Today is my thirtieth birthday. And I decided I wanted to mark this year with a quilt. But finding the right combination of fabric and pattern has been quite the search. Right up until last weekend I thought I had it sorted...
Fabric: A couple of years back at the Fat Quarterly Retreat I picked up a fat eighth bundle of Oakshott Impressions (with a white weft/warp) and never found the right project for them. Even further back I picked up a Layer Cake of Puttin' on the Ritz - the only Layer Cake I've ever bought, because once I'd bought it I had no idea what to do with it... I've put the two together and I love the soft pastel effect they create - I know, not my normal choices... I've added in some fabrics from my stash, and picked up some extra Oakshott fabric from an IG destash, so I think I have enough fabric to make a quilt.
But what quilt? Initially I had though of doing the Women of the Bible Sampler Quilt. When I went to look at the details of the first block, and saw the size of the pieces I needed to cut, I got cold feet, sure that I didn't have enough fabric. I have a bit of a fear of using up all of one particular fabric... illogical I know. So I turned to Pinterest for help and typed in "sampler quilt". And after a few minutes of scrolling up popped a Marcelle Medallion quilt. Back when everyone was making this quilt (I mean everyone) I decided that this was a quilt to go on my bucket list (it's a long list) but then I forgot all about it. I knew I had the pattern somewhere in a magazine. And when I found that magazine almost instantly I knew it was meant to be.
This much more scrappy quilt is ideal for the small pieces of fabric I have and I won't get jumpy by using up all of one fabric in one go. But I have to confess when reading through the instructions for the central block I nearly had cold feet again... templates....lots of bias edges.... Y-seams...aaaaagh. All of my worst nightmares rolled into one.
But I'm a grown up now (I think I have to admit that as I hit 30 and apply for a new mortgage) and I won't be scared of templates, bias edges and Y-Seams. I used the freezer paper technique for the templpates which reduces much of the inaccuracy I experienced 4 years ago (see my post on the Essential Sampler quilt for that rant). I trace the sewing line of the template onto freezer paper, then roughly trim in out, leaving less than 1/4" outside the line (so I don't blunt my rotary cutter in the next step). I then iron that template onto the fabric so it can't move, and use the 1/4" mark on my ruler placed over the drawn line to cut the fabric accurately with the seam allowance.
And then the Y-Seams. I pieced so carefully, pressed so carefully (take that, bias edges!) and when it finally came to the Y-Seams they were a doddle. My seams matched, there were no puckers and I have a central block I'm really proud of! But it's not a block to make a whole quilt from... Luckily the rest of this quilt is rotary cut and regular piecing!
The aim is to finish this quilt before I turn 31. By saying that here you can all hold me to account. Right? Or just laugh hysterically at me!
Fabric: A couple of years back at the Fat Quarterly Retreat I picked up a fat eighth bundle of Oakshott Impressions (with a white weft/warp) and never found the right project for them. Even further back I picked up a Layer Cake of Puttin' on the Ritz - the only Layer Cake I've ever bought, because once I'd bought it I had no idea what to do with it... I've put the two together and I love the soft pastel effect they create - I know, not my normal choices... I've added in some fabrics from my stash, and picked up some extra Oakshott fabric from an IG destash, so I think I have enough fabric to make a quilt.
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| There is a lot of cream in the layer cake too... |
But what quilt? Initially I had though of doing the Women of the Bible Sampler Quilt. When I went to look at the details of the first block, and saw the size of the pieces I needed to cut, I got cold feet, sure that I didn't have enough fabric. I have a bit of a fear of using up all of one particular fabric... illogical I know. So I turned to Pinterest for help and typed in "sampler quilt". And after a few minutes of scrolling up popped a Marcelle Medallion quilt. Back when everyone was making this quilt (I mean everyone) I decided that this was a quilt to go on my bucket list (it's a long list) but then I forgot all about it. I knew I had the pattern somewhere in a magazine. And when I found that magazine almost instantly I knew it was meant to be.
This much more scrappy quilt is ideal for the small pieces of fabric I have and I won't get jumpy by using up all of one fabric in one go. But I have to confess when reading through the instructions for the central block I nearly had cold feet again... templates....lots of bias edges.... Y-seams...aaaaagh. All of my worst nightmares rolled into one.
But I'm a grown up now (I think I have to admit that as I hit 30 and apply for a new mortgage) and I won't be scared of templates, bias edges and Y-Seams. I used the freezer paper technique for the templpates which reduces much of the inaccuracy I experienced 4 years ago (see my post on the Essential Sampler quilt for that rant). I trace the sewing line of the template onto freezer paper, then roughly trim in out, leaving less than 1/4" outside the line (so I don't blunt my rotary cutter in the next step). I then iron that template onto the fabric so it can't move, and use the 1/4" mark on my ruler placed over the drawn line to cut the fabric accurately with the seam allowance.
And then the Y-Seams. I pieced so carefully, pressed so carefully (take that, bias edges!) and when it finally came to the Y-Seams they were a doddle. My seams matched, there were no puckers and I have a central block I'm really proud of! But it's not a block to make a whole quilt from... Luckily the rest of this quilt is rotary cut and regular piecing!
The aim is to finish this quilt before I turn 31. By saying that here you can all hold me to account. Right? Or just laugh hysterically at me!
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