How to make a Doll Quilt from Memory Fabrics Part 3

Selecting a batting. For small projects batting is inexpensive and you can easily select any that you would like. Polyester comes in many different "lofts" this refers to how puffy your finished project will be. Low loft is a little push, and high loft is much more full. You can also buy cotton batting, or alternatives such as Bamboo Batting. The cotton batting is called needled cotton this is like you took a felting machine and moved it all over the surface of the batting. It is nice to work with providing warmth with low loft. The more you need the heavier it is. The Red Star Quilt was made with this and to say it's heavy is a bit of an understatement. Three yards of Warm and White, plus the weight of batting and backing. Oh yes. My daughter told me in the summer months her Warm and White quilt is to "hot" whereas she expresses no such complaints over her light weight med. to low loft polyester quilt.

I have heard that Bamboo is like Warm and White (also called Warm and Natural, it just depends on the color) only it is not so heavy. I'd like to try it some day.

Other options for batting are to use flannel. One piece of flannel will do the job and be lightweight, just be sure to watch the cost flannel as it can be quite costly.

In my case I have a pretty flannel that I bought at "scrap prices" meaning someone else bought it and brought it back. Normally these cuts are under a yard you just have to sort through the bargain bins a bit. It is pretty hearts on one side and white on the other. Because we are making a doll blanket I'm going to not use batting at all and instead simply baste my flannel to my quilt and then quilt it.

There are three ways you select from your your quilt back. You can choose Traditional Amish, this is a natural muslin backing, plain of patterns. You can choose to select a printed pattern on your fabric. This will hide any slight perfections you might have in your quilting and will have a second appealing side to view. Lastly is a two sided quilt, that means you create a second quilt to go on the back. Be mindful with these, depending on how you quilt it the quilting lines might not line up.

Now that you have selected your backing you can begin to baste. If you're using a batting you will want to spread it out. I like to Spray baste but there are other methods.

If you are going to spray baste select a spray adhesive and spray the top of the batting (the side that is up, batting doesn't have a top vs. a bottom both sides are the same). Now roll your little quilt top into a tube. Line the tube up to one inch from the top of the batting and gently unroll it, pressing as you go. Smoothing it out along the batting.
It is now ready to quilt.
If you don't have any spray adhesive and don't want to buy any you can always pin baste. See here with the pins as I have worked my pins out from the center? Gently remove the pins as you come to them when quilting, old school says you can sew over them, but you risk breaking a needle or worse yet pieces in your eye. So use caution.
You can also hand baste with a needle and thread, sew nice big stitches outwards from the center. Or use really big stitches on your sewing machine being careful not to let the backing slide away from the quilt top.

No matter what you picked your quilt is now basted and ready to quilt.

How to Make a Doll Quilt from Memory Fabrics Part 2

This is the Second Part of our tutorial, how to make the quilt top. How are you doing? Hopefully following along right as rain, but don't hesitate to throw up a comment if you need a little extra explanation. Thread Selection! Thread always seems to stop creators in their tracks. What kind do you need? Any kind that doesn't make loads of lint or break when you sew will do. Some quilters love cotton others swear by polyester. Here you will find a very interesting collection of data on thread on the microscopic level. But if that's a bit much for you. Just look in your thread collection. Most everyone has one, while you create this little project if the bobbin area fills with lint from the thread you might want to think about getting a different kind. Or if it breaks and makes you crazy try something different.

Now color. Here I have a couple of spools from my thread box. The big guy is a cone of off white/muslin colored thread. It's polyester so it's strong and it's cheap, but not all sewing machines like cones. It's also a bit light for the fabrics here. But I'd use it in a pinch. To light is better than to dark.

Next you see the Polyneon Madeira makes this and it is amazingly wonderful. You can get it for about $2.45 a spool (over 1000 yards!)from Allstitch.com personally it's my favorite for embroidery and plan to replace all my embroidery threads with this when they run out. It's the perfect shade of purple for this project. But it would be better if it was cotton for quilting. My favorite quilting thread is Aurifil but it's not avail. locally, and it's a bit pricey at $8.50 for a 1300 yard spool. So I'll be using the polyneon. It's strong like poly without the lint.

