I had to get some more of the striped fabric to complete my musical quilt. This time I decided to tak a picture of the fabric before I started cutting it up!
Paper plates work really well to sort out quilt pieces. These triangles have some bias edges and I want to handle them with care!
This is a great tool from Fons and Porter. Jill got this one to make her quilt and I also found mine invaluable for cutting these triangles accurately.
Now, to the sewing machine! I have pinned several of these triangles together. Making this quilt is a lot like sewing plaids. If you don't cut it out right, there is no hope of it matching when you sew it together!
And I am handling these bias seams carefully!
Some of the blocks all nicely pressed, sitting on my big board ironing board.
Then I added more triangles to the squares. These are the triangles I cut from the cross-grain of the fabric. They will make a design of their own when I put the quilt together. Then off the squares go to the WIP category. I need to get some more fabric for borders, backing, and binding.
One of the promises I made myself is that I would reduce the size of my stash. When I was weaving rugs, I bought a lot of fabric. One older woman sold me her stash of fabric, and I got boxes of cotton fabric, enough to fill the floor of a pick-up truck, for $100. She worked at Joann Fabrics, and also made, or intended to make, shirts for her husband. I much preferred polyester double-knit fabrics for my rugs, so I stored this clean, cotton-type material upstairs under a bed.
I have found several very interesting quilting blogs. One of my favorites is crazymomquilts, and I have adapted several of her patterns for my stash reduction projects. The first one is a baby girl quilt, made from the under-the-bed stash of gingham. I believe crazy mom called this fair and square. She staggered her rown, but I like my lined up, so her it is:
I actually did NOT like this quilt after I got the top sewed together. It wasn't until I quilted it that it won me over! The quilting just seemed to bring it to life!
I also used a striped fabric from the same stash for the backing. I have more of this fabric and I think I will put it with the gingham on the front for another quilt.
The next stash-reduction quilt I made is a boy's baby quilt. I used red for the sashing on this. It is actually a true red, even though the pictures show up as having an orangey tinge to it. I used the darker men's plaid for the five inch squares. Here it is as a quilt sandwich, all ready to quilt:
The next posting will show a picture of the finished quilt. I also wanted to try the zig-zag quilt pattern from crazymom's blog. Once again I used the red fabric as the main color. Here is a picture of it on the ironing board after I string-sewed it together. I have completed the sewing of it together. Next I want to put some red borders around it. Without borders, the quilt would have bias edges, which I consider a no-no. It looks like this one is also going to turn out baby-quilt size.
I am very excited to say that I have registered to go to my very first quilt retreat/camp! It is in two weeks time, and I will stay there four days! I can't wait!
I actually did NOT like this quilt after I got the top sewed together. It wasn't until I quilted it that it won me over! The quilting just seemed to bring it to life!
I also used a striped fabric from the same stash for the backing. I have more of this fabric and I think I will put it with the gingham on the front for another quilt.
The next stash-reduction quilt I made is a boy's baby quilt. I used red for the sashing on this. It is actually a true red, even though the pictures show up as having an orangey tinge to it. I used the darker men's plaid for the five inch squares. Here it is as a quilt sandwich, all ready to quilt:
The next posting will show a picture of the finished quilt. I also wanted to try the zig-zag quilt pattern from crazymom's blog. Once again I used the red fabric as the main color. Here is a picture of it on the ironing board after I string-sewed it together. I have completed the sewing of it together. Next I want to put some red borders around it. Without borders, the quilt would have bias edges, which I consider a no-no. It looks like this one is also going to turn out baby-quilt size.
I am very excited to say that I have registered to go to my very first quilt retreat/camp! It is in two weeks time, and I will stay there four days! I can't wait!
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