Quilting

I'm already working on my next sewing project 😂 (baby quilt for my friend)

I have quite a few of spare hexagons and fabric and Project Linus have said they will take these and use them to make more quilts. I shall gather my scraps and hexagons and make sure these are sent to the Project Linus team

The finished quilt! I'm so happy. To be honest the tying off on the sewing machine was an emotional moment for me. I'm really pleased with how it turned out and for someone who hadn't done anything like this before, I'm stunned at how far I've come. I couldn't even imagine making anything like this, I couldn't even use a sewing machine when I started!

Once the seams have been sewn on the sewing machine. Take out all the basting stitches

Once the basting and pinning of the outer edge is complete, it's time to take this to the sewing machine. At this point I could really see the finish line. I seed right along the edge of the folded seams as you can see in the picture. This gives the neatest look and ensures the quilt is secured and doesn't unravel

So once I'd spent a week sewing in between the hundreds of hexagons (I was so happy once the stitching a ditch was completed), it was time to finish off the edges. I wasn't too sure how to initially do this, so I thought I'd use the techniques I learned making the smaller baby quilts. This involves trimming down the backing fabric so there's a 5cm gap all the way around the quilt. Then you do your corners, you fold the fabric so the point meets the corner of the top, you then cut along the folded line, fold the fabric so that it touches the corner and then fold over itself so that it's slightly overlapping the fabric on top. Once this is complete, the edges need folding in a similar way, where you fold the outer backing fabric once so that the fabric edge meets then edge of the top, then you fold again over itself. You the pin this in place. Once all the pins are in, the seems the need basting in a contrasting thread. I didn't take the pins out after basting, I kept them in.

Soooo... we're back to the quilt, I've picked my filling (thanks to the lady in John Lewis) that has been picked especially so that it's not too thick that it can't be used as a baby's blanket (although it is a bit too big for a cot quilt). Behind the white wadding is a pale blue fabric that will be my backing. I initially pinned and ran a running stitch through the top and middle layers and then put all three layers together and pinned and stitched them. I then ironed this and got this ready for the sewing machine

Machine quilt number two - and my corners are getting a lot better 😁

I hate ironing. I really hate it. I don't buy clothes (even if I really, really love it) if I think that one spin in the washing machine will involve me going anywhere near the iron. However, with sewing, people really don't stress the importance of ironing enough. With the oven gloves, ironing was essential in order to achieve a remotely polished finish. The quilt (machine quilt) would've been impossible to have made without ironing. With the third oven glove, I ironed even when the instructions didn't tell me to and I think the third glove is a huge improvement on the first! So, iron...

Oven glove attempt three! Same method as the first glove, this time I followed the instructions closely and didn't skip steps. I'm really pleased with the outcome!

MY FIRST EVER MACHINE QUILT!!!! I'm so excited about this quilt and it was so easy to make. I learnt about seams and hemming (hemming was a bit tricky), I took my time with this one and exercises patience. I was in no rush to complete this one but it was just so quick! Quite a bit of ironing involved. Overall, I'm really, really pleased with this - especially as this is only the second thing I've made on the sewing machine and my first ever completes quilt! How very exciting! I'm going to buy myself a bigger sewing book as I'm going to run out of projects haha!

My finished oven glove! So the fabric doesn't match (see stripes); the binding around the edge isn't the best and it's not overly straight. But... I did it! I made something on a sewing machine. The end product is functional and I have had no formal training. The last time I used a sewing machine was 12 years ago and even then I only used a machine a handful of times. I am happy, I have actually accomplished something! I've also learnt about different fabrics and working with mattress ticking. Overall I'm so pleased with the outcome, yes, it could've been better but for a first attempt, I'm feeling pretty excited!

Soooo... I got a sewing machine for my Birthday! 😁 Here's me attempting to make an oven glove! I bought all the fabrics and items I needed from a little shop in Rochester. I've also spent a small fortune in HobbyCraft on a whole manner of items. I did quite enjoy learning how to use the machine (which took me over an hour). When making the oven glove I learnt about bias binding and binding with cord. I learnt to change the foot on my machine to a zipper foot and learnt the function of the various feet to fit on the machine. In the spirit of all things quilting, I shall be making a basic lap quilt on the sewing machine when I get a chance. I've picked out these gorgeous fabrics to make the quilt (pinks, golds and Art Deco and floral patterns). The quilt should be a lot easier to make than the oven glove 😉

Days 107 - 120 The basting is complete - 600 hexagons! It took me a while longer than the first 600, mainly due to me being a lot busier but it's done! I can start whip stitching them all together 😁

Basting When I was basting the first half of the quilt, I didn't put a lot of information about how I did this. The photos above pretty much sum up how basting takes place. There are two really important things I've learned: 1. Making sure your fabric is tight over each side of the paper hexagon is crucial - if you have loose sides, you'll have different size hexagons. Different size hexagons is an absolute nightmare when whip stitching the hexagons together. 2. It's important to secure the folds on all the corners so your tight sides stay in place - this involves an extra stitch at each corner. Some tutorials didn't say this, some did but if the extra stitch does anything - it ensures the sides do not poke out and keeps everything neat and flat.

I'm basting again! It's taken me a little longer this time as I've been really busy. I've got approximately 240 more hexagons to baste (two packs of six quarters - a quarter makes exactly 20 hexagons), I hoping to have these all finished over the next week or so 😁

To be honest, aside from printing, I’ve done very little on the quilt since last Sunday. This is mainly due to the fact that I’ve got to sew the whole quilt all over again 😩 From that realisation, I just felt like going on protest. But finally today, I’ve picked the scissors back up and have started cutting out my next 600 hexagons. The quilt is going to look pretty impressive and there’ll be nearly 1200 hand-stitched mini hexagons. I’m trying my best to stay positive. So tomorrow, I’ll finish cutting out the hexagons and on Thursday, I can start basting again 😬