The last there is Sulky Rayon. Avail in all Joann's in almost any color. It's great for embroidery (but my machine needs a bit of adjustment to really go to town with this thread), but it's not strong. I can pull it with my fingers and cause it to snap. That's the trouble with Rayon, it's not a good choice for a quilt. Not to mention this is a dark royal purple. Great for the quilting perhaps, but if any of your stitches pull a little bit that purple will scream "look at me this work isn't perfect" And it's so annoying when the thread starts yelling like that.

You can also see the bobbin thread I selected is grey. This is a fine choice, you can use grey for darker colors like this or you can match the upper thread. If you match the upper thread you might find yourself needing to buy more bobbins. My grey is Rayon which isn't my first choice but it was already wound and this will use it up.

I have been buying Madeira Bobbinfil which is Polyester for the bottom and this is amazing for embroidery. Loads go a long way. It comes in black and white so for other colors you sort of have to "make do", but it's intended for embroider. I have also heard and read raves about the Bottom line bobbin thread. Bobbin thread is thinner, and not the best choice for quilting. Before I make a quilt I select my thread color and order a nice big spool of Aurifil, then I can load the bobbin thread with that use it through out the quilt even to the quilting. It seems no matter what I've done nor the size of the quilt a spool of Aurifil gets the job done. But remember you're checking your thread to see what you have. The spool of white that came with your sewing machine will work just fine if that's what you have.

Now as a rule I ALWAYS work left to right top to bottom when I sew. It might not seem to matter now, but if you get any bigger it will help you keep your place. Let to right and top to bottom. It doesn't matter what rule you follow, just pick and order and stick with it. Right yourself a sticky note it will help. I have taken those first to and put them in the sewing machine.
See how I have lined the two fabrics together and placed them in the sewing machine? Now... A word to the wise. There are no quilt police living in your house. If this is your first project, just line the fabric up with your sewing machine foot. Do that each time and all your seams will be the same. Every time. I promise. And that my dears is the most important thing. The same each time.

If you've done a project before see if you can see which setting creates a 1/4" seam. Does your manual tell you? If I set my ULT to 6.5mm wide on a straight stitch it will sew a 1/4" seam. If you don't know. Turn the fly wheel - that's the thing on the side of the sewing machine. Turn it until the needle is down. Now take a ruler or a tape measure and measure from the edge of your sewing machines foot (that's the part that sits on the fabric. Adjust the needle until you measure 1/4" Now the points on your other projects should all be perfect. Don't worry if it doesn't turn out perfect the first time, sometimes a tiny adjustment will move the threads over a tiny bit and then all will be wonder.

But for the purpose of this little quilt you don't have to do any of that. Select a straight stitch. As a beginner I found it handy to use a locking stitch. If your machine makes this stitch it will look like three dashed or straight lines of stitches. That means the sewing machine sews one stitch and then sews back half way and then forward again. This takes more thread but the machine sews a bit slower which can be helpful and you can handle your fabric more without worrying about the stitches coming out. To this day I love a locking stitch for bias square triangles or block swaps because they stay put so much better. Through all the wear and tear on them.

If you can't find that stitch with the three lines. Just select the straight stitch. This one is one solid or dashed line and when you sew a test bit of fabric it sews a nice straight line, so skipping about left or right.

Now when the first piece is sewn open it up to see your first row. Isn't it pretty? And easy too. The normal quilters "rule" is to iron the fabric so the fabric seam goes towards the darker side.

What are rules except things meant to be broken? In the case of memory fabrics some of them don't like to listen, especially the ones with heavier weights of interfacing. It's okay if the seam goes the other way. It will all work out. Now you can iron. Personally I have so many things going on around me when I sew, my three year old and my husband and my kitties, that the hot iron makes me worry about them. So if I can I like to finger press.

Finger Press? What's that? That's when you take newly sewn fabric turn it upside down. Look a see what the fabric wants to do, or which is the dark side, whatever. Now run your fingernail over that seam. That will cause it to lay flat. Nice wham, bam, thank you mam pressing of the seams. This will help your sewing machine move more easily over the seams as your top grows and will help the quilt to lay flat. You honestly don't have to use either method. You can just go with the flow, but your seams might not always line up perfectly. If that's okay with you then it's okay with the rest of us.

