Quilty for a Cutie…

Let's be clear, I'm not a professional quilter by an stretch of the imagination. I'm an ok quilter at best. I never learned to quilt from anyone, never took a class, anything I know is gleaned from others online and on YouTube. So, there you have it, no judging of my quilting skills, or lack thereof. But, I do enjoy making them!

Past attempts can be seen in these links:
The First One Made (scroll down, it's in there)
Quilt for Little Man
Harmony's Blankie Quilt
For Big Girl
Sister Quilts
Doll Quilts

A couple of years ago, my sister sent me a box of vintage linens. Hankies, pillowcases, dish towels, etc. I never really knew what to do with them until I found inspiration in thisthis and this via Pinterest. (all are pinned on my "Green" board) So, I decided that my sweet little niece (see Sister Quilt link above) needed another, larger quilt from me for her Thanksgiving Day birthday.

To begin, I grabbed the box my sister sent and some other vintage linens I have been collecting and selected my favorites…
 Many of them were very thin…
 I ironed on interfacing to make them stronger. I used Pellon 950F.
 Some pieces had stains and holes, I cut around all of that…

 Here are two of my favs, how sweet is that duck?
Then I raided my vintage fabric stash, grabbing everything the least bit girlie…
I decided to use mainly small floral prints to highlight the large graphics on the hankies…
I like to iron all my fabrics and put them on a drying rack until I cut them…
While ironing them, I make a mental note of any stains or tears that need to be cut around…
I love this piece of vintage fabric I have been saving for just the right project. Isn't it adorable? I will fussy cut the areas that I want for the quilt…
I got to cutting. Here is what I do. I pick a height, in this case, 6 inches. I make all the pieces that height and vary the width from 2.5 - 6 inches. I like the randomness of it AND I'm not worried about lining anything up. My kind of quilt!
 You can see the variation in width on each of the piles…
Then, I laid out the pieces that would be the center of the quilt and played around with them. I really liked all the animals, scenes, etc. but felt there was too much white. I needed some contrast in between these blocks. Due to the size of the hankies, these blocks are 8 inches high.
I went through my cutting scraps and started sewing some of them together. I cleaned up the edges and cut pieces that were 8 inches high by about 2 inches wide.
I put them in between the large blocks. Much better…
I then started grabbing pieces off the stacks and making rows above and below. I stand back once in a while and make sure I don't have too much of one color in an area…
Now the sewing will commence. I mean who wouldn't want to make a quilt for this cutie??
I promise to show you the finished product. Hopefully before Thanksgiving! Teresa

8 comments:

Judy said...

What a great way to make a special quilt for a darling little girl!

MissesStitches said...

This looks very good, Teresa! Nice construction process. I love the look of the vintage fabrics.

Green Bag Lady Teresa said...

Thanks Judy!

Green Bag Lady Teresa said...

Thanks Jan! Not how you quilt…

I don't think I have the patience for that!

harmony said...

Stinkin' cute! OMgoodness!!!
Love all of this.

Tami C said...

That is going to be one fantastic quilt for your niece! What a great idea using the vintage fabrics your sister sent you to make it. I'm sure she will just love it!

Green Bag Lady Teresa said...

Thanks Harmony!

Green Bag Lady Teresa said...

Thanks Tami, you can see it on Sunday. :)