YOUR FIRST LAP QUILT: Beginners!
Beautiful? OF COURSE! But you do need a few things:
• Eighty five inch squares of fabric. I suggest buying the BOUNTIFUL collection hat Carolina Cotton Company sells for only $9 a yard. Each ½ yard bought will make about 31 of the five inch squares. The collection has eight styles that blend wonderfully! You only NEED to choose four to have a lovely design! Total yardage? About 90 per 1.5 yd!
It would be great to divide by colors and print styles with printed side up.
• 1.5 yards of a fabric blender for the back of the quilt. I suggest Bountiful 7707 in one of three lovely color choices! Carolina Cotton Company has this in stock for you.
• 1.5 yards of Batting. Carolina Cotton Company can send this to you, also.
• You need sewing straight pins!
• A sewing machine and thread!
• Iron and an ironing board!
• A large needle, such as size 3 sharp or one that works well for you. It will be used with Yarn and thread.
• Yarn in one color to match colors in quilt or several colors as you desire.
You need to get the above supplies ready. Be rested and optimistic! YOU CAN DO THIS!
Examine the fabric squares. Take note of what a printed side looks like and what the back of the fabric looks like. You need to be familiar with the difference.
Next, you will be pairing all your 80 pieces. Don’t pair two same prints if you can help it! Take one piece of fabric and put it down with the printed side up. Place a second square with the printed side down towards the first piece. The printed sides will be touching with the back on the back and on top. Pin these together with a straight pin. Repeat this 40 times! You now have 40 rectangles 5’ x10”.
It is time to sew! This is NOT a sewing lesson! Sew one side of each fabric pair evenly. Leave the other three side of the pair unsewn. Do this to all 40 of the pairs you pinned earlier.
If you desire a certain design, lay it out now. Try to sew solid with print, for example, or vary colors. Take two of the sewn together pairs (that’s four of small five inch squares) and pin them just as you did with the single squares (printed sides touching with backs on bottom and top). Do this with each pair! :) You now have twenty pinned pairs.
You know what is next, don’t you? YES! Sew one short side of each new pair. Make sure you put the 5” side with another 5” side. You need to end up with 20 STRIPS of four squares each.
Time to plan and design a bit if you would like! Spread them out with one 5” side of strip touching one 5” side only of another strip. Pin each pair of large squares as you did before- printed side touching and back of fabric on bottom and top. You will only have TEN strips soon!
Time to SEW again! Sew only one short 5” side of your new strips. You have ten pieces measuring nearly 5” by 40”! ALMOST done with sewing the top! (Each strip is eight squares long by one square wide.)
Time to heat up that iron! Place a strip printed side down. Iron one strip at a time carefully ironing down all the seams going the same way. Repeat with all ten strips. Turn that iron off! :)
One last chance to plan and design! Spread the strips out with the 5” on the outside edge. Move the strips until you are pleased with the look of your quilt. You will be looking at a 40”x50” top!
Carefully take the first two strips and pin together matching each seam to the opposing seam on the other strip. (Remember to place the printed sides inside together first!) Sew the two strips together LONG WAYS (not the two 5” side!!). Do the 3rd and 4th strips only together, then only 5th and 6th, then only 7th and 8th then the final 2 strips! Spread the five wider strips out to check your design choice before pining them together two at a time. Don’t pin strip 5 yet.
Sew the wider strips together as before (remember to place the printed side together first!). After you sew the four strips, choose one of the twoon which to pin the 5th strip and sew it as well. You have your quilt top! Way to go!
Time for cutting the back fabric for your quilt and the batting! As your quilt is homemade, it won’t be the exact dimensions of another! Take that topper and cut the back fabric the same size. Carefully use the topper as a guide :)!
This part could be tricky, so read carefully please. Put the batting down and smooth it out. Place the back fabric down next. Make sure that the PRINTED side of the back fabric is UP. Next get your beautiful quilt topper and place it on top with the PRINTED side DOWN towards the printed side of the back fabric. As before, printed sides are “inside” together.
Smooth the layers out evenly. Using straight pins, pin all 4 sides along the edge. For your information: After the next sewing step, you will be pulling the quilt inside out. Make sure to not PIN or SEW up one side completely. Leave about 7 inches of one side UNSEWN to do this! Mark it! Sew the 3 sides and most of the 4th sides outer edges. This is sewing all three layers together! Leave the opening on one side! After sewing, you may trim edges or corners being careful not to get to close to your stitches.
HERE comes the fun part! Carefully turn it inside out. You, of course, want the pretty top and the pretty backing fabric showing with the batting on the inside completely. Take your time and enjoy your creation! You should iron it smooth. Don’t forget to turn the iron off. Once it is cool, use the needle and hand stitch the 7” opening. Make it secure! You’ll likely need to wash it! ;)
My mother does her quilts this way! Get that yarn and large hand sewing needle. You can use ribbon or fancy yarn if you like! You can do these next steps very evenly or randomly as YOU choose! THIS IS YOUR QUILT!
Take the needle with yarn and pierce (all three layers of the quilt) through the top coming out directly on the back of the quilt. Take the needle back through the backing fabric about ¼” from where you came through and bring the needle and yarn back to the quilt top. Cut the yarn leaving the strands about 5 inches long. Tie a knot there and finish each knot with a bow if you like. Do this about every 5 inches. This actually holds your quilt layers together so you should never skip this step!
