Monday, 18 March 2013

jim jams and tablecloths


I have finished the quilt I've been making for my friend who brings me the cast off pyjamas and tablecloths from the charity shop rag-bag. (thanks to Mr P for valiantly holding it up in the rainy garden!)



I wanted to make a quilt which had an underlying structure but which still looked scrappy, so I used blocks in three sizes, 6.5 inches, 4.5 inches and 2.5 inches, so however you arrange them they fit together- magic!

I started by laying out some pieces to see what went together. My friend likes blue so that was the starting point. Most of the fabrics are recycled, with a few pieces of new fabric- I couldn't resist the one with the deer and silver birches!




.... all joined together:

and sandwiched with the wadding and backing (with a little help from Molly)

I wanted to quilt it in quite a free way, so I machine and hand-stitched in bands at 6 inch intervals:


... which by complete coincidence made the stitching follow the pattern on the back, which is a lovely cuddly old flannelette sheet:

I think combining hand and machine stitching is a good compromise between time and craft. I use perle cotton for the hand stitches, and I can't be called a very neat stitcher, but I like the overall look.

Finished with a scrappy binding:

For me this is the best kind of quilting, with soft old fabrics that make a beautiful thing which seems to have a history and a life of its own. 





4 comments:

  1. I really like the fact that this is made from recycled materials and I like the combo of hand and machine quilting - thanks for the close up shots which show the effect really nicely. Jill @ The Nocturnal Stitcher x

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  2. I love it - I told Steph about it and said how lovely it was and that was before it was finished. I wish I could produce something half as beautiful as that.

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  3. Magic indeed. Love how it came together. The deer fabric is sooo cute. Totally envious. :)

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  4. I love it! Love all the pattern and color combos and your creative way of quilting.

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