I have got this burgeoning passion to work with vintage textiles, incorporating them into contemporary quilt work. For Noah's quilt I dipped into my Ebay bin of old blocks, tweaked a few of them, assembled them with some old jellyroll Moda sashing, some plaid cotton upholstery samples, and a few quilters cottons that I had on hand....seriously, this went together F-A-S-T, especially as I quilted it on the HandiQuilter Sweet 16 and machine sewed a ribbon binding on it. 4 days was all it took, with time off for baseball too!
Another block had its center taken out (you can see it on the left), with some vintage feedsack cotton swapped in place, so that I had a place to put the name.
These letters have fusible web on the back. I've learned the hard way to always always always use a ruler to line them up before ironing them down.
And here are the blocks, ready to be sashed and bordered!
You can see, this will be quick....
Sashings and borders on, piece of cake!
Then I used a tip I learned in Cindy Needham's Craftsy class, "Design It, Quilt It".
Maybe you all know this but I didn't: tape the quilt back to the table nice and taut before layering it with batting and top to pin baste. What a difference this made! You can see the tape in the upper left corner.
I enjoy making an all over fan quilt design, freehand, no marking. Easy peasy, and really fun.
A plaid taffeta ribbon made binding the quilt a snap. What you see here is one of the corners from the back.
One line of zig zag stitch, carefully making sure that the front and back binding edges were sewn down, and it was a done deal.
I didn't want to make a big ol' label but thought a little inscription for the record would be better for this baby quilt. I used a Pentel Gel Roller for Fabric pen.
And here is Noah's quilt, ready for delivery...
It is 46" X 48".
Hooray for Noah!
How wonderful Allie. It looks so BOY. You are getting to be quite the whiz bang on that Sweet 16. How lucky to have a new nephew to love. And he has a new blankie to fall in love with as well. xoxo
ReplyDeleteOh, Man -- this really puts MY baby quilts to shame! I LOVE how you've combined old and new with this quilt. What a lucky baby!
ReplyDeleteI have tried taping down my backing when I layer and baste, but I seem to have issues with pleats and puckers on the back side no matter what I do. One theory is that I may be pulling the backing TOO tight when I tape it down, stretching it or something? Who knows.
Question about the Sweet 16 -- Is it just like a stationary domestic straight stitch machine with a huge throat area, or is it more like a long arm that I see at the quilt shows, on a frame, that you operate with handles standing up?
Also, the ribbon binding looks fabulous, but how on Earth did you sew it down in one pass and have the zigzag stitch placed so precisely on the front and back of the quilt? Did you use some kind of binder attachment, or did you pin it or glue baste it or use some other stitch trickery?
Rebecca, maybe your backing was too tight!
ReplyDeleteThe Sweet 16 is a stationary domestic with a huge throat area, exactly as you described. Also called a "sit down" machine; don't have to stand to guide those handles.
The plaid in the ribbon really helped me line it up as I sewed it on, making tiny adjustments as I went. And this was after I carefully ironed it in half along its lenght. Lots of pins helped too--there was no other technique. I have to admit, this is the best it's ever turned out for me, and I've tried it lots of times!
It turned out so nice. I like using the old with the new too.
ReplyDeleteI've done it a few times.
Glad to know you got the box too. I can't wait to see where you go with it! It's a perfect fit for you!
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