WOW! LOOK WHAT YOU DID! Now give it away! ;)
;) Lisa of
http://www.carolinacottoncompany.com
• Eighty five inch squares of fabric. I suggest buying the BOUNTIFUL collection hat Carolina Cotton Company sells for only $9 a yard. Each ½ yard bought will make about 31 of the five inch squares. The collection has eight styles that blend wonderfully! You only NEED to choose four to have a lovely design! Total yardage? About 90 per 1.5 yd!
It would be great to divide by colors and print styles with printed side up.
• 1.5 yards of a fabric blender for the back of the quilt. I suggest Bountiful 7707 in one of three lovely color choices! Carolina Cotton Company has this in stock for you.
• 1.5 yards of Batting. Carolina Cotton Company can send this to you, also.
• You need sewing straight pins!
• A sewing machine and thread!
• Iron and an ironing board!
• A large needle, such as size 3 sharp or one that works well for you. It will be used with Yarn and thread.
• Yarn in one color to match colors in quilt or several colors as you desire.
You need to get the above supplies ready. Be rested and optimistic! YOU CAN DO THIS!
Examine the fabric squares. Take note of what a printed side looks like and what the back of the fabric looks like. You need to be familiar with the difference.
Next, you will be pairing all your 80 pieces. Don’t pair two same prints if you can help it! Take one piece of fabric and put it down with the printed side up. Place a second square with the printed side down towards the first piece. The printed sides will be touching with the back on the back and on top. Pin these together with a straight pin. Repeat this 40 times! You now have 40 rectangles 5’ x10”.
It is time to sew! This is NOT a sewing lesson! Sew one side of each fabric pair evenly. Leave the other three side of the pair unsewn. Do this to all 40 of the pairs you pinned earlier.
If you desire a certain design, lay it out now. Try to sew solid with print, for example, or vary colors. Take two of the sewn together pairs (that’s four of small five inch squares) and pin them just as you did with the single squares (printed sides touching with backs on bottom and top). Do this with each pair! :) You now have twenty pinned pairs.
You know what is next, don’t you? YES! Sew one short side of each new pair. Make sure you put the 5” side with another 5” side. You need to end up with 20 STRIPS of four squares each.
Time to plan and design a bit if you would like! Spread them out with one 5” side of strip touching one 5” side only of another strip. Pin each pair of large squares as you did before- printed side touching and back of fabric on bottom and top. You will only have TEN strips soon!
Time to SEW again! Sew only one short 5” side of your new strips. You have ten pieces measuring nearly 5” by 40”! ALMOST done with sewing the top! (Each strip is eight squares long by one square wide.)
Time to heat up that iron! Place a strip printed side down. Iron one strip at a time carefully ironing down all the seams going the same way. Repeat with all ten strips. Turn that iron off! :)
One last chance to plan and design! Spread the strips out with the 5” on the outside edge. Move the strips until you are pleased with the look of your quilt. You will be looking at a 40”x50” top!
Carefully take the first two strips and pin together matching each seam to the opposing seam on the other strip. (Remember to place the printed sides inside together first!) Sew the two strips together LONG WAYS (not the two 5” side!!). Do the 3rd and 4th strips only together, then only 5th and 6th, then only 7th and 8th then the final 2 strips! Spread the five wider strips out to check your design choice before pining them together two at a time. Don’t pin strip 5 yet.
Sew the wider strips together as before (remember to place the printed side together first!). After you sew the four strips, choose one of the twoon which to pin the 5th strip and sew it as well. You have your quilt top! Way to go!
Time for cutting the back fabric for your quilt and the batting! As your quilt is homemade, it won’t be the exact dimensions of another! Take that topper and cut the back fabric the same size. Carefully use the topper as a guide :)!
This part could be tricky, so read carefully please. Put the batting down and smooth it out. Place the back fabric down next. Make sure that the PRINTED side of the back fabric is UP. Next get your beautiful quilt topper and place it on top with the PRINTED side DOWN towards the printed side of the back fabric. As before, printed sides are “inside” together.
Smooth the layers out evenly. Using straight pins, pin all 4 sides along the edge. For your information: After the next sewing step, you will be pulling the quilt inside out. Make sure to not PIN or SEW up one side completely. Leave about 7 inches of one side UNSEWN to do this! Mark it! Sew the 3 sides and most of the 4th sides outer edges. This is sewing all three layers together! Leave the opening on one side! After sewing, you may trim edges or corners being careful not to get to close to your stitches.
HERE comes the fun part! Carefully turn it inside out. You, of course, want the pretty top and the pretty backing fabric showing with the batting on the inside completely. Take your time and enjoy your creation! You should iron it smooth. Don’t forget to turn the iron off. Once it is cool, use the needle and hand stitch the 7” opening. Make it secure! You’ll likely need to wash it! ;)
My mother does her quilts this way! Get that yarn and large hand sewing needle. You can use ribbon or fancy yarn if you like! You can do these next steps very evenly or randomly as YOU choose! THIS IS YOUR QUILT!
Take the needle with yarn and pierce (all three layers of the quilt) through the top coming out directly on the back of the quilt. Take the needle back through the backing fabric about ¼” from where you came through and bring the needle and yarn back to the quilt top. Cut the yarn leaving the strands about 5 inches long. Tie a knot there and finish each knot with a bow if you like. Do this about every 5 inches. This actually holds your quilt layers together so you should never skip this step!
WOW! LOOK WHAT YOU DID! Now give it away! ;)
;) Lisa of
http://www.carolinacottoncompany.com