The rainbow quilt story

When I found out I was pregnant, I decided to get back into quilting and make one for the baby.  It’d been so long since I’d made a quilt I couldn’t even remember when I actually did make one.  I have a vague recollection of some textiles project in year 11 or 12, a massive appliqued monstrosity of a quilt with an ugly face on it.  I figured I wouldn’t go overboard, and it had to be something not too pink or too blue as I didn’t know what I was having.  I didn’t even really think about the size, even though there are standard cot sizes.  So I planned something 1.5 metres square, big enough to last. And I decided a rainbow gradient would work.  I didn’t think at all about the actual quilting part until I was sewing the thing together and I realised then that I knew next to nothing about actual quilting technique.

Practising piecing together to see if my design will work

The design seems to work!

Beginning to pin it together for real

All pinned in strips and laying out for the last time before sewing - I need a proper sewing area!

All top pieces sewn together - I realised later I should have done it as a professional quilter would have, oh well

Putting the top, wadding and backing together ready for quilting

Pinning on the cheap blanket binding I kind of regret using now

Hand sewing the corners

Final sewing of the binding

Now it's used as a playmat

So, although I used lovely (expensive!) bamboo batting in this quilt so it would be warm, and I backed it with flannelette, it still hasn’t actually been used as a blanket yet.  It’s been the Dude’s playmat since he was born, and it does well enough at that.  The only thing I forgot was to prewash the fabric, so who knows what’s going to happen with shrinkage when I do wash it!  I think hand or at least gentle washing is in order.  I shudder to think how the wadding will react!  It turned out well, especially with the actual quilting being an afterthought.  I didn’t do anything special, in fact I couldn’t remember which foot on my machine is the quilting foot, so I didn’t even bother to disengage the feed teeth, I just sewed in straight lines with invisible thread along the seams, so it’s just a simple grid.  It works.

Now I’m onto the next project… a cream/white themed baby size quilt for a friend who is due next month.  I was planning it for the Dude but he is past the stage of using a cot quilt, given he is not even sleeping in his cot anyway.  And I think the subtle, delicate patterns are a little too girly and babyish for him.  I’m going to try a little free motion quilting on this one!  I’ll be sure to upload some photos when it’s done…