quilting, quilting, quilting......I don't know what to think about it anymore. I really enjoyed quilting when I first started (maybe because of the newness of it all), but now that I'm really into apparel sewing, quilting has kinda lost its luster. That's not to mean that I don't want to do it ever, but man oh man, there is so much repetition in quilting and it really takes A LOT of patience.
Anyway, onto the quilt. You may not believe it after what I just said, but I really did want to make this quilt and I am so glad I did. This quilt is for a very good friend of mine from high school. High School! ....that was so long ago! When I found out earlier in the year she was expecting her first child, I immediately knew I wanted to make her a quilt. Then I found out she was having a boy and I was able to start shopping for fabric, probably THE BEST part of quilting! And seriously, there are some ridiculously cute fabrics out there.
I subscribe to Sew Modern's email newsletter and as soon as I saw the white New York City fabric I knew it was going to be the backing. My friend and her husband lived in New York together for years before recently relocating outside the US. Even though this quilt is technically for the baby, I thought my friend would appreciate the nod to NYC. I considered doing some embroidering along the building outlines, but I was worried it would look weird. {ok, I'll be completely honest. I was also running out of time to finish the quilt and was concerned about how long the embroidery would take.}
While I knew what the backing would be, I had no idea what I would select for the front of the quilt. I walked around Sew Modern looking at every single bolt of fabric until I saw a quilt hanging in the store with a rocket theme fabric and instantly knew I had to have it! The fabric would probably play a bit better on a larger scale (which it did on that sample quilt), but I kinda like being able to read and see bits and pieces of it all over the quilt.
I had a difficult time selecting what quilt block to make. While I really like the "plus" design I made last year, I didn't want to make it a second time. {I also realized this is the third baby boy quilt I've made. My friends need to start having girls.} After looking through the archives of some of the quilters I totally admire, I ended up being inspired by Rita's (of Red Pepper Quilts) Ohio Star quilt, which uses the hourglass block with a plain square. I used her tutorial for making the hourglass blocks and changed the sizes to accommodate the finished quilt size I wanted to make {36"x42"}. The finished blocks and plain squares in this quilt are 3"x3".
I kept things simple {and easy} by only quilting in a simple grid. I didn't want anything to distract from the city print in the backing so I used white thread in the bobbin and navy for the top. I made the binding on the cross-grain using this tutorial.
I have always made bias binding, but after reading a couple arguments for cross-grain binding, I decided to give it a try. And then I machine-sewed the binding on by stitching in the ditch. I think this method will provide a more secure binding than if I hand-sewed the binding on {oh and it was easy and quick}.
After procrastinating for over 4 months, I rushed through this quilt in a couple weekends. I think in order for me to really enjoy quilting, I need to not rush myself. Seems pretty obvious, huh? I had a lot of fun learning how to make hourglass blocks, which is something I had wanted to make for awhile, probably for a year or two.
Here are the details in case you're interested. I bought most of the fabric in Spring 2014, so it's possible some of it isn't available anymore or has limited availability. Instead of linking to a specific online store, I included the designer's website and the full name of the collection and print so you can search for it and buy from your preferred vendor.
Fabrics
Timeless Treasures - Great Gotham Cityscape
Riley Blake - Rocket Age - Captain
Riley Blake - Rocket Age - Ads
Sarah Johnston - Mod Geek - Molecular Impossibility
(I didn't realize until I was searching online for the proper names of the fabric collections and designers, that this particular print was part of Sarah's winning collection for the Spoonflower/Fabric8 Geek Chic Challenge)
Andie Hanna - Fox and the Houndstooth - Dashing Bowties
Kona Navy Solid
Geometric Print (bought at Jo-Anns)
Anyway, onto the quilt. You may not believe it after what I just said, but I really did want to make this quilt and I am so glad I did. This quilt is for a very good friend of mine from high school. High School! ....that was so long ago! When I found out earlier in the year she was expecting her first child, I immediately knew I wanted to make her a quilt. Then I found out she was having a boy and I was able to start shopping for fabric, probably THE BEST part of quilting! And seriously, there are some ridiculously cute fabrics out there.
I subscribe to Sew Modern's email newsletter and as soon as I saw the white New York City fabric I knew it was going to be the backing. My friend and her husband lived in New York together for years before recently relocating outside the US. Even though this quilt is technically for the baby, I thought my friend would appreciate the nod to NYC. I considered doing some embroidering along the building outlines, but I was worried it would look weird. {ok, I'll be completely honest. I was also running out of time to finish the quilt and was concerned about how long the embroidery would take.}
While I knew what the backing would be, I had no idea what I would select for the front of the quilt. I walked around Sew Modern looking at every single bolt of fabric until I saw a quilt hanging in the store with a rocket theme fabric and instantly knew I had to have it! The fabric would probably play a bit better on a larger scale (which it did on that sample quilt), but I kinda like being able to read and see bits and pieces of it all over the quilt.
I had a difficult time selecting what quilt block to make. While I really like the "plus" design I made last year, I didn't want to make it a second time. {I also realized this is the third baby boy quilt I've made. My friends need to start having girls.} After looking through the archives of some of the quilters I totally admire, I ended up being inspired by Rita's (of Red Pepper Quilts) Ohio Star quilt, which uses the hourglass block with a plain square. I used her tutorial for making the hourglass blocks and changed the sizes to accommodate the finished quilt size I wanted to make {36"x42"}. The finished blocks and plain squares in this quilt are 3"x3".
I kept things simple {and easy} by only quilting in a simple grid. I didn't want anything to distract from the city print in the backing so I used white thread in the bobbin and navy for the top. I made the binding on the cross-grain using this tutorial.
I have always made bias binding, but after reading a couple arguments for cross-grain binding, I decided to give it a try. And then I machine-sewed the binding on by stitching in the ditch. I think this method will provide a more secure binding than if I hand-sewed the binding on {oh and it was easy and quick}.
After procrastinating for over 4 months, I rushed through this quilt in a couple weekends. I think in order for me to really enjoy quilting, I need to not rush myself. Seems pretty obvious, huh? I had a lot of fun learning how to make hourglass blocks, which is something I had wanted to make for awhile, probably for a year or two.
Here are the details in case you're interested. I bought most of the fabric in Spring 2014, so it's possible some of it isn't available anymore or has limited availability. Instead of linking to a specific online store, I included the designer's website and the full name of the collection and print so you can search for it and buy from your preferred vendor.
Fabrics
Timeless Treasures - Great Gotham Cityscape
Riley Blake - Rocket Age - Captain
Riley Blake - Rocket Age - Ads
Sarah Johnston - Mod Geek - Molecular Impossibility
(I didn't realize until I was searching online for the proper names of the fabric collections and designers, that this particular print was part of Sarah's winning collection for the Spoonflower/Fabric8 Geek Chic Challenge)
Andie Hanna - Fox and the Houndstooth - Dashing Bowties
Kona Navy Solid
Geometric Print (bought at Jo-Anns)
Your friend must be special to get such a beautiful quilt from you! :) That baby is a lucky boy!
ReplyDeleteShe is indeed! I definitely wouldn't spend this much time on a quilt for just anybody, lol! I often wonder how people run a business selling quilts. I must not be doing something right because they always seem to take forever to make.
ReplyDelete