Two Finished Quilts

I just realized it has been over a month since my last post! It never ceases to amaze me at how fast time can pass when you are either busy or doing something fun. In my case it was both. I finally finished the bunting quilt I was making for my sister and that I wrote about in my previous blog post. It was my first queen sized quilt! Here it is all finished.

In the second picture you can see the pieced backing from my previous tutorial.
I also finished a baby quilt for my step-sister who just had a baby girl. I was told her theme was "purple butterflies." So this is what I came up with. Here is the front:

And the back:

I love pieced quilt backs! I think they tie the quilt together nicely and from a thrifty perspective you can use pieces that may be left over from the top.

In my next post I am going to share my favorite quilt basting method so be sure to check back later this week!

Equilateral Triangle Quilt Part 4- Finished Quilt Top

My apologies for the delay with the tutorial.  I was in England, and yes I had a wonderful time! I will have some blog posts about the trip and my crafting adventures there in upcoming posts.  For now lets finish up this quilt top!

So picking up where I last left off I finished sewing all of my rows together and pressing them.

This is the back to show you how I pressed each row in alternating directions.

Then I began sewing the rows together making pairs.

Remember how I said I alternated which direction I pressed my seams? This is where that comes into play.  When the edges are lined up for sewing the intersecting seams just nest together against each other.

If you managed to keep a consistent seam allowance during the piecing of the rows, and did a good job pressing and nesting your seams your finished quilt will show it.  Look at those intersecting points!

Keep sewing the rows together until your quilt top is complete.  Then step back and enjoy your beautiful work!

So what do you think?  I will admit the triangles may be a bit challenging if this is your first quilt, or even your second. I had to rip out a few seams myself and I have been sewing for years, it happens.   However, if you are patient, think about each step as you go along and pay attention to your seam allowances you can do it! As always questions, comments and sewing tips are always welcome and appreciated!

Equilateral Triangle Quilt Part 3- Piecing

Time to start putting this quilt together!  Today I am going to walk you through how I piece a quilt.  Piecing consists of sewing fabric together and pressing it, that's pretty much it.  When I work I try to space out my work stations and alternate tasks, otherwise my neck and shoulders tend to get stiff and sore. So I have my quilt laid out down stairs by my ironing board and my sewing machine upstairs. 

To keep things orderly, and because my machine is upstairs, I am going to work one row at a time  Here I am starting with a blue triangle and I am going to pin it to the charcoal triangle where I want to stitch it. 

I do this for the entire row, pinning one to another and then take the stack to my machine for sewing. I use cotton thread, a stitch length of 1.8, and sew a scant 1/4" seam using a 1/4" foot.

To make this process faster I chain pieced, which simply is continuously stitching one after the other without cutting my thread. It's really easy to do. As soon as one piece is finished take a few stitches before feeding the other piece into the machine.

Once I stitched all the pairs for that row I cut them apart.

Then I bring them to my ironing board for pressing.  First I press along the seam using a hot iron, no steam.

Then I open the pieces and press the seam to one side. I do this for each piece, making sure I press all seams in that row in the same direction.

Once pressed I then join those two pairs to each other, and on and on until I have a completed row.

This is the back, see how the seams are all pressed in the same direction.

Now I'm going to move on to the next row working in the same way except I am going to press my seams in the opposite direction as the first row. I am going to continue working in this manner until all my rows are sewn together.

Its starting to take shape! Like I said piecing is repetitive, but also rewarding when you start seeing all those pieces come together.  I am going to get to work finishing up those rows and will continue as soon as they are completed.  

Equilaterial Triangle Quilt Part 2-Layout

Now that I have cut my triangles I am ready to layout my quilt. I always do this on the floor.  Some people lay quilts out on their beds or a table but I prefer my freshly vacuumed dining room floor. I dont know why, but I can't layout a quilt on a bed. It's very awkward an uncomfortable for me.  However, crawling around on the floor is fine lol! I must be part monkey! So here is my quilt during layout. 

I just randomly placed my triangles row by row until the size was what I wanted. This is the point where I like to step back and really look at what I have done so far. I think of it the same way as looking at art work: up close to see details then back to view as a whole. I do this in two different ways. First, and probably the easiest and most accessible, is to take a picture with your phone.  Which is what I did in the above picture. Second, I have this handy little tool called a quilt viewer.  It is a reducing lens that lets you see what a quilt will look like from a distance.

It was one of my Tuesday Morning clearance finds (I believe it was a whopping 80 cents! I love a deal!) and has turned out pretty handy.  Also in case anyone was wondering no, I am in no way affiliated with Tuesday Morning nor did they compensate me in anyway for saying nice things about them. I just really like that store! So, here is what the quilt looks like through the viewer.

Pretty neat right? Again either way works. I just stumbled upon the viewer and though why not try it and thought I would share how it works, but you don't need it. The objective is simply to step back, look at it as a whole. This helps me see if I like the color placement and where to make changes.  Once I am happy with that I take another picture. I always take a picture of my final layout. This way if a piece gets moved, a pet decides to run through the room, or if I have to get it up out of the floor I can lay it right back out the way I wanted. Now its time for the next step: Piecing!

What do you think? I am pretty excited about it! I like how colorful it is.  Perfect for a bright nursery. Please feel free to comment and let me know what you think, or if you have any questions or tips!