Hey! A quilt!

Sewing inevitably generates scraps, and I’m loathe to throw away anything bigger than a hankie..... I’ve never felt the urge to quilt until I became pregnant last year and then decided I needed to cross the great divide and make something for my little babe to roll around on.



Over the years my garment colour choice has become more cohesive and so I had a very substantial collection of fabric scraps in blues, whites and reds, the perfect gender neutral colour choice that also made me very happy (after all I would be the one staring at it for years to come).




I was most inspired by a fabulous scrappy picnic blanket that Jenny made for the first Melbourne Garden Party, and lacking skills in precision cutting and patience I decided a similar layout would be best for this beginner quilter. 




I sewed simple strips of lightweight cotton fabric into blocks, until I had enough for a big square play quilt approx 1.2m square. I found it most useful when playing around with the pattern layout to take photos on my phone of my favourite combinations. It was then easy to piece together the blocks, with the pictures to refer back to. 



The back was pieced from heavier denim and furnishing weight cotton scraps also from my stash.  As I was close to 38 weeks pregnant by this time it was ready to be assembled I took the easy way out with spray basting the front and back to the cotton batting (there was no way I could kneel for the length of time needed to pin this thing together) and quilted very simple freeform horizontal straightish lines along the midline of each stripe plus the seamline of each piece. There were so many things I didn't realise about quilting, the first being to start in the middle of the piece and work outwards, rather than from an end. 


I had enough blocks to make a smaller change mat, and actually quilted this first in order to practice my quilting technique. I decided lots of very close random quilting lines would look very cool indeed, not realising how damn long it would take. Hence the much less intense quilting pattern on the big mat!





I didn’t manage to get either bound and finished before my little love arrived, and it did of course take several months before I made myself finish them. The change mat was completely machine bound - a more robust but less pretty finish for something that would get washed quite frequently. The larger quilt was hand bound for a much nicer finish.



They are of course quite imperfect (starting with not even being square!!) but I do love them so - the backs as well as the fronts. I love the fabric combination, and the memories of garments I’ve made during my sewing trajectory. I’m in no rush to do it again mind you. Still very much #teamgarmentsewing!





Comments

  1. Sarah,
    I love both quilts. The colours are perfect and it's such a great idea to make the quilt entirely out of garment scraps! I just turn my scraps into hankies, pocket squares or the insides of pockets but this really is special.
    xB

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    1. Thanks Bianca! I just felt like they all went so well together, they were crying out to be sewn up! Xx

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  2. I love all those colours together and the denim/chambray, so beautiful ;o)

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  3. I love your quilt and changing mat! The colours and prints all work so well together, which is no surprise really when your wardrobe does too! I have never thought of making a changing mat but it’s a great idea. I always felt the shiny shop bought ones were so cold for little bottoms in the winter. In terms of quilting that’s interesting you’ve read/been told to start from the middle rather than an end. What I’ve always done is start in the middle but still at an end if you know what I mean, so on the width of the quilt you’d go to the middle of the top of the quilt then quilt your line down then start to work outwards from there, always quilting in the same direction, so either top to bottom or the other way round.
    I need to return to team garment sewing for a while now as I really could use some new autumn clothes!

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    1. Thanks Kathryn! I also made the mistake on the small one of quilting in different directions, which create a rather crazy chevron effect! All a learning experience!

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  4. These are both so cute! I love the colors and the stripes. I'm making a quilt right now for my impending little guy, and man I'm with you--team garment sewing all the way. I like the idea of quilt making far more than actually making one!

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    1. Thanks Lisa! Yes you’d think all that straight line sewing and lack of fitting would be breath of fresh air but it can be kinda tedious! Xx

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  5. Wow they both look fantastic, love the colours! I started making a few quilts last year for workmates who were expecting-I knitted a couple of blankets but they take months to make, whereas I could sew some fabric strips together in a weekend and make a quilt! ( Mind you since I started making them the garment sewing has kind of gone on the back burner!)

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    1. Thanks Dianne! That’s so generous of you - I hope your workmates appreciate them! One of the ladies from my husbands work also gave us a quilt she made when Max was born and she was so delighted when she learned I sewed and appreciated how much work went into it! Xx

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  6. This is really beautiful. I like that the cohesion came from a long history of picking things you liked, instead of one big shopping trip! I remember a quilt my grandma made from old shirts and my sister and I poring over it, picking our favorites. This will be a beautiful memento!

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    1. Thanks so much Lia! I look at it every day and still love all the different colour and fabric combos. I hope my little dude enjoys picking out his fave fabric too! Xx

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