Sam's moving out quilt









I finished Sam's moving out quilt. He moved out in September, sooner than expected but here we are, I finished in perfect time for his birthday next week. He was a such cute baby with a perfectly round bald head and sticky out ears. Now he is a handsome young, no longer bald and his ears are just right.

This quilt must be the largest I have made so far. I haven't measured it but it I calculated the width at 191 cm. It is also the least colourful quilt I have made and I have to be honest, I struggled with the lack of vibrant colours. I chose the fabric myself but followed Sam's brief, which was essentially "something black and grey." I took the liberty to add whites and suggested a splash of colour to lighten things up a bit.

I had to buy all the fabric because there is just not enough blacks and whites and grey on my shelves. The fabric range I chose was Tattooed North by Andover. It fit the brief quite well and seemed so much easier than choosing various shades of black, trying to make it work. I bought a whole fat quarter bundle and to my delight it contained one curry yellow fabric, which Sam liked.

I was inspired by a quilt I'd seen in Quilt Love by Cassandra Ellis, the Joining Together Quilt. I cut each fat quarter into two equal strips. Then I cut those into pieces of various length, some as little as 3 cm, others nearer 10 cm. Then I threw the whole lot on the floor and mixed the stripes up. It seemed easiest that way. If I remember correctly, there were 25 different fabrics in that bundle and I wanted them to be well mixed up. I kept the messy tangle of fabric strips in a large shopper next to my sewing machine. The sewing was quick once I started, adding one strip to another until the column was about the right length.  The only rule I set myself was that I didn't want two identical fabrics in sequence and that I wanted at least one yellow block in each of the columns. The final step was sewing the columns together.

I chose a dark grey Ikea flat sheet for backing but I thought this was a bit boring. Also, I really didn't fancy holding on to the remaining building blocks so I sewed those together and used them to break up the grey in the back. I had run out of some of the fabrics, which probably says something about my fabric selection process for the quilt top.

I sandwiched and pinned this quilt on my kitchen table. I was quite an undertaking and not an experience I enjoyed but I didn't want to spend two hours on my knees either. I machine quilted straight diagonal lines all across the quilt  I used a variegated greyish thread for this.

The most difficult part of making this quilt is cutting it to an even length! I did this after the quilting so that the fabric wouldn't shift.

I wanted to use a yellow for the binding. I have lots of yellow fabrics but not one that matched the mustardy yellow in the quilt top, which annoyed me a lot. In the end, I bought half a metre of the yellow from the Tattooed North range.

Sam loves the quilt, which makes me happy. We went clothes shopping together today, it was a most enjoyable few hours. Sam took me for a coffee at Whittard's, a place he loves for the good coffee and friendly service. Funny that, I didn't think Whittard's is a place that almost 19 year old young men frequently visit.

I am not sure what I'll sew next. I am thinking of a sequinned top for a bit of a change.

Thanks for visiting, it is lovely to see you here xx



fabric and made binding from this.

Comments

  1. I love this. Would you mind if I copied your design to make one for myself please? ... with girlie colours, obviously!

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    1. Of course you can. I am trying to remember where I got my inspiration from, maybe in one of my books, or online... Will add this to my post once I remember. It has been a long time :-)

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  2. Oh it's wonderful, nicely done you. I made a double bed sized quilt in a very similar design, with black, white and purple. Finished it ages ago, still haven't photographed it. A sequinned top will be fab, I shall look forward to seeing that. Just in time for the festive season I think. Hope you have a good week. CJ xx

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  3. I love all your quilts and I can see why Sam would love his. I’ve still to finish my M in Laws. Now realise I should have done quilting stitches before the binding grrrr! Have a lovely week. B x

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  4. Oh Christina, it's gorgeous! The zingy mustard really pops against the grey and black. Sam is a very lucky young man to have a mum who can make something so beautiful for him. Best, Jane x

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  5. A beautiful but bittersweet quilt for sure. With Sam moving out, I am sure that makes you sad but knowing that beautiful quilt will keep him warm is lovely. It is like getting a supersized hug from his Mom every time he uses it.

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  6. Sam's quilt is gorgeous - I love the pops of curry yellow. Lovely to know that you will be looking after him and keeping him cosy, even though he is away from home. xx

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  7. It is wonderful. I think the mustard really works with it well. My daughter is mad about Navy blue so I put mustard in her quilted bed runner for a bit of a mix up. My only rules for quilting are usually anything goes except two fabrics the same next to each other - any other planning would drive me crazy! Jo xxx

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  8. Bravo! A magnificent quilt for your beloved son! It's very avant-garde in design. "new and unusual or experimental ideas, especially in the arts, or the people introducing them."

    ((hugs)), Teresa :-)

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  9. That’s a beautiful quilt. I think adding yellow really brightened it.

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  10. This is a wonderful and very large quilt, Christina, and how nice that Sam really likes it as well. Also nice that you too went out for coffee together. Birthday wishes to Sam.

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  11. You lose me in the details, but I get that he likes it and that you like that. :)

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  12. it's stunning. I'm wondering when 1-2 of mine will leave - i need a room for my teaching supplies.......

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  13. The quilt is fantastic Christina. Black and white would not have been my color palette of choice either, but you did a fantastic job with it - the pops of yellow gold add just enough. As I have said before, your children are lucky to have such a creative and crafty Mom!

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  14. The quilt turned out fantastic.. he is going to love it!

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  15. Wow you made this> Very impressive! And love the colorway.

    Allie of
    www.allienyc.com

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  16. What a fabulous quilt, what a lucky young man. I am glad that he likes it. I love the colour combination although get that it would not be to everyones taste, the most important thing is that Sam likes it, I hope it brings him years of warmth.

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  17. This looks amazing, I really like the colours.

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  18. It might not be your first choice of colours Christina but is is very striking and sophisticated looking. And very suitable for a young man!

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  19. What a brilliant quilt! The colours look so good together and I bet it will go really well with everything. 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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