Sunday, May 9, 2010

Quilt top in a weekend

Here from the Pets on Quilt show? Scroll down to the bottom to see how my dog helps me quilt! She checks that all the blocks are nice and comfortable!

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:

SuzyQ01 said...

That turned out super cute! What a great helper Elsa is...she loves being right in the middle of the action!

Kristen said...

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...

Brianna said...

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.

Vroomans' Quilts said...

If this is the post for the Pets on QUilts - you have a very pretty dog! Is this a Greyhound?

QuiltSue said...

It looks as though Elsa was very helpful indeed.

Jessim said...

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.

Nanbon44 said...

what a cute little helper you have..

Dana Gaffney said...

Oh funny, you're lucky to have so much help. I always warn people that my quilts come with dog hair.

Joanna said...

Rolling on the quilt is a sure sign of approval. She looks like a sweet companion.

Talin's Corner said...

Elsa seems very content to help out.

Staci said...

What a clever helper you have!

Gladys said...

He is so beatiful! I love dog! I have one, but is "she"! A hug!

geni said...

Elsie is real cute and did a good job like her lady, on the quilt!

Meet my dog
Zoran

Connie Kresin Campbell said...

Elsa is a sweet looking dog and seems to be a great helper! Cute quilt!

Lesly said...

What a great helper you have - so sweet!

Miss Hillbilly said...

Thank you for directing me...I paged down too far! She is adorable here as well :)

Kelli Fannin Quilts said...

What a good Quality Control helper! :)

Pat V. said...

Isn't it great to have a quality control expert to check out your finished products?

andsewon said...

What a sweet looking pup! So pretty too!

Becky said...

How wonderful to have such a great helper!

Jocelyn said...

Very cute quilt, and a cute helper too!

paulette said...

What a cutie!!
Paulette

The Quilting Elf said...

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 ...

Snoodles said...

Elsa is a great helper! So cute!

The Vegetarian Hunter said...

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

Janet said...

Elsa looks like a great helper. So pretty!

Sand and Sunshine said...

You certainly have a great helper.

Lynette said...

Elsa's so pretty - I've never that kind of dog before.

LethargicLass said...

Elsa looks like a sweetheart