Friday 28 December 2012

Ta - Dah.....



I'm going to be quite honest about this quilt....I had my doubts during the making.  Just after I had sewn all the squares together I laid it out on the bed and my head just went...."Little House on the Prairie" and I sort of fell out of love with it a little bit and had those looming thoughts of "WT*"!! yes, that's exactly what went through my mind!

I persevered and I had this little gem finished in 3 days.  I worked damn hard, and when sewing all the 3 layers together I did throw a bit of a tantrum at one stage and threw the thing on the lounge room floor where it stayed for an hour or so.  I did contemplate a bin bag for it....that sewing process just seemed to take forever.  Anyway it's done and I couldn't be more happy with it.

The pattern came from here, and it was the easiest pattern to follow, although I did make a small change.  In the end I went for an all patterned quilt and replaced the single block colours with more patterned squares.....I just liked it a wee bit more than the solid squares.

Now that the quilt is on the bed after a good hot wash over at the laundrette, and tumbled in the hot dryer. The quilt being 100% cotton (all the fabric, cotton batting in between the two layers and the sewing thread) not an ounce of polyester in sight.....it has shrunk slightly and the squares have smooshed up, the colours have mellowed and the quilt has softened up amazingly.  I'm so pleased with it and I'm already planning the next one......and my brand new sewing machine didn't miss a beat, she is a beauty I must say!














































At this stage I really did start freaking out.....this was my WT* moment!















































Laying the 3 layers out on the floor and pinning every second square was also a task that took an amazing amount of time....taking them out after all the sewing was complete, took just as long!





































































It was somewhere around here that I started swearing a hell of a lot!  In the end I had to remove everything off the side table and just spread myself out.....made things a lot easier instead of trying to sew on a little bit of end table.



























And it had to have a label on it.  The edging was all machine sewn, but with slip stitching into place on the back of the quilt....I'm glad I went with the less patterned border in the lighter colour, I think it was a good choice in the end.


























I did throw the quilt on the bed this morning before taking it for a washing.  I was still having second thoughts about it at this completed stage.  It wasn't very soft nor pliable, I really didn't have any feeling for it ...anyway I bundled it up and over the road I trotted to the laundrette where the lovely ladies just marvelled at it....I gave them the washing instructions and they did look at me in horror when I told them it had to go in a hot dryer to shrink it!!  "Are you serious" was the comeback..."All that beautiful work and you want to shrink it?".....I then told them with 100% confidence and fingers crossed behind my back, that they would love it even more afterwards.....secretly trying to convince myself as well. 

























And this is what happens.....every little square shrinks.  The whole quilt goes all prune like and the colours amazingly mellowed right down, and the lovely laundromat ladies told me it was the most beautiful item they've ever washed!!


























Anyway, this is what you end up with.





































































I do love it now......I pass the bedroom on the way through to the bathroom and I just look at it and smile.....I made that,  it feels like a great sense of achievement.....having made so many things for other people, it's nice to have something just for me.

Night, I've got knitting to get back to. Vic x.

14 comments:

  1. Oh my! Vicki, your quilt is spectacular..it truly is. I am so in love with the fabric you chose, they go beautifully together.
    I was going to go the lazy route and just piece the top of a quilt together and make a doona type cover but after seeing how fabulous your quilt looks, I think it will be worth all the blood, sweat and tears to do it properly.
    Nice work, but I didn't expect anything less :)
    Xx

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  2. Ohhhhh... just beautiful, Vicki!
    - Christine xx

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  3. it's definitely a triumph! if i made something like that i'd be staring at it all day :)

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  4. this is amazing! I love it so much. You make me want to give it a go so much, maybe i will just start smaller as this seems like a very large project to tackle straight up. Lovely work and nice you found time to make something for yourself. Your work is beautiful.

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    1. Yes do Bec, the pattern comes in 4 sizes, starting with cot, so you could start small.....these sort of handmade items are heirloom. Vic x

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  5. Absolutely beautiful! You were right to shrink it, it gave it an extra special-ness. Well done you have inspired me to pick up mine again :)

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  6. It is beautiful. I just made a quilt for our bed that I doesn't look right. I am so sad. Maybe I will try this pattern.

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    1. You should give it a go Christine, the pattern is so easy to follow. Best of luck, Vic x

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  7. God, that pinning. That's the worst part of doing a quilt, it's murder on your back no matter where you do it. The results are beautiful. I should really make another one some day (it's been many years!). Well done.

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  8. Vicki I've just found your lovely blog! Your quilt looks wonderful! Great job! I have 3 quilts in progress but haven't completed one yet - It's on my To Do list for 2013. I love the colours you've chosen :) You've inspired me to get cracking on my creations!

    Sophie xo

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  9. Thanks so much for stopping by Sophie. I'm glad I've inspired you to finish those quilts, it's a lovely feeling of accomplishment. May 2013 be the year we all finish our WIP's (works in progress). V x

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  10. This is gorgeous! I am designing my first quilt. It's quite daunting and time consuming but I am been enjoying it. My colours and patterns may not mesh too well together, time will tell. Hopefully it works! I find this post very inspiring to keep me on track. Thanks for sharing!
    Bella xx

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    1. I'm sure it will be just lovely no matter what you do. Colours and patterns are hard to merge together Bella and your gut instinct should tell you what fabrics don't merge with the others. Good luck with it. Making a quilt is such a beautiful thing to do. Vic

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