Yay me! I managed to finish the top and back of the quilt I’ve been working on.
Of course, there is still a lot to do. Mainly, I need to match up the back, batting and top, pin them together to get them ready for quilting, then actually do the quilting. I’m pretty sure this is the largest quilt I’ve done yet, and it’s not even a twin size quilt. It will work fine for snuggling under to watch a movie or TV show, though. I’m pretty sure he’ll love it, as he saw me working on it this afternoon and said, “That looks great, Mom!” Of course, he thinks I’m making it for someone else. Heh.
I went out today and bought a HUGE roll of batting: 90 inches wide x 25 yards long. Lucky for me it was on sale today for less than half price. That should make all the quilts I need to make this year, and maybe next year, too. And then some.
I have a lot of WIPs (Works-In-Progress) at the moment. Let’s see…
- I have one gift set done, and ready to mail for Christmas
- I have another gift ready to mail anytime (but will probably wait for Christmas)
- I have one gift set ready to bind, then it will be ready to mail for Christmas
- I have ManChild’s quilt ready to make the sandwich, quilt and bind
- I have enough fabric to make a couple of quilts for WomanChild (I couldn’t help it! I kept finding awesome fabric in colors I know she’ll adore…)
- I’m planning on making a king-size quilt for Spousal Unit (and me, of course) – I’m thinking I might send that one out for professional quilting, since it will be HUGE, and I just have a small sewing machine, and not much space for sewing
- There’s still that baby quilt that I need to finish, but it just needs batting cut for it, sandwiched, pinned, quilted and bound
- I have another project in the planning phase (yet another Christmas present) – I’m pretty sure I know what I want to do, but I just need to sort out the fabrics and final pattern
- I have plans for about 6 more Christmas presents, but need to sort out the fabrics I will use for each set (the “pattern” is done already, but each will be unique)
And if you want a peek into my studio, look here:
On the top of the piles to the left side of the table is ManChild’s quilt top (folded up and wrong side showing), with the back fabric peeking out below it to the left. The binding strip for that quilt is on the top (that small bit of blue fabric on the white card). On the right hand side is a large pile of lime green and peacock (or hummingbird) blue fabrics for WomanChild’s birthday quilt. I went way overboard on her fabrics (including a bunch of precuts), even though I already had a bunch of fabrics in those colors. I’ve decided to make a strip-pieced quilt for her, and with that assortment of fabrics, this will be lots of fun. And very bright!
There are also several more projects piled up under those fabrics, but they will just have to wait until I manage to work my way down to them. I hope I get everything done in time!
Oh, yes. That’s one of our Canine Units over on the right side. He wanted his photo on my blog, so he could be famous. Isn’t he handsome?
I must say, I love precuts! I especially love fat quarters and jelly rolls, but fat-eighths are fun, too. For the non-quilters, fat quarters are rectangles of fabric that are cut 1/2 yard (18 inches) wide, and half the width of an average size bolt of quilting fabric. Most quilting fabric comes in 42-inch width (although not always). So, a fat quarter generally measures about 18″ x 21″. Likewise, a fat eighth is 1/4 yard (9 inches) by half the width of the fabric, or 9″ x 21″. Fat quarters and fat eighths are generally a bit more flexible in what you can make with them, than the standard 1/4 yard (9″ wide) or 1/8 yard (4.5″ wide) strips. Many sewists like fat quarters and fat eighths for making bags and larger quilt blocks, or smaller quilted projects. I like them for the variety they allow in patterns and colors, without having to wait to get fabric cut at the counter.
“Jelly Rolls” are sets of 2.5-inch-wide by 42-inch-long strips of fabric that are rolled together, but you can also find strip sets under other names (I love the Bali Pops line, but Northcott has a lovely line of precut strip sets, too – if you like batiks, look for Stonehenge). Some independent quilting shops also precut their own fabric collections, and you can find a nice selection that way, as well.
There are other types of precuts, too: charm squares (5″ x5″), “layer cakes” (10″ x 10″), and even hexagons are all pretty popular with some quilters, but I still like my strips and fat quarters best. I like the strips because I enjoy making quilt blocks from strip-pieced sets (sewing several strips together along each long side, then cutting them in a variety of ways, then piecing them back together to make a new pattern). It’s quick and easy, and the finished quilts look far more complicated than they really are. The larger the strip set, the larger the blocks you can make. I’ll try to make something that demonstrates the concept in the near future. Assuming I can get a decent photo of it. Which is not easy for larger quilts.
Anyway, I guess I’d better close this for now, since I have to get up early for work tomorrow. and take the Child Units to horse camp on my way. Yeehaw!
