So yesterday I got an invitation to a baby shower for my SIL in the mail. EEK! I better get cracking on that quilt I bought fabric for awhile back. So I got to work- and voila! Quilt top in a weekend. It's 44" square (there abouts). It is actually made up of two base blocks- because I'm an idiot and sewed them wrong without realizing it. Having made 8 of one block and 4 of the other after my inital cutting, I wasn't ripping out and starting again. I just made the other 4 blocks the same as the mistake blocks.
This actually went really quickly, and I think pieced together pretty well for the most part. (There is one green square that is embarrasingly misaligned, but the rest are good enough for me. I am not a perfectionist, and sometimes I think that's good for baby quilts. A "perfect" one might be too perfect to be used. I know the last quilt I made for my SIL got used, and I hope this one will be used too.)
I think the technique I used is called strip piecing. I wanted to start with 6" squares, so I cut a long strip of pink, blue, and green that was 6" wide. Then I cut the green into 6" squares, but sewed the blue and blue together first- after pressing the seams, then I folded it back together and cut them 6" wide.
I did the same thing with the purple and yellow. I cut 3 1/4" strips, sewed them together and then cut the individual pieces. Then I flipped one of them, and sewed them together to form the block.
Once I pieced the small blocks, Kevin and I worked to find the perfect layout- since none of my original ideas would work: I didn't make the right blocks- remember. Then I started assembling the whole top. Elsa helped every step of the way!!! (Thankfully the recipient has dogs, so after washing this shouldn't matter.)
Here's a close up of the patterns: pink butterflys, blue stars, purple polka dots, a kind of floral pattern on the green and the yellow.
Could someone please come over here and do the backing for me? I hate the quilting part- I just fold it up and stuff it through my machine, but there is always the worry that once I'm done it will have a fold or wrinkle quilted in. (The baby quilt I made for my sister was a bit like that.) I'm going to cheat on the binding and just fold it over to the top. 
29 comments:
That turned out super cute! What a great helper Elsa is...she loves being right in the middle of the action!
In a weekend! Impressive! the one quilt I made took forever. I think because I fret about it and I wasn't doing the strip piecing. that's amazingly efficient!
I'm too afraid to do actual quilting, so that's all impressive. I keep using impressive...
I would love it if somebody would quilt for me too. That's where I'm stuck with my tops that I made. I finally figured out how I want to quilt it, I just don't want to ruin them trying to do it. Also, I found a good binding tutorial on youtube. I just searched for binding techniques. It shows how to bind "correctly" but using a machine. I haven't tried it yet, but the video sure made it look easy, and the comments all were positive about it.
If this is the post for the Pets on QUilts - you have a very pretty dog! Is this a Greyhound?
It looks as though Elsa was very helpful indeed.
She is a shelter dog. All we were.told is "terrier" (she sure has jack Russell coloring) but ER think she has greyhound in her by the way she runs.
what a cute little helper you have..
Oh funny, you're lucky to have so much help. I always warn people that my quilts come with dog hair.
Rolling on the quilt is a sure sign of approval. She looks like a sweet companion.
Elsa seems very content to help out.
What a clever helper you have!
He is so beatiful! I love dog! I have one, but is "she"! A hug!
Elsie is real cute and did a good job like her lady, on the quilt!
Meet my dog
Zoran
Elsa is a sweet looking dog and seems to be a great helper! Cute quilt!
What a great helper you have - so sweet!
Thank you for directing me...I paged down too far! She is adorable here as well :)
What a good Quality Control helper! :)
Isn't it great to have a quality control expert to check out your finished products?
What a sweet looking pup! So pretty too!
How wonderful to have such a great helper!
Very cute quilt, and a cute helper too!
What a cutie!!
Paulette
That's a sweet quilt and we're all so happy that Elsa approves. That means you can go ahead and finish it - LOL! They're all such a big help ...
Elsa is a great helper! So cute!
Looks like you have an adorable little helper!
I machine stitch all of my bindings, I learned this pinning technique to line it up nicely from a pro quilter. Its way faster and 100 x stronger then hand stitching.
cheers,
Carolyn
Elsa looks like a great helper. So pretty!
You certainly have a great helper.
Elsa's so pretty - I've never that kind of dog before.
Elsa looks like a sweetheart
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