Nursery Project #5

I am very proud of myself for not procrastinating this project; I tend to start quilts and not finish them for (sometimes) years.  I'm not 100% done but I've gotten the majority of the work finished, I just have to spend another hour or so doing the quilting.

I agonized over the pattern for weeks, looking at patterns online and in several of the books I have.  I seesawed between a couple of different patterns and finally just began cutting out the blocks.  Saturday I decided to do the same pattern that my grandma did on my wedding quilt and I love it.  It was a lot easier than all the other patterns (which has helped with the time factor) and I really like the way the different fabrics show up throughout the quilt.

Decorative edge stitch

From the back of the quilt

Almost done!

If you're interested in how I did it, here's a brief overview:

Fabric:  1/8 yard of 8 different fabrics for top
             1/4 yard for border strips (not a fat quarter, you want it the width of the fabric)
             1 yard backing fabric
             1 yard flannel/old sheet for batting

I cut 8 different fabrics into 5" blocks--I cut 8 of each fabric but afterwards decided to only use 56 because I wanted a rectangle and because then I wouldn't have to piece the back.  It was 8 blocks long, 7 blocks wide and I used the leftover squares (plus 1 more that I cut) in the pillow from yesterday.

I laid out the first row with one block of each fabric, then started the next row with the last block used and repeated the pattern for the row.  The third row started with the last block used in the second row and so on.

I sewed each row together, then attached the rows to each other.  I'm normally not big on pinning and ironing but it really helped with lining up the blocks.  I made sure to iron the seams in opposite directions for each row.  For example, I ironed the first row to the left and the second to the right then pinned at the the intersection of the blocks.  It took more time but like I said, was really helpful.

For the border I used four strips 2" wide by the width of the fabric, which worked out perfectly.  I attached them to the long sides first, then the shorter ends.

For the batting I used an old jersey sheet cut to size and pinned it to the wrong side of the quilt top.  I didn't want a really heavy, puffy quilt because I don't feel comfortable using them with babies.  The sheet gives it just enough weight for warmth but without being overwhelming.

I cut an old jersey sheet to size for the batting and pinned it to the right side of the quilt top.  Then I sewed around the edges, leaving a hole for turning the whole thing inside out.  I hand stitched that close and now I'm in the process of quilting around the edges.

Finished size is 38.5" x 42"