unicorns and pastel colours









Although quilt making has taken a bit of a backseat (as it always does at this time of the year), I have done a bit of work on Annie's quilt. I have written about her fabric choices and pattern conundrum here.

As much as I love making a quilt, cutting the fabric is not my thing. I am a master of procrastination. For this quilt, I spent ages working out how many weeks it would take if I cut 8 pieces a day... I used an acrylic template, with a triangle size range 3 to 9 inches. Annie decided on 7 inches. The neat thing with the template is that the sizes indicated on the template include the seam allowance. The actual size would not normally be relevant but because I only had a certain amount of fabric to work with, it did. Annie likes things neat and matching (whatever this may mean) and no random fabric would be allowed to achieve the size of quilt needed. As it turned out, I was short of fabric and it took several weeks to convince Annie that solid colour triangles cut from stash fabric would indeed be ok in this quilt.

I practiced sewing the triangles together with some calico I had stashed away to make sure I get neat corners. It is not as straight forward as with squares because some sides are on the bias and others aren't. With six fabrics meeting in some corners, the direction of sewing and pressing of the seams is important. I decided that if I sewed the first row from left to right - with the seams ironed in the same direction - the second row would need to be sewed from right to left- again with the seams ironed in the same direction. This would mean that the seams of each consecutive row are pressed in opposite directions, avoiding bulk where six fabrics meet.

I spent a nice Saturday afternoon arranging the triangles on the floor. It is good to have a enough floor space!

I stitched the first two rows together and found that despite careful cutting and sewing (using a 1/4 inch seam foot), some of the corners were misaligned. I did of course forget the above and stitched both rows from left to right... which made it difficult to sew across the bulk where seams met. No surprise then that the corners don't meet! I am so easily distracted. To fix this, I had to unpick the two rows, do some inventive pressing and then ease the fabrics into place a little. It is still not perfect but satisfactory.  Lesson learned: I mustn't rush or else the corners won't match. Ah well, the slow and steady shall conquer the world. The remaining rows posed no further problems. The top is all sewn, I am now waiting for Annie to decide what backing fabric she wants. It is not going to be a fancy one, of that I am sure.

I will also need to talk quilting with Annie. She wants me to machine quilt, I want to hand quilt. Apparently, hand quilting is not neat enough... I am bracing myself for a few weeks of tough negotiations!

In other sewing related news, I have a t-shirt on the go and have just cut out fabric for a summer dress. It is all very exiting! Have you got any exiting projects you would like to share with me?

Enjoy your weekend when it comes! xx

Comments

  1. I am very impressed. I have trouble matching squares, never mind triangles. Hope you resolve the stitching issue:). I have a pile of seat cushions waiting to recover. I have been putting it off because of the dodgy wrist but it's time I got going. B x

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  2. Can't imagine getting 6 corners to match, getting 4 together strains me.

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  3. Hope you have good negotiation skills, I have a feeling you are going to need them. The top is looking beautiful, I love the choice of fabrics. Storage bags are on top of the to do list now.

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  4. What a fabulous quilt that's going to be. I love the colors and fabrics, so girly but also cool and interesting. I've never pieced that shape before, it looks challenging. But I know you can do it, quilty lady! :)

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  5. My knitting now resides on the top shelf. The puppy has worked out that he can jump onto the sofa. I may never sew anything ever again. Annie's quilt looks lovely, I really like her choice of colours. And the unicorns, brilliant. I do have a bit of a longing to sew something. No quilt on the go at the moment. The littlest boy has one less than the others, so it should probably be his turn next. No doubt that would involve dogs. Your quilt has got me thinking... CJ xx

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  6. Annie's quilt looks beautiful and I'm impressed with your triangle corner matching because I am abysmal at corner matching. I've nothing terribly exciting on the go... Although several half finished projects. But you have reminded me that I bought fabrics to make aquilt last year and have forgotten about them. I can't remember if I prewashed them!

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  7. The fabrics are fabulous and I think it really needs the solid colours but then I am not Annie! Gosh, Good Luck with the further negotiations - I always manage to totally cock up machine quilting. Jo xx

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  8. The quilt is going to be amazing, I love the fabrics and how it all looks so far. Good luck with the negotiations.

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  9. I'm not a sewer so all this corner matching and seam pressing sounds very complicated to me but I'm sure you'll work it all out. The fabric is so pretty, it's going to be a gorgeous quilt.

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  10. I think the solid blocks interspersed with the print blocks is perfect. It actually lets your eye settle on the print blocks more. My sewing is currently at a a standstill, and has been since I got my serger at the end of April. I'm still afraid of it, but don't want to move on with a new project until I figure it out. I am also a master of procrastination. :-)

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  11. I so admire your quilt you're making. I don't think I'm a quilter at heart. But I love them. I'm back from my trip to the mountains and the coast.. will blog tomorrow. ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  12. Such pretty fabrics... look forward to seeing the finished result. And thanks for visiting my little blog.

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  13. I absolutely love the play colour and pattern, and that triangular arrangements is fabulous. Very striking, traditional but modern. Oh I must make a quilt!!

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  14. Cutting material is high on my procrastination list! Thanks for describing your creative process. I still do not understand the whys and wherefores for the direction to press seams and dread having to study out when the time comes, but you give me courage with your lovely brave work! xx

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  15. I love the fabric combination on this quilt and you are very brave for choosing triangles. My mum passed a collection of 70s fabrics for me to try making my first quilt, but I'll definitely stick to the squares if I ever get around to starting. I think I would prefer hand quilting too. x

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Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment, I love to hear from you, I really do. I sometimes reply by email but I am not all that reliable... Christina xx

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