So this particular blanket – I hesitate to call it a quilt, except I did some “quilting” – has been in process and waiting to be finished for – oh, 12 years. I started with this piece of fabric thinking it would be sweet for a baby blanket. I picked up the fabric from Hobby Lobby after we had packed up my sewing room in preparation for a move, so I only had the bare minimum to work with. The fabric has a sweet little pattern, that I used some scraps to applique a really simple element in the lower right corner of the fabric piece. I probably was thinking that I would back it with flannel and add a simple crocheted edging, but I never got around to it.
At some point last year, I actually added a very thin batting and a thicker luscious Luxe Cuddle® Velvet, which unfortunately has been discontinued (but I’d still recommend a regular Cuddle®) for the backing!
And it still sat
So when we lost power during the ridiculous situation that we are still traumatized by, this little quilt sandwich got added to the pile of blankets that needed to be finished!
Really, since I had already appliqued the floral element at the bottom, I didn’t really want to add anything else – I really just wanted to get it done and out of the unfinished pile.
Here is where I had some fun. I dropped the feed dogs on my sewing machine and just started echoing around the floral element. That’s pretty much it – I worked to keep the stitches someone even, since it was just really loose free motion quilting, but I went out further and further from each previous run, not in a measured way, though.
I kept peeking at the back, because part of the magic that I am loving seeing is the BACK of each quilt/blanket as it is coming together. There is so much MAGIC that shows up when you quilt, especially in all the negative spaces, and especially on the backs, when you use minky fabrics like the Cuddle®.
And then the binding. Feeling a little cocky, I cut binding strips at 2 inches, forgetting that cotton binding works best at 2.5 inches wide. But the strips were cut and really just needed to get on there, so I bound it with the machine instead of by hand so that I could just zig zag the edge of the binding on.
Now, I know there are LOTS of mistakes here. But really, this little blanket is warm and charming, and I still geek out about the magic of the echo quilting on the back in the minky. What’s the goal here. Well, just get it done, really. And I learned to remember to pay attention to cutting the binding at 2.5″ instead of 2″ so that there is more than 1/2″ to wrap around and attach. No way was I going to fight layers to attach that by hand. The zig zagging is just fine. I hope the quilt police don’t come after me on that one. Done is better than perfect, and really, it’s WARM and cuddly, and even cute!
whole:cloth 