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?
About
Britt McMaster is addicted to cucumbers. She and her husband, Ryan, live and work in a tiny apartment in downtown Vancouver, BC. Both Ryan and Britt love to write lists of all their ideas on action sheets, and they have pages and pages. They write especially quickly after they've each had a dry cappuccino or two. Most of those fanciful ideas will stay on paper, but Cucumbersome is Britt's platform to try some out.
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- Anthro's new window displays are so beautiful - heaps of flowers made from plastic bottles. http://bit.ly/dgTiAM
- Searching for short-ish black rain boots with big gold buttons on the side... know who posted them? Vancouver is ever so rainy.
- @pompomkaren LOL! I think I might have just what you're looking for! http://ow.ly/N8m7
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?