The Front

So I realized two things after writing this. 1. Its long; and 2. I wrote it like a Montessori lesson plan without thinking. Go Me!

Here we go:

Materials:

• 1/2 yard each of various printed cottons
• Heavy cotton for middle of quilt
• Heavy cotton or Soft Fleece for backing.
• Pencil and pattern paper
• Scissors
• Sewing Machine

Process:

1. Gather your fabrics for the front. Remember to pre-wash them. Baby DiLossi-Shulman's blanket is going to be Yellow Bumblebees with Green Flowers.

(ooooo....pretty....)

2. Next decide on the size square you want to use for the blocks. For this one I'm doing an 8x8 square. I always add a 1/2 inch of seam allowance. (cuz 5/8 is a silly number to me, and I always forget that number when I use that as the seam allowance.) Cut your pattern out of paper. Lay out fabric and start tracing the squares on the wrong side.

When you've finished tracing out the squares, go ahead and cut them out. I usually do an even number of each fabric. I tend to not think too far ahead and just work with how much fabric I have. If you're going to make a detailed quilt, you may need to think ahead on how much of each square you're going to need. For this one I cut 12 of each.

3. Start assembling your strips. For this one I decided to do 4 blocks across for each strip. (Turns out I'm an even freak. All the quilts I've made need to be even numbers. Ahhh.. geometry.....)

Start by pinning the right sides together of the contrasting fabrics.

Until you have the strip together.

4. Go ahead and sew them together at your 1/2 mark. You could go ahead and mark 1/2 on your square, but I usually mark it on the gauge on the sewing machine so I can just run the strips thru.

5.. Next, press out your seams. I always press the seams open then flip it over and press the right sides. Thats the costumer in me coming out. I got yelled at a lot in college for not pressing well...

(Press it.. Press it real well... sung to 'Push it') (Yeah, I'm a dork, but you love me.)

6. Once you have all of your blocks sewn into strips go ahead and start pinning your strips together.

I usually start with the center of the strip and work my way out. That way I know the center seams are even.

Keep it going til all of the strips are pinned together.

7. Once in a while (especially if you're me and you cant seem to draw or cut a straight line) your strips wont line up.

Like this:

If that happens... just work from the strip that you know is correct and it will work out okay. Besides, people love imperfections in homemade things, its part of their charm.

8. Once your strips are pinned together, go ahead and sew them. Remember to press them well. Then you have the front of your quilt!

Next up:  We add the middle and back it!

A few notes to start.....

The free online dictionary I found define quilt as: A coverlet or blanket made of two layers of fabric with a layer of cotton, wool, feathers, or down in between, all stitched firmly together, usually in a decorative crisscross design.

So remember that quilting is just sewing layers of fabric together in a fun design.

A few things to keep in mind:

• Have fun with your design. I usually don't have a specific design in mind when I go to pick out fabric. I usually have colors or a theme (jungle, bugs, cars, etc.) that I would like to use.
• Always wash your fabric first. That way the quilt can be washed later with out shrinking.
• I usually like to use a heavy cotton for the middle and a soft fleece for the backing. Lately, I've been using the same for both (cuz it was cheap at Jomar) and I'll just dye the white cotton the color that I need for the backing.
• You can do anything... so have fun!