Now that you've sewn the first one move on to the next one, turning the pretty sides in together and sewing. When you work in a pattern such as left to right top to bottom, you can begin to string your work together. This is called a Daisy Chain. This chain will hold all the "first square sewn to the second square" all the way around the quilt. Above you can see where I turned the sewing machine to the side and you can see my sewn pieces collecting in a chain off the back of the sewing machine. They don't get in the way here and they stay in order. When all are sewn cut them apart going back to the first one you sewed and placing it in the upper left.

It should look something like this. Once you have this part you're ready to move on a bit.
Still going from left to right take to peices again. Since they are sewn this will be four squares! You're doing great the finish line is nearing!
I'd like to draw your attention now to a little error I made. This happens when you don't use interfacing to stabilize your fabrics. I have two options at this point rip it out, to try for it to be better the second time or the second is to just go with it. I've decided to let it be. This is a bottom edge that I can trim up later, so it doesn't worry me. Also I know it was caused by the strech of the dark fabric remember I cautioned you about this? Well there it is.
Now here I have lined up the next section of sewing. This is the entire upper corner of the baby doll blanket. Four squares this time! It's not any harder at all. Just be sure to look at the seam in the center. Try your best to make sure that is lined up so the two pieces will make a nice transion from one set of squares to another.
This is the back side of your four square. Check your seams and finger press as needed.

Look here all four are sewn and laid back out. Don't forget to go back to the first group on the Daisy chain.

Now again about left to right top to bottom. You might want to grab those two on the left and sew them together right as rain and then sewing the second two on the right. No, no... This is how the eye reads. That means that if anything is wrong with that center line that runs from the top of your square to the bottom the eye will see it. Strangers who don't know you will see it. But if you sew the one on the top left to the one on the top right, the eye doesn't see the lines the same, and voila beautious!

Congratulations, you've just sewn your first quilt top! I'm so proud of you! First and foremost be proud of yourself. These techniques can be applied to a quilt of anysize or even a wallhanging.

Next time we'll talk about batting and how to baste your quilt. Happy Sewing!

How to Make a Doll Quilt from Memory Fabrics Part 1

For my fellow bloggers I'm going to create a tutorial. I'm thinking it will have five parts. Fabric selection, Creating the Quilt Top, Basting a Quilt, Quick and Easy Machine Quilting and Last but not least How to Bind a Quilt.

First let's talk size. Sometimes we really just want to use what we have to save a bit of money and that's what I'm doing here. This very morning my daughter told me her favorite color is purple so I pulled out all my left over baby clothes fabrics from the quilt I made for her that are purple. My squares are 3.5" that means with a seam allowance of 1/4" they are sewn in and end up being 3". If you don't know what that means, don't worry about it, I'll explain in part two. From my supply of fabric I selected this one first. It's a stretchy fabric and it isn't being stabilized in anyway. But it has butterflies embroidered on it and I just know Jessica will like it, so I chose it as my focal point color. Since I know my squares will sew in at 3" I go ahead and plan on a 12" baby blanket. Four over and four down. As you can see it's a dark color and this will help to prevent stains from showing but will also require a bit of extra attention to match it up with other fabrics.
Next I add two lighter shades of purple. The fabric above is more towards pink and the fabric below is more towards blue, but both are purple. Keep in mind that you should trust yourself and what you think will look nice. Put the fabrics together, do they play well with others? If your eye screams no, listen. If you are especially fond of that one particular fabric try it with other colors. Yellow and purple can be extra hard to match with yellow going dingy at the drop of a hat. Sometimes changing to a different color like yellow and red or yellow and blue will keep that from happening.

Now I only have that one little thing of the fabric in the upper corner, but I really like it, so I know if I stick it in the corner it could work, so I put it up there now so I don't forget.
Now just for a moment let me draw your attention again to the fact that these fabrics all used to be baby clothes. These were Carter's PJ's so you know they have a bit of give to the fabric. It needs stabilized. But don't buy stabilizer! What you need is called interfacing. This will move with your fabric and give it a bit of structure. So it doesn't stretch when you sew.

