11 June 2014

Projects for New Arrivals


I have been busy like a mad woman starting and finishing projects for little ones joining the world.  My sister's little fella; who has affectionately been nicknamed Rooster by his older, three year old sister, made his debut into the world a wee bit early.  He was born three weeks early and is experiencing a bit of jaundice.  Other than that he's a happy guy.

I was under the gun to get his blanket finished.  You see, my in-laws traveled from Washington to Florida to visit their grand kids.  They decided to fly to Raleigh to spend time with us before winding their way down the Atlantic Coast to see the Florida family.  They agreed to take the blanket back to Washington for little Rooster.

Roosters Strip and Flip on the trusty Dining Room Chair

I had the top all pieced and the back sewn up, I just needed to cut the batting and baste.  I had a rather frustrating time with quilting my last quilt and I didn't want to do a crappy job, so I used spray baste AND safety pins to baste Rooster's blanket.  I decided to quilt it using 100% cotton machine quilting thread and my walking foot.  I did my best to quilt it about a 1/4 to 1/2 inch from the seams.  It turned out nice and structured without any huge puckers or bulges.


Fresh from the Dryer and super Snuggly

For the binding I decided to make my own bias binding.  This was my first time making my own bias binding.  I was using a polka dot material and I didn't want all the dots to line up.  So I cut the fabric on the bias and sewed the strips together and then ironed them in a double fold.  I had some trouble with the strips seams lining up with the corners of the blanket.

Binding View A
I stitched the top side with a straight stitch using my walking foot and then the back side I used a zig zag stitch to keep the sides of the binding from curling up.

Binding View B

Granted, I am not going to win any fair ribbons with this design, but I was happy for the experience with completing another WIP.

Back
Front




















WIPS
Two elephant wall hangings - need to be bound
Two baby quilts - fabric picked out and cut
Naughts and Crosses - blocks finished, still deciding on the layout
Deanna's Dresden - still sewing and starching the little blades 300 done, 600 total

One king size quilt that I probably will never touch again