The sweet baby quilt - it is finally nice enough outdoors for a photo! |
The baby quilt with the scalloped edges is done. After completeing the top, and putting together a back, it was time to pin the scrap baby quilt. This is my least favorite part of quiltmaking - as you can see, my space is a bit cramped. I only use this space for small quilts. When I have to pin a larger quilt, I move the table up to a more spacious spot.
Luckily, the cutting table is on wheels, so I can roll it around to squeeze by the washer and dryer. |
The top laid out, ready to pin before quilting. |
Once pinned, I decided on loopy free-motion quilting in the center panel, which I find an easy stitch to do. I like to use Warm and Natural batting, and prewash my fabrics, so when the quilt is done and washed and dried, there is a wonderful texture to the finished quilt, and the quilting mistakes are not readily visible!
A close up of the loopy quilting before washing. |
I also tried two new techniques on this quilt. First, a scalloped edge. Using instructions in a recent Fons & Porter article, I made a template for the scalloped edges. I used the kraft paper from the batting. Next time, I'll make more defined scallops. These turned out a little too subtle for my taste.
The kraft paper template for the scalloped edge. I pressed the paper before I traced it onto the quilt. |
I am fascinated by Hawaiian quilts, but have never tried one, so I decided to try echo quilting the border. This turned out to be very difficult for me -- I was unable to stitch in a straight line, or keep my "echos" a consistent distance apart.
The pretty awful echo quilting! |
Despite these flaws, the final quilt looks pretty adorable. I wish I had a bit more of the "scallop" on the edge, but overall, I am very happy with how this turned out.A close up of the final quilting after washing. The curvy lines don't look as bad as I feared. |
The full front of the quilt. |
The back of the quilt. |
In the end, this turned out to be a sweet little quilt.
What's next? I have several projects underway. I am getting those flying geese sewn together, and will be getting some large quilt tops ready for quilting. (No echo quilting!)
I also resurrected the center panel I made years ago (I think in 2007) from a Jane Sassaman Free Spirit fabric line, using a drunkard's path template and trying my hand at curved piecing. Once I put the blocks with the sashing, it languished. Today I got it out, and pressed it, and need to decide whether to redo some seams to make it lay a bit flatter, and then, what to do for a border. A narrow pink, and then a wide black border? A soft pink? A bright pink? A narrow black border with a wide pink? No border? I have quite a bit to mull over before this one is done. I'll keep you posted.
The partly completed quilt top. |
A closer look at the fabric |
Take care,
Gretchen
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