Monday, January 08, 2007

Introducing my first.... quilt!!

Here it is.... the quilt that took up all my crafty hours in December. It is machine pieced but hand quilted.

Some things I learned that new quilters may consider:

1) When cutting squares or other shapes, do not be lazy to ensure they are straight! At times, I attempted to cut 12 layers a time! No good! Do not repeat... you WILL NOT get proper shaped pieces (some of my squares resembled parallelograms). This proved to be a problem when I sewed the pieces together because the squares didn't match up!

2) Plan your work before starting. I think I made over 5 trips to Fabricland to replenish insufficient fabric, get thread, bias strips,... and in the meantime fell prey to more fabric purchases!

3) Start small. My quilt is 60 inches X 80 inches, the size of a queen size bed. Needless to say, it would've been easier if I started with a baby quilt.

4) If handquilting, there's no need to make stitches 2 mm wide. I went to a quilt store and the stitches in those quilts were 0.5-1 cm length. It would've saved tonnes of time had I known earlier!

The pictures are not really good quality due to a lack of sunlight. But I've gifted this to my parents for Christmas so I probably won't get more pictures anytime soon.

All in all, I enjoyed quilting! But for my next project, I think I'll stick to baby-sized items *smile*

Knitting-wise, the "never growing" sweater is close to being finished. I need to piece the pieces together. Maybe some pics next post!

5 comments:

opportunityknits said...

I'm sure your parents are pleased with the quilt, it's so well made!

Anonymous said...

Good tips to keep in mind. I've been thinking about my first quilt (baby sized, of course!), but can't seem to decide on a pattern. Lucky parents to get your first quilt!

Anonymous said...

You know my birthday is in a few weeks, and I love quilts... *cough* *ahem*

Nice work! You are mucho talentedo!

Mimi said...

What a lovely quilt and the squares look perfect! I can imagine how happy your parents were to receive this gift! ;)

Vivian said...

Very comfry quilt, I'm sure your parents will be delighted when receive it.