Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Thoughts on Yardage

I spent some quality time with this baby quilt last night as I sandwiched it and started quilting.



I love the speed with which everything comes together when you are making a baby quilt. I could probably finish quilting this project today. How awesome would that be? I'll keep you posted. I probably won't bind it until later, though. I'm not really loving anything in my stash for the binding. I guess I could buy yardage in one of the fabrics from the squares. We'll see.



I'm using cotton batting. I bought a king size piece and cut it into smaller pieces to make baby quilts. Since the batting was on sale, it seemed like an economical approach.

Quilting can be expensive. When you're trying to make an heirloom, though, you have to find the balance between quality and quantity. Knowing what I want and waiting for a sale has saved me some cash, but I've also seen the bolts of fabric I want get smaller and smaller. Then I have to pay retail and shipping to get the fabric from an online source. Oops.



I've enjoyed making this baby quilt out of a charm pack. It does make me nervous about putting it in the wash, though. The great thing about buying yardage and cutting your own pieces is that you can wash and dry your fabric before you incorporate it into a quilt which takes hours of time to create.




Sure, washing and drying takes time. Plus, you have to iron your fabric when it comes out of the dryer. You know that's not my favorite activity. I wouldn't enjoy colors running all over my finished quilt after its first time in the washing machine, though. That would be a tear-inducing tragedy. A great gal who I met through my local modern quilt guild just had this experience. I know she'd tell you it's not something she wants to go through again.



I wanted to incorporate some reds into a new quilt project, so I bought a few fat quarters. They're lovely, but they terrify me. A fat quarter is too small to put through the washing machine, though I would happily machine wash as little has a half yard of fabric. When it comes to smaller jewel toned pieces, I have to test them for colorfastness before I start sewing with them. Otherwise, I probably wouldn't sleep at night. If you haven't done this before, just put a little soap in some warm water and dunk a bit of your potentially-quilt-ruining fabric in the water. Pull it out and blot it with a scrap of white quilting fabric. If the color transfers, steer clear of using it.



Phew! I feel a little better just talking about it. Quilt trauma. It's not good. Have any of you experienced the awful shock of colors running in a finished project? Did you have any success salvaging it? I'd love to hear about it.



I'm linking up with Quilt Story, Schwin & Schwin, Creative Itch, and Sugar Bee Crafts! Many thanks to these sites for introducing me to so many creative folks and their amazing work. It's great to check these sites later in the day when there is so. much. eye candy. Enjoy!




Fresh Poppy Design











Creative Itch




3 comments:

  1. This quilt is beautiful!!

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  2. Have you tried the colour catchers you just put in with your wash? maybe they would help, I am in awe at your quilt making, I don't know what it is about quilts, I can piece them together OK but when it comes to the machine quilting I don't even get to that part!!! something about it scares me!

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  3. Love the baby quilt, they are my favorite to make. They go so fast and are always so cute! Love the blue one that you have going as well.

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