FIRST STRIP QUILT (+ a mini tutorial)

I was thinking that quilting might be a bit complicated for a first timer like me, so I thought, can I just be really lazy and do it with strips instead?  I designed a few in my notebook and then googled "strip quilt".  Lo and behold, there have been several people who have already come up with this idea.  There is a great tutorial from "a cuppa and a catch up" and another one from "film in the fridge".  They both make beautiful quilts and I just LOVE the simplicity of a strip quilt.

I decided that to whittle my fabric stash down a little I'd have a go and make a quilt topper in preparation for my sewing class on Tuesday night.  My aim is to take it along with wadding/batting and some binding and get Charlotte (our tutor) to teach me how to finish it off.

Here's what I did:

Cut my strips (these varied some were 18 cm, some 9 cm and some 13 cm).  I wanted mixed widths.  I cut mine 123 cm long, as I want the final quilt to be around 120 cm wide (as cot bed size is 120 cm x 150 cm).

I cheated and up-cycled a section of a quilt cover, which has three fabrics and some lace detail that I love (this saved some sewing time too).

I laid it out, and then paired the strips ready for sewing as per the tutorial from film in the fridge.

This is a pair being sewn together.

One of the blocks of four strips.

Then you sew them all together and iron.  You see that I need to work on lining up my strips and cutting the fabric straight, but it is my first attempt!  When I finish it I'm going to trim off the uneven edges and make it all line up.

I am going to back it with this blue fleece to make it soft and cosy.  I need to go and buy some binding as well - maybe pink?

I'll let you know how finishing it off goes later in the week.

I then have a plan to make another strip quilt, but this time with some cherry fabric.

Nikki

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So the other day I went charity shop (thrift store) shopping for some fabric and bargain hunting for upcoming projects.  I just wanted to share with you what I found because I'm really excited about what I can make with it!

OK, so not making anything with this, but I found this very pretty snack tray (1950's?) for £2.50.  I'm currently using it as jewelry storage - I think it's fab.u.lous.

Here is an alternate view, it looks just fab on my mirrored dressing table.

This was a duvet cover that I got which effectively encompasses three fabric designs.  I'm thinking that I'm going to use this to hack my Ikea drawers.  I'm currently considering covering the fronts of the drawers - watch this space for updates.

I also got this awesome fabric (and a lot of it) for £10.00 from Primark.  It's actually a double bedding set so I got like 2m x 2m of each design.  There were also a couple of pillowcases.  I'm thinking of making some toys with these as they'll look really funky mixed with some plain red fleece that I have.  I mainly bought this lot for a home made birthday present for my sister.  I have until April to think of something to do with it!

I also got some card making stuff for dirt cheap and a lovely little inspirational book.  All in all I spent £25 and got all of this!  Bargainaceous!

So many projects to do - sew little time!

Nikki

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Ok, I have my sewing course project.  My sewing course starts on the 31st Jan at Aberdeen College, I am v.v.v excited.  It's an awesome fish quilt.  As I am, by original trade, a marine biologist this is perfect!  I won the pattern on eBay for 99p, nice price.

What do you think?

I think it will look awesome with the fish in a plain background with a busy background, or vice versa.  It may be a bit complicated for my first quilt but I'm sure I'll manage, it will bea good way to learn.  I'm really excited about learning applique.

I am halfway through an elephant at the moment for a friend's little girl's birthday.  Will post some images tonight when it's done.

I have also discovered Pinterest over the weekend - addicted is not the word!

Nikki

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Sew (ok, bad joke), I confess.  I am a blog virgin.  But I am ready to now partake of this virtual world, mainly because I now feel like I have something to blog about!


So here we go...
son asleep, check, 
cuppa, check, 
snack, check, 
mental capacity, sort of.

Excuse the naff Sports Direct mug, but it was free and holds a decent sized brew.

I am mainly going to be writing about my sewing projects, things that inspire me and things that I'd like to make.  So far I have been plodding along teaching myself, with some success, but I am due to start a sewing and textiles course next week and I really wanted to document my progress, for myself more than anything.  I'm sure I'll also end up blogging about being a mum, a university teacher and the million and one other things that I am to myself and other people!  I am also very thrifty, so I'll be sure to put up some of my useful hints and tips on things I've reused etc.


I'm already thinking about my next post, I'll be sure to get that on soon.

Nikki 

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