When I ripped up all my sheets awhile back, I did it to sell the bundles in my shop but also so that I could make a quilt for Anne's bed with all their soft and pretty glory.
This was my first full bed size quilt. Once I started it, I was on a mission to finish. That is a a quality about me that is both a blessing and a curse- it probably would have been nice to do a little, put it aside and make something else, then come back for a little more. From what I read on other blogs, this is how most people do their quilting. But I worked on it for days and got it DONE.
Anne and I looked through some simple quilt pattern tutorials and she chose this Plus quilt by Jeni of In color Order. She does a great job with her directions. I wish that I had made it a little longer but it is great for now. Anne loved the plus idea since she likes numbers so much (like all Kindergarteners!). She likes tracing out the plus signs over and over again.
I did the backing with 20 eighteen inch squares of sheets. I liked the thought of the the plus sign patterns showing through on the back. It turned out really pretty.
I ordered some pretty fabric from Amy's shop for the binding but my impatience to be finished took over and I did a cheater binding. Now I get to use my new fabric for something else!
The size of my backing fabric gave me about 5" overhang on all sides so I cut it down to 2" and ironed it back toward the back. I stitched this down with my machine with about a 1/4" seam allowance. Then I ironed it back toward the front and double folded it under. I wanted it to look like binding on both sides.
The corners are not perfect but turned out pretty good. I just folded the corner in the front to make it look like a mitered corner. I need to hand sew the corner down though so it doesn't come unraveled with washing! I figured I could easily take it off and do a real binding later if I ever feel the need.
Anne loves the quilt. She loves looking at the plus pattern and she loves all the colors. Nothing muted for this girl! She calls it rainbow colors. I like how it feels like a family heirloom already- soft and sweet. Now I need to make a matching sham to finish the look!
The penguin will do for now! Are you ready to try a quilt? Seems like quilters can't get enough of their craft. I am not totally sold since it is such a long and involved process. I wanted to try though- it's important to flex your crafty muscles, don't you think? I did flex some muscles moving all this fabric around and cutting out all these squares!
PLUS, now I know I can make a quilt 🙂 What's on your list to try?