Interfacing comes in many ways. It can be iron on, sew in, or peal and stick. With all the money in the world I'd get Sulky Iron peal and stick. It works great and has a grid so you don't waste much. But it gets extremely expensive on big projects. If you're going to splurge now keep that in mind should to want to move on to a bigger quilt.

I like to adhere it before cutting my fabrics out. That way the interfacing will go edge to edge.
This is stabilizer, it is normally used for embroidery. But I didn't know what I'm telling you now when I bought it, so since I got such a good deal I went ahead and used it. This will not wash out, and I have sprayed it in with spray adhesive. Because it doesn't MOVE I will need to remove it before I quilt it in. That part is easy but time consuming because for every piece you used you need to peal it off. The sewing line does act as a perforation and that helps to remove it a bit. I do not recommend using this in quilts, but you could leave it in for a wall hanging. Using it is a last ditch of "I bought it I may as well use it". If at all possible don't buy it in the first place.
Next try to add some more fabric. What do you see, what does a little project like this need? Keep in mind you can always turn the fabric different ways to get different looks. Sometimes you can even put a fabric in upside down to help accomplish something pleasing. There are no limits, only your own inhibitions.

Red Star Quilt Unveiled

I've been working on quilting the Red 16 point star quilt for a couple of days now. The end is in sight, perhaps I will reach it today or tomorrow. Of the quilting part that is, after it's all quilted it will still need a binding of sorts. I really like the look a nested prairie point binding, but I'm not certain if I'm going to commit to that. If I don't it will have a traditional Amish binding where the muslin backing is pulled forward to the front to bind. You can see that I planned for this because of the extra muslin all around. This is the detail of the quilting. I used the quilting guide from Rob's old sewing machine that has long since left his possession (he has all the feet though). It's new to me, but it's going quite easily. All of the white areas are being quilted with that foot. All of the red areas are being quilted with a decorative stitch on my new sewing machine. It's a wavy stitch which means it goes way faster than normal stitch in the ditch. You can see the wavy lines over the quilt label below. Last but never least, and certainly not forgotten is the quilt label. I appliqued the label on and now have quilted it in.
My knitting had to be all pulled out, but I don't mind. I've learned my mistakes and corrected them. Once I was certain I had the hang of it I pulled it all out and began again. It's nearly 9" long and already looks so cuddly.

The Row Robin is growing up just fine. So far I'm two people shy from being a full group for the small quilting group and half way from full for the larger quilt group. I haven't joined either group yet, but I will when I know where the need is, perhaps both? I'm still playing with ideas. I'm so excited about this, it's open to all quilting techniques so I'm really planning to push myself to new levels.
Every time I pull out the camera Jessica wants in the photos, so here is the latest one of her. I love her for it, because I know even though it can make me crazy the day will come she want want me to NOT take any pictures of her.

Craig's List

Well I did it. I listed the Bargello on Craig's List http://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/art/927035170.html You can see it right here. IT pains me, but we have to have money come in from somewhere. It makes me a bit sick talking about the unemployment and lack of money issues going on here.

My husband is also listing the Wooden Box he made. It was supposed to be his first sample. He made it himself and it took him a week. You can see his box here. http://tampa.craigslist.org/psc/tls/927059036.html as soon as we listed we were both hit with two different spams. UGH, as if it wasn't bad enough now knowing our email boxes will be flooded with crap.

I have started quilting the Red Star quilt. It's going to be so pretty. This quilt is heavy. It makes my arms ache just a bit thinking about it! Good thing that one has a label on it or else I'd want to sell it too. But that one was such a pain in the rear I'd be charging double for it!

It blows my mind the things you see for sale on Craig's List. I saw someone offering to make a quilt, up to three of them any size before Christmas in fact, if only the person would buy thread and fabric. :(

Oh the nice note here is that Jessica, Daddy and I all gathered around two bowls of popcorn to watch Santa Clause with Tim Allen. It's such a nice flick. Jessica lost interest and Daddy tried to fall asleep, but it was nice all the same. Why to bowls? Daddy likes to much salt on his food, makes it takes like you licked salt build up at the aquarium or something. Bleck.