quilting...to be continued

So yesterday I worked some serious overtime on my quilt and finally finished.  Around 4:45 pm.  The class is supposed to end at 3:30.  I've been staying until 4:00 so that I could finish the last few things, plus I've had a heck of a time getting it right (to my eye) that I've had to rip out or re sew the pieces a few times.  Plus there was a great deal of practice on the freehand stitching to get it to look just right.

FO- it takes up the entire living room!

Sandy our teacher made us labels to sew onto the back of our quilts
The back looks as good as the fronts, LOVE that it's reversible!

FO ready to use - Yes, Virgina that's our Skyrim manual

LOVE the final product
So you're making a quilt? There are a few things that you need to know.

1.  Basic sewing machine knowledge.  I would have been lost if I didn't already know how to thread a machine, use the pedal, back stitch, raise the needle, thread and wind a bobbin....the list goes on for a while.  But some general knowledge of 7th grade home ec is a must.







2.  Love to iron.  Like going to the dentist for your teeth, ironing is necessary for your quilt to look nice.  And by nice, I mean not wrinkly and the seams pressed properly.  Back to the basics - you should know how to iron and make the fabric smooth.  I'm not saying that you have to LOVE it, like I do, but you should be able to function an iron.

3.  Measure twice and cut once.  I made this mistake several times during the construction and really, it was just an unfamiliarity with the supplies.  Luckily, when the pieces were measured and cut properly and I ran out, our teacher was able to cut me another piece from the bolt.





4.  Creativity.  There are no hard and fast rules to quilting.  This is very true, especially with the actual quilting part.  I did a combination of straight quilting on the center, but the borders were no hold barred crazy.  I did a wandering stitch on my inner border and a wave pattern on my outer border.  It didn't need any artistic skill, just a little imagination and practice with the machine.


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