I made a quilt!

A couple of weeks ago I was racking my brains for ideas of a present for my mum for Mother’s day. Flowers are great but I wanted to give her something a more meaningful. In case you’re wondering, I’m ok to post this as my mum wouldn’t have a clue where to find my blog! The recent cold weather made a quilt seem the perfect gift and I immediately set about working on a design. I spent a couple of hours looking online for fabric as I wanted to base it around the colours of her bedroom. Here are three I settled on:

The design was simple. Six fabrics which would form diagonal rows with a solid backing and a pretty trim. Because I was up against a deadline I took a production line approach. I cut out all of the squares (each 5 3/4 inches) and then pinned and sewed each row before adding each of them together. I have no idea if this is the best to create a top but it certainly worked. I was surprised at how satisfying it was to see the columns and thus the design come together. This took a couple of evenings. 

Yesterday I attached the batting and the backing. 

I had been struggling to decide on which pattern to sew and then came across this post by Jane of Handmade Jane and realised it was perfect - simple but effective! I should say that I had come up with the top design before coming across this - great minds. Armed with my ruler and Frixon pen I drew my stitching lines. Have you come across Frixon pens? They are made by Pilot and the ink disappears under heat. You need to be careful as not all fabrics react well, the brown linen on the top had faint white marks after I pressed them and the ink disappeared. 

The trim is pink cotton bought from the delightful Darn It and Stitch in Oxford and is secured by a faggot stitch - it just looked so pretty! This one is by no means perfect but I did have fun making it. I’m not sure I will become a dedicated quilter but I can see myself making a few more for gifts or maybe one for me for next winter. If I do decide to make another I’m definitely investing in a rotary cutter! Anyway, here are a few photos of the finished article:

Pretty in pink and green