Thursday, March 05, 2015

Guess Who's Quilting!

wip: Livingroom Birch Blanket
That would be me!  I bought this fabric in the fall in one of my bored-at-work-impulse-shopping-for-crafty-supplies sessions, and while I loved the fabric on arrival, other projects called to me.  But in the last couple of weeks, this project has been weighing on my mind.  Today, I finally dug out my cutting mat and roller blade and started to chop it up!  No sewing yet, I don't have time to start this afternoon, but soon. 

So excited!!  Do any of you quilt, considered quilting, or just fallen in love with all the pretty quilting cotton?
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15 comments:

  1. Caitlyn5 March 2015 at 14:39

    I don't quilt, but I have quilted. Is that a valid answer? That is stay, I have done a few small quilted projects, such as a Kindle sleeves with a pocket and a set of placemats, potholders, and an oven mitt as a gift to my sister, but I don't quilt regularly or have any plans to venture much further into that territory. I find it's a handy skill to have in one's arsenal, but it's a bit impractical for my current needs--I've always been cold-blooded so have already accumulated more than enough blankets! But I do very much love quilting cottons for all of their bright, cheerful possibilities, and I used to regularly follow a quilting blog for the gorgeous, inspiring photos (before it was overwhelmed with advertising). Can't wait to see your project!

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    1. Heather5 March 2015 at 17:23

      That's totally a valid answer! I should've added 'have you quilted in the past?' to the list above. :D I love the look of quilted stuff, but I think you have to be careful with it, especially household stuff. There are some fantastic designs out there, but I'm not really that good yet. I just hope this works out. lol

      But I'm in love with the fabrics and it's a simple design, so I have my fingers crossed that it'll work out.

      Love the idea of a quilted Kindle sleeve! I sort of want to make one for my Kobo. Maybe I'll have scraps of this fabric left...

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  2. Sarah Liz5 March 2015 at 21:50

    I don't quilt, I would like to but I don't have time. I made the decision to only sew clothes for now, but one day I will quilt as well. I'm just not stashing for that yet:)

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    1. Heather5 March 2015 at 22:05

      I REFUSE TO STASH FOR THIS! But I'm eager to sew up some stuff for our house - try to make more of my own mark on it. Considering how ugly the couch blanket my boyfriend likes, it's time to find a replacement, so why not quilt it! :D

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  3. Becky6 March 2015 at 04:57

    I wouldn't call myself a quilter, persay, and it's something I don't anticipate taking up in earnest anytime soon--my mom is primarily a quilter, and I already have several of her creations in my house! But I did make myself a quilt several years ago, and I have a very slow one in progress right now to use up a bunch of the scraps of quilt-type cottons that I've had lying around. I'm planning on just using that as a floor playmat for the baby, and just sew a couple of strips here and there when I'm running out of sewing time for the day and don't want to dig into the next step of whatever my other current sewing project is. I will admit to using quilt cottons at times, usually for making bags or small things for the house (and now baby--some of the bibs I made were quilt cotton), but I have also used them to make clothes on occasion. The prints are just so pretty!

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    1. Heather6 March 2015 at 08:45

      Congrats on the baby! You'll have so much fun making up things for the wee little tyke. And stalking your blog shows that you already are! :)

      I think quilting (or quilt-making, which appeals to me a lot) could be one of those projects you keep plugging at slowly when you're sick of other projects - a great backburner project that you know will be a long time in the making. I like having no-time-pressure projects like that. Plus it'll sate that quilting cotton fix!

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  4. Karlie6 March 2015 at 13:52

    Oooh, ooh me! Though you know that already :D This year I intend to finish up S's blanket (the top is pieced but it's not quilted, just backed with minky), E's Strawberry Shortcake quilt, and maybe, maybe make a start on my paper pieced snowflake quilt. It's here: https://www.quiltandsewshop.com/product/Snowflakes/quiltmaker-patterns

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    1. Heather6 March 2015 at 16:23

      It's funny, I was thinking of you and your quilts when I was writing this. I'm not doing anything fancy here, just sewing strips together. I'm debating on how to quilt this, whether I'll do it by hand, struggle with sewing it on my machine, or go down to the quilting shop and either use their machines or pay someone to do it for me. lol.

      That snowflake quilt is gorgeous, I have no idea how you'd do that!

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    2. Karlie7 March 2015 at 13:59

      I love strip piecing though! It's a quick and easy way to get into quilting, and makes it really easy to quilt too, since you can just stitch in the ditch. If you want to hand quilt it though, spring for cotton or wool batting. Polyester dulls your hand needle very quickly and makes it very, very difficult to hand quilt (hence why I've never finished E's baby quilt).

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  5. Karlie6 March 2015 at 13:52

    Oh also, I love your fabric!

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  6. bbarna8 March 2015 at 11:03

    Lovely fabrics-it will be a great quilt. I have been quilting for close to 40 years. I have done clothing sewing for longer, so I had lots of scraps. We were on a tiny budget for lots of years (and still are), so I made quilts for our beds, gifts for weddings, graduations and new babies. I started out not really knowing a thing, as there were no quilters in the family-just lots of dressmakers. Most of my first quilts were just squares of fabric, cut with scissors and using a template cut from a cereal box. I bought a rotary cutter, mat and ruler, long before they really became popular and never looked back. When my job was in jeopardy, I bought a longarm quilting machine and started a home business. While my job stayed, my husband's didn't and he started doing all the quilting while I saw the customers and did the bookkeeping. I love to see the quilts my customers bring in-very rarely are there any two alike. I still sew some clothing, but quilting is my passion and I try to make 3 or 4 a year. Happy quilting!
    Barb

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    1. Heather12 March 2015 at 01:13

      Hi Barb! I came here to answer Michelle's comment, and just noticed that yours is unanswered. Which is annoying because I distinctly remember writing out a response to your lovely comment. :( Sorry, I promise I wasn't ignoring you!

      Thanks for sharing your quilting history! I can't believe you not only started a business based on quilting, but that it's doing well! You must be so proud. :) And it's so nice to hear that your Hubby helps and sews too - it's very cool to hear that you two have worked together on this!

      My quilt is very simple, but I'm in love with it. I did something even easier than squares - I simply cut strips the full width of the fabric, and simply stitched them together. Aha yeah, nothing fancy here!

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    2. bbarna12 March 2015 at 09:03

      Simple quilts are just as warm as fancy quilts :-)

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  7. Michelle11 March 2015 at 21:00

    I saved, and am still saving for my son, shirts or dresses that my kids wore as toddlers up to teens for quilts. I'd originally thought I would make as housewarming or wedding presents for them, but I still don't sew and my daughter is going to be married in August. So, I may pay another woman to do them into a pattern I like. I got a sewing machine at a garage sale, but still haven't even tried it. But, I love the patterns I see on pinterest! Are you using a pattern or winging it?

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    1. Heather12 March 2015 at 01:08

      That sounds like a lovely plan! My Grandma did something similar for her children, I believe. She walked me through one of them once, showing me all of the notes she'd pinned to the blanket describing each of the fabrics. Obviously this means that we never actually used the blanket for fear of losing the info, so if you do it, I recommend taking photos of the fabric pieces and including it in a booklet or something! Which could be a lot of fun to make up. :)

      I'm just winging the pattern, but it's super easy - not anything like those fancy quilts on pinterest! I found piecing my quilt easy (well, considering that it's just a bunch of fabric strips sewn together, it'd better be easy), but the actual quilting part was more difficult, especially on a basic sewing machine. Really hard to man-handle a nearly twin-sized thick blanket through the machine and keep everything neat and straight. BUT I DID IT! Keep an eye out for a post soon!

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