Jane's Quilt

Remember me wittering on in this blog post about wanting to make a quilt for myself? Well I finally found time to make one, and this one's all mine!

I actually finished the quilt top a good few weeks ago, but then Christmas came along and scuppered all my plans. It would probably still be languishing in my sewing pile if temperatures in the UK hadn't started plummeting and galvanised me into action. All I could think about was how cosy I'd be if I had a lovely handmade quilt to wrap myself in whilst watching Silent Witness. So the past week has been quilt week! 

The colours for my quilt were chosen to complement my bedroom walls and chair and comprised various shades of grey, mustard and turquoise. The quilt design is an Easy Bricks pattern by Amy Smart. I was hoping it would be idiot-proof and I wasn't disappointed. The squares and rectangles are a manageable size (I'm far too impatient to be cutting thousands of teeny, tiny pieces), which made it really straight forward to sew up. 

The quilt back is just a simple flat sheet which I bought for £12 - my finished quilt is 63" x 84" and a double flat sheet was plenty big enough. It's also much more economical if you're on a budget - initially I had my eye on some extra-wide fabric which would have cost me £40, but I couldn't really justify the cost. The pale duck-egg colour of the flat sheet blends in perfectly with the patchwork front, so I'm happy I went for the budget option. 

My least favourite part of making a quilt is safety-pinning the layers together - it just seems to take forever. I'm lucky in that I have a very large back room with lots of floor space, so I can actually tape it to the floor to pin it, but still, crawling around on my hands and knees for hours is not my idea of fun. On the plus side it does warm you up, I was boiling by the time I'd finished! I like the sleek look of a patchwork top before it's quilted, but I still prefer the puffy, springy appearance it takes on afterwards.

Pinned and ready to be quilted - doesn't it look sleek?!

After pinning, it took me two long sessions at the sewing machine to quilt it. I brought my sewing machine downstairs and quilted it at the kitchen table, which gave me acres of space. It's only now, working on my fourth quilt, that I realise quilting downstairs is a far more comfortable and spacious option than trying to quilt at my tiny sewing table in the loft. Hindsight is a wonderful thing eh?!

I decided to make my own binding after the wonderful Maryanne (Mrs C) sent me an excellent link on how to bind your own quilt. It takes you through all the steps, from cutting your own binding through to hand stitching it into position (I skipped that bit and machined mine instead!) The colours of my quilt are quite muted so I picked one of the brighter turquoise shades (Adventure Springs from M is of Make) for the binding, which I think frames it nicely.

All the quilts I've made have been photographed on my bed, simply because my bedroom is the lightest room in the house. None of them actually belonged there though….apart from this one! I love this quilt. I love the colours, the patterns in the fabrics, the stitches and the binding. I love how heavy it is and that I can totally wrap myself up in it. This one isn't going anywhere! x

Somebody decided to road test it on the sofa!...

Quilt plans

Despite having made three quilts (here, here and here), I still haven't exactly been bitten by the quilting bug. All three quilts were gifts for family members, so maybe it's because I'm always one step removed from the finished product? I'm not sure. Whatever the reasons, I've decided to give quilt making another go, but this time, the quilt will be for ME!  Call me an old lady, but I like nothing better than to be wrapped in a blanket whilst watching TV or reading on the sofa. The blanket I currently use is a ratty old fleece specimen, so a replacement in the form of a quilt is long overdue. It can serve double duty by brightening up the end of my bed during the day too. 

Colour-wise, I've been inspired by this beautiful baby quilt by Crafty Blossom. 

A Quilt for Harry by Crafty Blossom

Mustard and grey are two colours that crop up quite a lot in my bedroom furnishings. They feature in this print by Eloise Renouf...

...and in the fabric that covers this chair

My bedroom walls are painted cream and green/blue so I'll be picking out both of these colours too. The fabrics I've chosen are all from M is for Make, with the exception of the Hemingway grid print (RHS in the second picture) which is left over from my 1950's shoulder tie dress. 

As I'm a beginner, my previous quilts have all used the simplest of designs. So this time round, instead of using all squares, I'm going to be using…. rectangles and squares, talk about edgy! For the design, I'll be using the Strawberry Fields Bricks Pattern by Amy Smart for Moda, which seems relatively idiot proof. And because I can't bear the thought of cutting up countless plain, cream squares for the lighter accents, I'll use these pre-cut squares. It may not be strictly ballroom, but do I care? Nope. 

I'm making slow progress so far. I've almost cut out all of the rectangles and I'm hoping I'll soon be able to play with the patchwork pieces on the floor to make a pattern, which is probably my favourite bit! If I get my finger out, I may get this finished by Christmas, as long as there aren't too many party dresses clamouring for my attention in the meantime. The fact that I've outlined my plans on the blog will certainly give me a bit of a kick up the arse anyway.  Anybody else have any mad quilt plans? x