Polka Dot Binding

This project has been on hold for a while. I last blogged about it in fall while preparing the border nine patches.

I got the quilt all sewn together and basted over Christmas break and it's sat ever since. Traditionally there is a waiting period between basting and quilting that depends on the quilt size. A very small quilt I'll baste and quilt the same day. A rather large quilt is allowed to sit for up to a year. It can sometimes take that much time to get up the nerve to start quilting.

This quilt is about 48 x 48 inches so 5 - 6 months was the perfect amount of time. And, there's nothing like a long weekend to make me want to tackle something.

While working on the quilt I decided it needed a black binding. This was going to be my "make do" quilt done with supplies on hand. So, I rummaged for black and white fabric that I knew I had. When I found it I discovered I didn't have as much as I thought - not nearly enough to bind the quilt. So, it was off to the quilt store where I found the perfect black and white polka dots.

Now all I need to do is hand sew down the binding. That will be my evening job until it's done.

Comments

It's about time - the big reveal

My bright quilt was finished in June but I wanted to wait until both were done before sharing the pictures. Quilting the blue quilt didn't take long but finishing the binding sure did. I did procrastinate a bit as it was too warm to have a huge quilt on my lap for most of the summer. After this, I'll probably do all the binding on my sewing machine (and stick to smaller quilts). Notice the cut-out corners? That was a challenge. I found instructions here and it looked easy enough but I wished I had practiced some. After a lot of finessing I finally got good miters but I could have done much better. The cut-out corners allow the quilt to hang nicely over the edges of the mattress and it's a perfect match for a full sized mattress. But, the top edge isn't even close to the pillows. I wonder how the quilt fit on the bed it was made for. Here, at last, is the original quilt that I was copying. I just noticed - all of the baskets are

The last 2 blocks and the tops are done!

I needed 2 more blocks to finish the gray version of the quilt. I ended up making simple 9 patch/half square triangle blocks. One is the yellow block in the lower left. Here it is closer up. When I made the half square triangles I had the red fabric going the wrong way so you are seeing the backside of the fabric. So the red in the triangles is a little lighter than the red in the center. It wasn't worth redoing. The other corner has a blue block and I managed to get the front of all the fabrics showing. So, here's what it looks like almost complete. And here's the blue version of the quilt. I've got the backing and the batting for the gray quilt (the backing is in the washer now) and I'm working on the thread to use for quilting and how to quilt it. They are too big for me to free-motion quilt. I don't have the space. As it is, quilting with the walking foot will be a challenge. These tops deserve so

Basted

A few weeks ago I was at the Local Quilt store basting my bright sampler. It's been ready to go for a while. I've been working on a baby quilt and it's now done. It's been a while since I've quilted so I'm glad I had a quilt to warm up on. Next I need to pull a folding table out of the garage and re-arrange my quilting space. This quilt will have a lot more drag than the baby quilt. I've also been looking at pictures of similar quilts looking for quilting pattern inspiration. I'm thinking of taking the easy way out and u se wavy lines like this quilt . I should start quilting next weekend!

Erica's Stitches

Search This Blog