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Wednesday 22 February 2012

The Process Pledge

I, __Cheraldine_, pledge to talk more about my processes, even when I can’t quite put them in the in words or be sure I’m being totally clear.   I’m going to put my thinking and my gut feelings out there.  


With that said I grabbed my camera and took pictures off my-Mine all Mine- quilt process This is my largest quilting project as you may have seen I've started 2 baby quilts...wadding still hasn't been dispatched =(


It all started with the fabrics I had them in a box hidden away for my eyes only. I couldn't think what kind of quilt I wanted to make with them until I saw this tutorial. It got my brain working. I didn't want to make it exactly like that, but something similar. 

Whilst sitting at my desk at work on Monday my brain got ticking and the idea for how I wanted my quilt to look popped into my head. I grabbed my pen and those small post it notes and jotted down various calculations, sketches and numbers.

When I got home I stuck all the post its to a sheet of paper along with some other info on the fabrics I would use. Above is a rough sketch of how the quilt would look. I already cut the fabrics into 5" squares then in half to make 2.5 x 5" strips

I laid out the strips on my cutting mat for ease of access picking them out randomly from a bag. I paired them together and began sewing the rows 26 strips in each one!!

As I couldn't be bothered to get up to use the iron to press like 91 pairs I used the flat edge of my rotary cutter, which surprisingly worked and saved me the hassle of switching on the iron.

Disaster struck as my bobbin ran out which meant I had to re spin it. Only when I did thread some how got tangled up in my machine!!



It took 3 pairs of scissors and my thread unpicker to get the thread out.

But it made all the difference...though it took me a good hour to remove it all. A whole hour taken away from precious sewing time!!

The final row being pieced together, before getting up to go and iron 7 rows worth of seams. 

I pressed all my seams to the right hand side then put each one over the banister in the passage.

Again it took a good hour to re-order the rows as so many of the strips kept matching up to the one next to it. I wanted to throw myself over the banister by this time. Instead I took a deep breath and carried on switching and changing the order until only a few matched up.

Adding in the sashing. I pressed it flat, which worked well and spread the strips out better when I flipped it over. In my note book I would put 1 down 5 or 6 to go. 

After ironing and cutting away all the stray threads my quilt top was finally done. I started on Monday and finished the top today. The backing has been chosen-some striped black fabric. I have a strip to make with the left over fabric to break up the black.

So there you have it the process, well some of it, the rest will go into a tutorial, of how I made my quilt top =D

6 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thanks for the comment. It's not finished yet though =D

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  2. Oh, I really like it, especially that heart fabric. I feel for you, too...isn't it unbelievable that after all that random piecing and the paper bag and all, some pieces still ended up next to each other??? I made a stacked coins quilt for my daughter and the same thing...7 rows of coins and still a few pieces matched up. Luckily after the sashing, no one will notice! Your quilt top is very pretty!

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    1. Ha. Nearly all the echo prints kept matching up. I had to keep swapping and turning the rows upside down. Eventually I just thought ahh I can't be bothered. Lucky they don't match exactly after the sashing was added in, though you still notice from the picture.

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  3. beautiful quilt! thanks for sharing a look into your process :)

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    Replies
    1. I took the pledge and now have to honor it...what was I thinking =D

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