I have tons of random fat quarter bundles, jelly rolls, and layered cakes. I get them when I see them on sale, or when I have a coupon, or if I am super lucky I get them from family or friends for free. This one I believe someone gave me. I have had it for years, I think. I know a mommy-to-be and wanted to make something personal for her and her soon to be born son. I came up with the design by taking a few different quilt ideas online and combining them. This bundle was 7 fat quarters. Two were the exact same fat quarter, so I really had a half a yard of one and 5 other fat quarters.
I wanted to do strips, but the size I wanted to do, I couldn't do with the fat quarters. So instead, I did a few strips (pieced together), a few blocks (quick), and a few small different direction strips/bigger blocks. Its a baby crib size, so when it was all done it was about 30 x 50.
I started by drawing out what I wanted to do with the fabric. Making measurement marks on the paper; what they needed to be cut at and what they would (hopefully) be when I was done sewing them together. I always measure, cut, or sew something wrong; so I tend to add an inch or half inch here and there for safety.
Once I have the design on paper, I cut. I began by cutting the longest pieces and widest pieces, then I move on to the smaller pieces. If I don't have enough of one material, I use a different one. I then use my design wall to move items around and change the design if needed. Which I had to do, as I did not have enough of one material, so I made two long blocks instead of one.
 |
| This is the design on my wall. You can see nothing is sewn together. |
Once I move the pieces around and decide on a top that I love or like, I then begin to sew. With this one I went in sections. The bottom section, middle section, and top section. The three long strips in the middle is the middle section. The top and bottom section are above and below those. Does that help?
Moving on, I then piece the long blocks, to the small blocks. Then sew the three long strips together, and then add it to the bottom section.
 |
| Bottom and middle section done. |
I move onto the top section. Finished that, trimmed everything up and made it as rectangular as I could.
 |
| Top is done. |
I then decided on a dark blue for the back, in flannel. I wanted it to be soft, but I am also working on a budget. I had navy blue flannel on hand and it actually looks great with the other fabrics. I then cut the blue flannel about an inch larger then the top on all sides. I did the same with the batting as well. I layered all three on top of each other, and then pinned it down with safety pins. Lots of safety pins.
 |
| Pinned and ready to quilt. |
Once I decided I wanted to hand quilt this baby blanket and not machine quilt it, I then grabbed 3 different embroidery floss colors. Each color matched the quilt. One was a light yellow, baby pastel blue, and a white. I then stitched just a simple straight stitch around blocks, and straight across the quilt.
 |
| The top, hand quilted up close. |
 |
| The back, hand quilted up close. |
I then used the same color for the binding as I did the back. This helped pull the back color to the front and tie everything together. The finished baby quilt was better then I had in mind. I was unsure of the quilt in the beginning, but after I put the finished touches on it, I love it!
 |
| Folded up and showing off the hand quilted and hand stitched binding! |
 |
| I love the back. The hand sewn quilting is just so much fun. |
 |
| The front fabrics with the back fabric. |
 |
| The completed front of the quilt. |
This by far has been one of the fastest quilts I have done in awhile, on top of that, I hand quilted it! Its so exciting. I can't tell you how thrilled, energized, and excited I am that I hand quilted something. Its like a drug for me right now. I am still excited about this project.
Happy Hand Quilting,
Sarah
