Thursday 24 March 2011

charlie brown

Okay before anyone coos,
this is my first machine jobby.
Its a learning quilt to let me see if I can actually handle 
machine patchwork.
Let me say that there are MANY issues,
but that was the whole point right?
I didnt want to cut up the lovely fabric
before I'd even tried me out first!
I believe that patchwork can be made from whatever fabric you have
Special quilting fabrics are lovely,
and I will be using them on quilts I plan to sell.
However traditionally quilts were made up with
scraps of fabric,
there werent quilt shops back in the day.
This being an experimental quilt
I have used a 100% cotton beige sheet and
some plain white cotton.
 half square triangles make up this zig zag pattern.
The easiest way is to take two 10" squares of each colour
place them right sides together
draw a line from corner to corner.
Then simply sew1/4" either side of the line
and cut down the pencil line,
and you have two hst
This very much reminded me of Charlie Brown hence the name.

first ever use of walking foot and quilting bar.
homemade binding

floral backing
So things I've learnt:
squares must be accurate
(to achieve perfect points)
iron all seams to the light side
light weight fabrics should not be used for backing
(puckering!)
dont ever quilt so close again
(I cant sew straight and it ate up my thread!)
Dont sew too scant a seam when attaching the binding
(as you'll miss some of the edge when sewing
as I have done!)
check the bobbin thread before setting off
(to avoid sewing imaginery lines on you quilt!)
check the backing is still taut
(to avoid puckering and unpicking!)
 I spy with my little eye something beginning with F
 (Diane!)
On the whole some very good things learnt!
I really like the colour way too.
Hopefully something very pretty to follow.
ps. it survived the wash!
Think it may have shrunk slightly?

16 comments:

Simone said...

You learnt many lesson didn't you! I am scared of the sewing machine ( did once get my hair caught under one at school!) and think you are very brave and clever to produce such a fine 'experimental' quilt! I look forward to seeing the next one!

Anonymous said...

I likes it a lot!

When I'm quilting on the machine before I start I usually wind a good half dozen or so bobbins up ready - that way if I do run out I can just pop another bobbin in without too much faffing around. This is my (possibly useless) tip of the day :)

Shortbread and Ginger said...

What a beautiful quilt - love the colours!
Liz

Diane said...

Well, for a test quilt its pretty brilliant!!! That machine looks the Biz! And the floor looks amazing!!!!! Another trip to Ikea for me then xxxxxx

greenrabbitdesigns said...

Well I'm impressed Clare, it looks great!!
The colours are gorgeous but then you have put all my favourites in there. :)
Vivienne x

Unknown said...

I'm way impressed Clare! Well done you :) Looks just lovely ...

{Love, Love, Love} said...

Wow...it looks amazing, Clare x

Lisa Jayne said...

Hi Clare, for a first attempt at machine quilting you should feel jolly pleased with yourself. I had my first go at machine quilting last year and don't plan to do another like that again in a hurry. I found it very difficult to quilt nice straight lines, and much prefer being able to plonk quilt and hoop on my lap and either watch a film (anything black and white with someone swooney is a given!), kisten to an audio book or radio 4 (not sure when I became such an old lady when I have only just turned 40!)
Thought the tip about bobbins was excellent, and will use it if I am doing a lot of patchwork in one go, so not a useless tip at all.
Regarding fabric for quilts, I bought a My Little Pony duvet cover and cut around the edge, and then put wadding inside the two layers and then basted it together before machine quilting it for a friends birthday present. I also have a Paddington Bear duvet cover to do the same with for one of my younger sisters, not sure if I will machine quilt it though as I just found that way quite stressful.
Just been reading your blog from the beginning, enjoying reading about your garden as much as your sewing, you are definately a lady after my own heart.

Vintage Tea Time said...

LOVE IT!!!!

**Anne** said...

This is a lovely quilt and really like the pattern.
Anne xx

Juliab said...

I love the chevron pattern - it looks great on your sofa. Not entirely sure my first attempt at machine quilting is going to make an appearance any time soon. x

hanhan said...

Beautiful!

Lisa said...

Just look at you go! The fabric you chose for the backing is lovely as is the binding.Well the learning quilt did exactly what it was designed to do then. There'll be no stopping you now!
Lisa x

noelle said...

Its wonderful!!

elsy said...

fantastic...well done...very inspiring blog as i am building up for first attempt

gillyflower said...

Clare it looks fab! Love the contrats witht he neutral punchy zigzags and the great turquiose binding, with the modern floral back - beautiful!! Well Done!!!