Monday 2 February 2015

My Third Quilt: part 1










Earlier this month we bought a new bed which is just crying out for a new quilt to go on top. I'm still a bit of a novice when it comes to actual quilts as despite having done lots of small quilting projects such as cushions etc, I've only made 2 proper quilts before.

Sewing time was very limited last week as both of my sons were off pre-school and school ill, but it did give me some time to look at my Pinterest quilt board and plan a quilt. There was one geometric design that, when I realised that it was made entirely from half-square triangles, I had to make. I needed to make sure that my husband liked it too (seeing as he would also be sleeping under it) and so once I had his seal of approval on design and fabrics it was just a case of working out quantities and ordering the fabric. I needed half in a mix of strong colours and half in a single solid colour.
This is where things went a little wrong. The fabric arrived and the colours are fantastic (it's mainly Cotton and Steel)...


...but it turns out my maths let me down fairly significantly and I didn't order enough - I'm blaming a draining week looking after two poorly children (in all honesty it was an embarrassingly simple calculation but let's leave it there).

The cutting was going so, so quickly and smoothly, I was cutting 8 triangles at a time using the Half-Square Triangles, 4 1/2in Finished Square die and speeding though my fat quarters.


With careful positioning on the die I could cut 32 triangles really efficiently from one fat quarter - the fat quarter was folded in half (cut edge to start of selvedge) and then folded over again (central fold to start of selvedge/cut edge) and then it was pressed with an iron before being laid over the die (folds lined up with shorter side of the die).


After realising my quantity mistake I was too bad-tempered to cut the solid fabric but it will get done when the extra fabric that's on order arrives and hopefully there will be more to show next week! 

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