My brother and his wife are having a baby girl – she’s due in about a month. I’m so excited to have a niece! We threw a small shower yesterday here in Nelson for Jayce, my sister-in-law. Part of my gift was this crib-sized quilt. It’s my first attempt at a quilt so I kept it pretty simple. The backing is just a soft, pink flannelette and you will probably recognize the Amy Butler fabric I used for the top and binding. I wanted a fairly bold pattern so I could stitch around the lines. It worked out quite well. In the beginning, I was trying to decided if I should hand-stitch around the flowers and leaves or machine sew a grid of some sort. This tutorial from Purl Bee helped me to decide on hand-sewing, and gave some really great tips.
One of the most valuable things I learned was the quilter’s knot, as seen in this tutorial by Heather Bailey. How did I not know about this? This tutorial (also by Heather) really helped me with the binding.
If I ever make another quilt, I think I will try to do something like this gorgeous one on Flickr. Do you quilt?
Beginner’s Quilting
7 responses to “Beginner’s Quilting”
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I made my first quilt, a napping sized one, for my nephew. I finished it in time for his first Christmas, which was 2 months after he was born, and while it took me 9 month to make, I loved it. I have started another one, which has been on hold for about 9 months now, and I really need to get back to it!
I love yours! I don’t “quilt” but I’ve been working on one for a while, and I realized I’m not so great at teeny tiny measurements. Oops!
So I love this idea, of one single patterned piece, and quilting around the design. I’ve thought about it, and a baby quilt is the perfect time to start. The flickr quilt is great too, don’t need to worry about straight even lines while doing the actual “quilting” portion.
I say I create a new quilting style: Haphazard.
I quilt some, mostly all by hand. I tend to not finish quilts (or other sewing projects) though. I don’t have a good place to have the machine out for long periods, and most of the craft stuff I do is while I am on the bus.
Looks fantastic! I love what you did with it! That’s a great idea to use a larger pattern and then stitch around it!
I just finished my first quilt too. It’s crib size. Come take a peek:
http://www.luvinthemommyhood.com/2009/07/first-quilt-is-finally-and-i-mean.html
And just picked up my next batch of fabric to start another one – larger & scarier, but you inspired me to give the hand stitching a shot
Thanks for sharing.
I love your first quilt so much I linked to it at Craft Gossip – Quilting.
http://quilting.craftgossip.com/ta-dah-first-quilt-for-a-niece/2009/08/06/
Scarlett Burroughs
Quilting Editor, Craft Gossip
the NY TIMES! radNess! a couple days and WOWZA you accomplisher, you. you are Nspiring
as in Nelson, BC?