Well, I’m back at it again with another update on my quilt I’m working on. I made some measurement errors that I just noticed after I have sown everything together (you’ll see a picture below) but the quilt is not a TOTAL lost. It can be fixed and I’m going to fix it.
Here (pictured below) is all of the patches put together, according to my pattern. But as you can see it doesn’t all line up. AND, its smaller than I imagined it to be.
So…. Now what? I have a plan.
I am going to repeat half of the pattern to make the quilt wider before sewing on the boarder. I think adding about 12 more inches will make it a nice size for a lap quilt.
Honestly, my time for quilting has been limited lately, because I’ve been busy. But I really want to get this quilt done soon. So, my goal is to complete it in the next 2 weeks. the next DIY Quilting 101 blog post I post will be the finally post to wrap up this project. FINGERS CROSSED!
So, I was cleaning out my craft closet and found a bunch of fabric I had from my quilting days. It’s been at least a year since I made a quilt and I think it’s time that I put my sewing skills back to use. I’m excited to start back creating quilts and of course I want to share this experience with y’all. I find quilting to be a very suttle hobby. It’s relaxing and fun to do in your spare time. So I will be instructing you on how to make your own simple quilt.
I sew all of my quilts by hand only using a sewing machine when necessary. Don’t worry if you’re not the world’s best sewer. I taught myself how to sew and quilt. My best advice with this skill is practice makes perfect.
What you will need to start:
Basic sewing skills
A cutting mat or a hard surface to cut on
Rotary Cutter or Fabric Scissors
Marker or fabric pencil
Patchwork shapes or Rotary Rulers
Cotton Quilting Fabric (4 to 6 different patterns)
Cotton thread
Sewing needle
For starters, you want to find or create a quilt pattern. If you are up for the challenge you can free hand draw/ layout your own pattern or you can find free patterns and measurements on Pinterest. For this project, I created my own pattern (shown in picture below). I used graph paper to sketch out the shapes exactly how I wanted them and mapped out which fabrics to use. I will be using 5 different cotton fabric designs for this quilt.
After you’ve selected a pattern, it’s time to layout your fabrics and start cutting. You want to make sure that you cut all your pieces in the beginning so that you don’t have to stop and cut once you’ve started sewing. For my sketched pattern I labeled each patch with a number to determine which fabric design I will be using.
Pictured in my pattern you can see that each box is labeled with a number 1 through 5. I marked my fabrics 1 through 5. Using the measurements in my pattern, I start with #1 cutting all the different sizes I will need with that fabric design then moved on to #2 and so on until all my fabric is cut. Use a marker or fabrice pencil to trace your lines for cutting. Once you have everything cut, I suggest laying it out on a flat service so you can see how your quilt will look once it’s all put together.
Now that you have all your pieces cut out, start at the top and sew everything together piece by piece according to your pattern. If you are a pro on the sewing machine, you may find it easier and faster to use a sewing machine. But I like to hand sew my pieces together (at least for this part). This may take you some time. So don’t get frustrated. Take you time and sew at your own pace.
The cutting process took me a little over an hour to do. I spent about 2 hours sewing my pieces together in one night and completed the first half of this quilting pattern. In the next blog I will be showing the finished results of sewing all the fabric pieces together for this quilt and how to add a border and the backing to complete a simple quilt.
I hope you are as excited as I am. TELL ME (in the comment section below) how it goes. Have you ever made a quilt before? Or are you just getting started with this new hobby?
If you follow my Instagram (IG: @passionlocked) then you know what I have been up to for the past few months. And it finally time to share the happiness I received from this project.
Every year I support the March of Dimes foundation by donating money, help raise money and participating in walk events. But this year I wanted to do something a little bit more special. I decided I would make baby quilts to donate to a local NICU for families with preemie babies.
Quilting has become my therapy. It is fun to do, it keeps my mind going, and keeps me out of trouble. You can see some of the quilts I have made on my Kreative Passions page and my IG account. Back around the holiday season, I bought a ton of baby fabrics from JoAnn’s Fabric store (they had really good sales). Since January, I have been working on these special little baby quilts.
This passion project consists of 4 girl quilts, 4 boy quilts and 3 unisex quilts handmade special by me. I bundled them with lots of love and my passion through a handwritten note card. Today, the quilts were donated to the Special Care Nursery at Northside Hospital. I delivered them all bundled with love to the head nurse of the department, who promised to wrapped them around the bravest little beating hearts. Doing something so special for families during this trying stage of life makes my heart smile. Sometimes, I feel a way about being a 20-something year old who sits at home quilting on most Friday nights. But when I achieve something like this, I feel so proud to be who I am and have the passion that I have.
If you are in the Atlanta area I encourage you to support March of Dimes and sign-up for the walk on April 22, 2017. I am joining a team of family and friends to walk with me. 15 Million babies are born prematurely each year around the million, 1 million will die. Let’s help fight to give a family a lifetime with their bundle of joy. If you would like to donate, please click the link : https://www.marchforbabies.org/kznuriddin
Before I go…
I will be giving away one Baby Stroller Throw quilt. FOr details about this give-a-way, follow my IG: @passionlocked for details…. post coming soon.
So… this Quilting business is going well for me. Last week I actualy finshed another handmade quilt. I was so excited with how this quilt came out. It was a birthday surprise for me grandmother. And she LOVED it.
For this quilt I used four vintage fabric designs, and a glittered fabric backing. I did not use any quilting batting, because I didn’t want the quilt to be too thick.
I’m already almost finished with my next quilt… It’s a baby blanket got a baby girl. EXCITING!
See more of this quilt and more Kadii Kreations on my Kreative Passions page. For orders email passionlockedblog@gmail.com.
