Moving right along

 I finished the quilt. I have done the quilting - basic stitch in the ditch, which showed me that not all the ditches matched up! Then I put on the border. I had considered doing orange, as with the interior border, but decided to use the main fabric.

I sewed it on and then hand sewed the back. I am always amazed about how long hand sewing can take! 

It is not quite square but is approximately 1 metre.  A good size for a baby - I hope. 

Now to move on to another project - even if it is just coming up with ideas. I still have to finish my tapestry and it is occurring to me that I might like to do a small series related to the current piece. Time will tell if that is a good idea or not. 

Another Baby Quilt

 I have finished another little quilt. I didn't really do it to a particular size, just made it to a size that appealed to me. 

It is based on a quilt I did a few years ago, using squares cut into triangles and then the pattern being made depending on how I laid out the pieces. I decided on a different layout from the previous one. 

I should have read my previous post more carefully - I didn't use starch spray on the squares and there was some stretching of fabrics in the square. I don't think it is too noticeable but I will try to remember next time. 

This time, I used orange and green as my base colours - not very babyish. I hope the parents like it - they will never tell me if they don't, of course. 

The only piece of fabric I had to purchase was for the backing and the borders. I am slowly getting through my stash.

Of course, I have cut too many pieces again - I'll have to see if I can come up with another design. 

Using leftover squares for another baby quilt.

 I made a small quilt for a baby about 18months ago and, because he was born 5 weeks early, got carried away in the rush of things and cut way too much fabric. 

Now I have another baby quilt to make. Easy decision to use those leftover pieces (with still some left!). I have been told that the baby is being born into a Hawthorn supporting family (AFL club) so I only used the yellow squares and cut up some brown fabric I had. 

Because there were some already cut, I didn't have to find the pattern or work out the size, I just copied what I had. They were 5" square (seeing most of my quilting equipment is in imperial measurement, I usually use inches rather than metric). 

I sprayed the fabrics with starch as that makes them sit better for cutting and sewing, especially on the bias. 

I cut them all out and drew a line diagonally across the middle, then sewed them, using the quarter inch foot, on both sides of the line. I cut them along the line afterwards, giving me lovely triangles. Using the board that has sandpaper as one surface ensures that the fabric doesn't move. 

I trimmed the corners off all the squares.

I have laid them out but will leave them till tomorrow and look at it with fresh eyes, to see if there are any glaring areas that I will want to change around. It may look different in daylight too. 

I am writing the process down in a bit more detail this time as I needed to look at my previous post and photos to see exactly what I had done. This being my visual diary, I think I need to put in more information so that I can easily find it in the future. 

So far, so good. 

It has been a good change from working on my blackwork course, I find I move around much more when doing a quilt. The sitting still for the embroidery is much harder on the neck and back. 

What was I thinking?

I had intended making a small quilt for a new baby, due in 5 weeks.
The baby arrived early!! All is well with mum and bub. Phew. But now I have to get cracking.

I got out my yellow and green fabrics, cut them into squares, ready to make a simple small quilt.

The top is now made.

Taking the photo in the gloaming has highlighted the lighter fabrics that aren't so obvious in full daylight. Interesting.

It is just a random size, there isn't a lot of coherent information online about what size to make. Even cot quilts have large variations in their sizes. So it is just a little quilt that can be thrown on the floor and the baby can lie on it, if it doesn't fit the cot. At the moment, it is approximately 120cm by 80cm. The quilting will reduce that somewhat, so I don't know its finished size at the moment.

There is a LOT of fabric left over. Not sure what I was thinking, what size I thought I might make it. But I will have to come up with something, there is too much to just regard it as an error.
I must have thought I was making a double bed quilt, or that and a single!

I haven't done any quilting for ages, so maybe I will have to see what I can come up with, in yellow and green. Suppose I could put in some other colours for emphasis.

First, I have to actually make the quilt. The top is made but that is all. There is still a bit to do, so I won't worry about all those extra squares at this stage.

There is plenty of hot weather forecast, so I can hid indoors and see what I achieve.