08.26.07
Quilt Progress
Thanks to the wonderfully talented Lazy Gal Tonya, I am well on my way to finishing this baby quilt!
The colors are a little crazy, and the material not ideal (the cotton provençal prints are quite thick), but I think the final product will be a playful design that a little kid can have some fun with.
My initial design was to have a block in the center of the same yellow fabric that makes up the outer bands:
Laying out the pieces and strips, before the final sewing
But I had just enough leftover material in green, which we thought really played up the contrasts. These prints are so crazy, the yellow sort of got lost in the middle, so here is the final design, with a green center:
The final layout, all pieced together thanks to Tonya’s pinning and sewing machine!
The next step will be attaching this top to the batting and back material. Tonya has some bright red material that we think will be just perfect! I will then need to decide whether I will actually quilt the three layers together or use yarn ties. I am leaning towards the ties, which should be quicker, but think that we can possibly play with some geometric designs with the sewing machine, too. Of course, to a baby and then toddler, the ties may be more fun!
Tonya R said,
August 26, 2007 at 4:28 pm
hey, that quilt looks great - lots of contrast and energy. perfect for a baby. I look forward to working on it again with you.
Monica said,
August 26, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Wow! It looks awesome! I like the green square in the middle way better than the yellow. This is a great first quilt! Squares are totally the way to go. My first quilt was using triangles and I never even finished it because it was so hard.
Anyway, suggestion for finishing it off… The yarn ties are definitely the easiest! Quilting the top can be a little tricky if the top and bottom aren’t perfectly measured. You can end up with bulges in the fabic. One thing I did on Sylvia’s quilt was use a machine to do tiny spirals throughout the quilt. The concept was similar to yarn ties but it was stitched in. I’ve also seen people make little hearts or stars, etc.
Another easier type of quilting would be to \
rachel said,
August 27, 2007 at 12:26 am
Oh no, looks like your comment was truncated, Monica! Thanks so much for your feedback and suggestions. I’m all ears for any other advice - i.e. the rest of that sentence!
Glad you finally set me down and started me on this, and now I have a partner in crime in Paris to keep me going.
Do you have any pics of the quilt you made for Sylvia?
Monica said,
September 12, 2007 at 11:17 pm
I can’t remember what I wrote at the end of the sentence. maybe something about the type of string you use to tie. I like silky string rather than yarn because it feels nicer to touch. and babies like silky stuff.
I’ll try to send a picture of Sylvia’s quilt.
Monica said,
September 12, 2007 at 11:19 pm
Hopefully these show up. They aren’t the greatest pictures. I’ll try to find something better.
/Users/monica/Pictures/Photo Booth/Photo 217.jpg
/Users/monica/Pictures/Photo Booth/Sylvia’s Blanket.jpg
Monica said,
September 12, 2007 at 11:22 pm
Poo, the pasting of the pictures didn’t work. (I’m just a caveman.) I’ll get the pictures to you another way.
rachel said,
September 13, 2007 at 7:04 am
You could host the pics on photobucket or flickr and post the link, if that would be easiest. Can’t wait to see Sylvia’s quilt!