip. This assures me that I will have a perfect right angle when I trim away the excess fabric to straighten up the edges.

 

               

                        Straighten up the cutting edge

All the cut strips need to be kept in sequence, ready for sewing into a block, so I transferred them onto a tray to carry them to my machine ready for constructing the block.

                                                  Cut strips

Patchwork is best done accurately, logically and methodically for smooth execution and peace of mind!!

More next week when I will have made significant progress and you will be able to see what I am trying to make. And perhaps I will come across the quilt I am trying to replicate.