Well, wouldn't you know that I would start this one week before Christmas! Will I finish it in time? No. I think I better move on to another project and come back to this after Christmas. I am making this quilt for my daughter, and I picked the easiest, fastest pattern I could find. But even still, once I started it, I realized I would not finish it in time. this pattern is from the book Quilts! Quilts! Quilts! which we used when I took the quilting class. It is a great book with a wealth of information. For the quilt I am making, everything is cut into 2" strips. I'm making the twin size, and for the version I am making, you need twice as many dark as light strips. I ended up buying almost all of the fabric for this quilt, but I bought some of it from the clearance rack at Beverly's and the rest I got from a quilt shop in the town where I work. As a rule, I don't really like the quilting fabric at JoAnns, because it just doesn't feel as good. I always pre wash all my fabrics, although most quilters do not.
The first evening I worked on this, I cut all the fabric into strips. 
Then I pulled darks and lights that I thought would go together and put them in piles. Now I am working on sewing all of those strips into strip sets.
After the strip sets are made, you cut each into a 5" square. I'm doing this as I go. Right now I only have about half of the strip sets made. maybe not even that much. Why did I start this project right now? I really want to make my coat instead. DH and I are leaving for San Francisco the day after Christmas and I really wanted to have my coat to take with me. Looking at my schedule, I really only have one day I can sew between now and Christmas, so it doesn't look like the quilt will get done, nor will the coat make it to SF. I also had planned on making DD a clutch purse, so maybe I can get that done in time.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
The making of a (new) quilt
Posted by Nancy Winningham at 9:29 PM
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8 comments:
I like your quilt! I am so ambivalent about quilt making! I really want the experience, but I put off by the time commitment. I'm seriously considering taking a class to force me to make a quilt.
I love the fabrics you've chosen. It does take time to make a quilt top properly. You'll regret it if you didn't do it right. Enjoy your trip to SF and I hope you do get that little purse done!
That will be a beautiful quilt. I've only made a couple myself, and I also pre-washed the fabrics. I mean; if you want to wash the quilt later, how will it look if you don't?? Too bad about the coat, would have been perfect to take along to SF. But just enjoy Christmas with family and friends, the sewing will always be there when you return. Merry Christmas, Nancy!
PS:
You must plan a trip to LA after new years so we can sew and shop a bit, and I also want to take you to our show. We'll open back up on the 9th.
there is just never enough time. I love quilting. I especially like that they can be longer term projects.
I love the fabrics you've chosen. It is going to be beautiful. I like quilting; it is very relaxing, more like zen sewing. I have a quilt made in that pattern. It was my mother in law's when she was a child. Quilts last a long time! So don't worry about it taking a while, it may last 50-100 years!
I love the colors you chose for the quilt. A thought just occurred to me about washing the fabric. I wonder if people who primarily sew garments tend to wash fabric first, more often than quilters who don't sew garments. I know, deep thoughts.
When I first looked at the pics I thought this was the quilt you had finished. I like the colors that you have chosen for yours. Enjoy the holdidays with your familiy and sew when you get back.
Merry Christmas!
Nancy.- happy Christmas to you and yours and my best wishes for the new year.
Hugs, Paco
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