Quilt #2: Belle - Top Complete

    I finished piecing the top to our grand daughter, Addison's, quilt. It's called Belle and it's from my "Simplicity" pattern book. It will finish out at 72" x 90". Here's a shot of my final placement.

    And here's a couple photos of the top all put together.

    I already have a Hobb's 100% cotton batting for it that I got on Connecting Threads for 40% off a couple months ago. The backing will be a simple white muslin that JoAnn's carries in 108 inches wide. No piecing. I haven't decided whether to do the quilting in white or pink. I think the pink will look cool on the solid white back, but don't want it to look odd on the green and blue elements of my quilt. I'll figure it out. I need to get the whole kit-n-kaboodle loaded onto my quilting frame first!

    Here's a close up of a few of the flowers.

Quilt #2: Cutting & Piecing

    In addition to straight-line piecing, Belle would require that I sew pieces diagonnally, to create triangles. Sewing on the diagonal can be tricky. Tricky because the diagonal on woven fabrics is very stretchy. In fact, in order to make bias tape (stretchy tape used often to finish rounded edges) woven fabric is cut on the diagonal. So, I needed to be very careful in sewing on the diagonal. If I would pull or stretch the fabric as it's being sewn, it would result in a quilt block (and therefore quilt top) that won't lie flat. And, that would not be a good thing!

    Here's a couple of the blocks for Belle. Flowers and stems. I'm still piecing Belle's blocks. Although, I'm pretty close to finished. Then, I'll have to arrange all my flower and stem blocks so that it looks good. I had originally planned on just following the diagram included with the pattern, but ... I didn't get exactly the same number of light pink, dark pink and blue fabrics that they used in the pattern. So, I'll just lay them all out and figure out how it looks best. Bev says she lays hers out on a bed. So far, I've used the floor. I'm thinking a bed would be a better choice. Might help my quilt top stay a little cleaner. = )

Quilt #1: Batting & Backing

    Once I decided on the fabric for the borders, I needed to figure out what to use for batting, backing and binding.  Hmmm. Maybe I should back-up and explain.

    A quilt is much like a sandwich. It's made of up three layers: the top, the batting, and the backing. The binding goes around the edges to finish and hold it all together.

    The top can be lots of different things. For my first quilt, Ashley's Journey, I pieced the top using 20 different fabrics according to a pattern. You could also use a single piece of plain fabric, or a piece that had been cross stitched, embroidered, painted ... or really decorated in any of a myriad of ways. Most quilts made by novice quilters (aka--me) are pieced from various fabrics using a pattern. I'm sure I'll discover ways to make a quilt top that I never even dreamed of as I continue on this journey.

    Batting is the fluffy stuff that goes in the middle of a quilt and makes it puffy. It can be made of cotton, wool, synthetic fiber or a blend of any of these materials. I've heard of folks using flannel as a batting, or even an old worn-out or out-dated blanket. Again, I'm just beginning my Quilter's Journey. So, I'm sure there are batting materials available that haven't crossed my mind.

    The backing is the material that goes on the bottom. It can be a print fabric that coordinates with the top of your quilt, or it can be a solid color. It can be purchased from a bolt that is wide enough to cover the entire back of your quilt without piecing. Or, it can be pieced, usually with just one or two seams, so that it's big enough to cover the back of your quilt.

    I decided on a solid yellow fabric to back my first quilt. I found a bolt at the fabric store that measured 108 inches wide. That would be wide enough that I wouldn't have to piece the back. I think I'm going to use the same solid yellow to do the binding, as well. Bev picked up this batting for me from a local quilt shop.

    Here are a couple of pictures of my first quilt. The first photo shows a close-up of some of the 1930's reproduction fabrics I used. The second is of the top (minus borders) put together and laid out on a twin size bed in our grandkids' room.

    I entered this post in the Fabric Tuesday linky party at Quiltstory. All of this is very new to me! = )