Half Triangle Square Border

Finally finished the border around my little heart appliqued quilt top. These little half triangle squares took almost as long to make and sew together as the whole rest of the quilt top! I had to tweak the border a little to get it to fit but I'm quite pleased with the results.

I decided to make all the triangles go in one direction on the top and bottom border and in the other direction for the sides. The binding around the outside of the quilt will be yellow, once I get that far.

                                      

The little half triangles are not difficult to make, just time consuming. You have to cut out about 80 little 2 7/8 inch squares, half of them white and the rest a mixture of your leftover fabrics from the rest of your blocks. I made a few extra so I could mix and math them better.

Then you draw a line diagonally across the back of each white square and lay it on top of a colored square with rights sides facing.

Then you sew a 1/4 inch seam on either side of the diagonal pencil line, then cut the squares in half along the line. After that, you open it up and press the little half triangle square that you have created. All those little squares get sewn together to form your  outer border strips.  Glad THAT'S done!

Now the next step is to choose a back fabric for it...

 I have 3 possible backs. Not sure yet which one I'll use. Thought I might ask the recipient of this quilt which one she would prefer. :)

Baby heart quilt- A Work in progress

 We took a trip to Penticton BC where I found a great quilt shop on Main Street called Poppin's Quilt Parlour. I loved the selection of fabrics they had and I got the best service from one of the saleswomen there. I found a great book on making baby quilts from scraps which I bought as well as some fabulous fabric which I will be using in the near future. :)

The book is called "Keepsake Baby Quilts", designed by Julie Higgins  published by House of White Birches.  Lots of fabulous ideas, some for beginners and some more difficult. I loved the baby quilt called "A Star is Born"  starting on page 4. 

Rows of 5" X 5" blocks ready to sew together

It says this is a beginners quilt, but I wouldn't call it that. It involves doing 12 applique blocks, which I don't find that easy, plus I found the directions to be somewhat difficult to follow. A beginner would have gotten lost and somewhat confused.

In the cutting section of the directions, it labels each part with a letter from A to J and it has a diagram, but it doesn't  clearly explain what the different parts are for.  It also leaves out a cutting direction for the outer border (made of 2 7/8 inch half square triangles) although it does mention that later, on the last page of directions.

The triangle blocks were easy to make, but the directions called for 12 pastel stars to be appliqued onto 5" X 5" yellow squares. That's a lot of edges to stitch on each star. The applique directions themselves were clear, though. 

Anyway, I decided that hearts had less edges than stars, so I made myself a heart template out of cardboard and made applique hearts instead.  I made 2 extra heart blocks to be able to mix and match better, plus you end up making 14 triangle blocks, but only using 13 so you have some flexibility. (see photo below).

Yellow inner border was added

The inner yellow border is 2 1/2 inches wide once sewn in, and the second border (white) was supposed to be 4" wide, but I only made it  3 1/4" wide as I wasn't sure I had enough white to also do the little triangle squares in the outer border.  Plus I didn't want the quilt to be too wide. The directions states it will be 42 X 42" once finished, but by narrowing the white middle border it will be  approximately 40"  square, which I think is plenty big for a baby quilt.

Once  I finish making the outer border triangle blocks it will set the quilt off nicely.

Second raggy baby quilt

This second raggy quilt has 5 inch blocks once completed. The raggy borders are 1/2 inches wide. It is the same size as the first rag quilt I made, but it has paler, more muted colors than the first one. (See last post). I have plans for a couple more rag quilts, one out of really cute teddy bear flannel and the 4th one with jungle animals, and likely scraps from the first 3. 

I LOVE to quilt! :D

Rag baby Quilt

Just finished my very first "rag quilt" today.  I'm quite pleased with the results, if I do say so and it was so easy to make.  It just requires 2 layers of flannel fabric cut into squares and sewn together with 1/2 inch seams.  How easy is that! :D

My squares are 6 inches, but you can make them bigger if you like.

I sewed the solid orange on the back of the ducks, the solid yellow on the back of the stripes, and the solid turquoise on the back of the sheep.   Then I laid the blocks out on the floor and tried a  few different patterns. I took photos of them with my camera and then chose the arrangements I liked best. 

Sewing the blocks together with seams up

Next step: Pin each row of blocks, then sew the blocks together with the seams up.

Sewing the rows together

After you have 2 rows of blocks done, sew those 2 rows together with the top row  of seams facing up and the bottom row of seams facing down. That way you can see if the top seam is going the wrong way and you can lift the foot and smooth it in the right direction before it gets sewn.

Scoring the raised seams

Once all the rows are sewn together, the last step requires a good pair of scissors and a strong hand. make little snips all along the raised seams of the quilt, about 1/4 inch apart. Do the same around the outside of the quilt as well. 

Last, wash the quilt in cold water on gentle cycle and dry it.

Smooth out the blocks and, VOILA! you have a soft cuddly little quilt. :)

This one is 30" X 30" inches in size.

I loved the results so much that I quickly made another in pinks and purples.

These squares were also cut 6" ( 5 1/2 finished) with 6 rows or 6 blocks for a finished raggy quilt approx. 30" by 30". (This is my little girl version.  :)

Other projects:

"Buttercup baby"

This pattern is from  Creative Knitting Magazine, May 2009 issue on page 52-53. It's called "Buttercup Baby Set". I have made the matching blue bonnet now as well, and am currently working on a yellow version. I also plan on making the booties to match both  the yellow and the blue sweater.

Preemie beanies and Striped Cardigan

The striped cardigan is from the "Knit Simple" magazine  Spring/Summer 2006 page 81/82. (Downfall of this one: too many colored ends to weave in.)

The Preemie beanies are from  Creative Knitting magazine March 2007 issue.  I made one beanie in all 3 sizes, but like in the story "Goldilocks and the 3 Bears", one is too big and one is too small, but I think the middle one might be just right! :)

Hmmm, you'd think there was a baby coming or something..... :)