quilt in progress #4

 

Having completed sewing together all of the patchwork I can now show you what the quilt is going to look like. Pinning it on the wall was the best way to show it off. The more I looked at it the more convinced I was about calling it a kaleidoscope quilt!

After a little more gazing, I thought it was best to get on with the next step of sewing. Namely, to cut the backing, sandwich the wadding, and then roll up the sleeves for stitching in the ditch! 

 For the wadding I chose a 100g thickness - not too thick, not too thin. For the backing I thrifted an Ikea hippo fabric (child's duvet cover). It had a small stained area, and it was a little short for the quilt's size, so I cut it up to exclude the stains and extend the length with a strip at each end. Some of the hippos ended up with two butts and too many legs, but it still works.

After giving some thought to how the quilting should be done, I got out my big box of pins and got pinning. If you can get specific pins with stoppers meant for quilting, I recommend you to do so - you won't end up with cat scratches all over your arms like I did.

Mind you, during my three years of fashion university I developed a detached immunity to pinpricks and a sixth sense for loose or dropping pins. It's highly advisable not to have any cups of teas or coffees knocking around at this pins-in sewing stage - pins can end up everywhere when you are busy, including your drink, your slippers or even your bra. I'm talking from experience!

 

The idea about this many pins is that you catch all three layers of your quilt together - patchwork, wadding and backing - and pin down both sides along your planned sewing path. 

My plan for a sewing path was decided over a few days, by doodling ideas onto an envelope: the one I went with is the little scribble in the lower right corner.

I sewed with plain white cotton at the front, but for the bobbin I picked a thread in a very pale yellow hue. It blended better with both white and lime green bits.

 

I found stitching in the ditch quite tricky and demanding. I tried machining in short controlled bursts, tried slow and steady, tried holding and guiding the fabric in different ways - I still ended up with more of a stitch in-and-out of the ditch look instead of a very pro one. 

It went a little easier near the end, but I don't feel like I figured it out at all. The result looks good enough though, the padding puffs out nicely as it's meant to, so i'm not disappointed in my effort.

I have one more post about the progress of my first-ever quilt, about attaching the binding - and then it's ready!