Sew Chaotically! ~ I made a quilt!!!!

 Well - a quilt top anyway!

This quilt has been in the works for a very long time!  I have been cutting bits and remnants from all my makes into 2 inch wide strips and squares for the longest - inspired by this post of Julie Lou's Bonnie Hunter's Carolina Chain Quilt.  

I have stitched many "quilts" together in the past.  Lots of little patchwork throws for the kids when they were growing up.  I even made a full sized bed cover for Roo when she moved into her house -

They were pieced with random shaped scraps, their layers tied together with embroidery thread.  Still, having finished all my sashiko blocks - you can peep that prep here:  November's Nesting and Making - I figured I'd better learn some actual quilting skills and practice them on something a little less precious!  With all those pre-cut pieces sitting in a box, I figured they would be a good starting place.  So, last week I got busy.  I decided upon a throw measuring 60" X 60", as a gift for a dear one who just completed and moved into his first house.  I selected greys, browns, blues, and greens from my box as they match his interior.  

Before I began, I read several quilting books.  I watched dozens of quilting videos.  Things can get confusing pretty quickly as quilters are passionate about how they do things ~  Use only size 9 or smaller quilting needles.  No, use embroidery needles!  Use quilting thread.  Wax it.  No, buy pre-waxed.  Use DMC pearl cotton #5.  Press seam allowances to the 'dark' side in one direction.  Press seams open.  Cut this way.  Pin pieces this way.  And so much more!  While all those seemingly disparate techniques can be a bit over whelming to a new quilter - I am ever so grateful to all the quilters who went to the trouble to post their advice, techniques and create tutorials.  I am particularly indebted to these generous quilters for the inspiration and information they provide:

Carolyn Gibbs Quilts      Suzy Quilts      The above mentioned Just Julie Lou

Farm and Folk      Karen's Quilting      Vacilando Quilting Company  

Elizabeth of Mend Learn      Bonnie K Hunter's - Quiltville

Though slow going at first, I began to get the hang of what I was doing and managed to piece the top in about 5 days.  MANY lessons were learned!!!!

• Quilting is most certainly a 'pay me now or pay me later' sort of thing!  I had cut my stash of pieces rather hurriedly at the end of garment making and had to trim up most of them more carefully if there was to be any hope of them going together with sharp lines and points as they should.  Once the quilt top was finished I created a cardboard template for my sashiko squares, so I could press the edges under and stitch round them to create finished edges and consistent sizes.  Again, I had not put tremendous effort in cutting the rectangles perfectly knowing they were to be hemmed!!!  Given that, a good bit of fiddling and measuring to make certain the stitched designs were centered was required.  Both instances necessitated a stern conversation with my past devil-may-care self!
• Making a quilt from garment scraps is - sensible, nostalgic, earth friendly, sustainable, useful.
• Making a quilt from garment scraps is - CHALLENGING!  For this quilt I bought nothing other than a poly/cotton batting and grey linen-esq cotton to use as backing and finish out the top's border.  Finding colors that work together wasn't too difficult as my wardrobe of makes is pretty cohesive.  However, having enough contrast in the fabric I had on hand was a real challenge.  I was very worried that the 'light' and 'dark' lines would not come through as they should.  If I had selected fabric FOR this quilt, that would have been much easier.  Still, I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.  (Despite the block that is turned the wrong way!!!  We'll just call that a design element and leave it at that!!!)  Having to use fabric in a variety of textures and types created another issue.  This quilt top contains linen, tencel, various cottons, including bits of quilting cotton.  Clearly some of those fabrics have far more give than the fabric they were paired with, so it was easy for the squares to go a bit wonky!  I'm pleased enough with how I managed to keep the lines straight, though a few blocks won't tolerate close inspection!!  I just hope they will all hold together with use.  Shockingly, quilting cotton is steady as a rock and stitches together perfectly!  Who knew??? (All quilters - that's who!)
• Through trial and error, I settled on pressing seams to one side, but alternated the direction at intersections.  I found this method created a lot less bulk and I was able to match seams much more easily.  After the top was completed, further reading led me to a quilter who recommended that practice as well.

Overall, I am quite tickled with how it turned out.  I've made and installed canvas leaders onto the three rail quilting frame B made me.  It is AMAZING!!!  Blog post coming on that adventure soon! Today, I hope to get the top, batting (learning about THAT was a whole other thing!!!), and bottom loaded on it!  

New Year = New Lessons and Adventures!!  Happy New Year and Happy Making to you and yours! - love les