The weather outside is absolutely frightful. It's a frigid -10 degrees before the windchill. Sure, living in the midwest leaves me with little room to complain about the arctic tundra in January, or the sweltering humidity in August. When it's this cold outside, all I want to do is curl up on the sofa with a mug of hot tea and a cozy blanket.
I've already had three cups of hot tea this morning, mainly to keep my hands warm. I also had a chance to finish up the lovely scrap quilt seen above. All that was left to do was the binding. Later in this post, you'll find the tutorial on how to make this quilt.
I do my best to use up scraps of fabric. Whether it's in a quilt, as eye masks, rice packs, key chains, you name it. I even managed to make a fabric pom-pom for my daughter to hand in her room using selvaged edge scraps. Admittedly, that was a little over-the-top.
This morning, in addition to over-caffeinating and binding a quilt, I also put together this lovely sea horse blanket.
The gender neutral green canvas with white sea horses, combined with the snuggly minky is great for anyone. If you are interested in purchasing this blanket, it can be found here.
I also baked a batch of cookies, thanks to Smitten Kitchen's awesome recipe. I took some creative liberty (as I always manage to do in the kitchen). Instead of adding peanut butter chips and chocolate chips in to the batter, I placed milk chocolate stars on top of each one after they came out of the oven. Don't they look delicious?
All this while the kids are home from school on a Wednesday (because the buses don't start when it's this cold out). Enjoy the following tutorial and happy sewing!
To begin, cut your fabric. As you can see, there are two vertical lines that match up down the middle of the piece. These split the quilt into three total blocks. Each block has varied height rows, and within each row, there are varied width pieces. A good example to follow is from Birch Fabrics. Or, you can make your own as I did here.
Be sure to pin your pieces together but remove your pins before your sewing needle gets to them. If you sew over a pin, you can (and will) break a needle (the needle may fly off and could damage you, or someone/something else).
It is recommended that you sew with a 1/4" seam allowance throughout your piece. You may choose a different seam allowance, just be sure to be consistent across each row. This ensures your final product is the length you measured and cut for. Also, be sure to sew your piece right sides together. You will need to use an iron quite a bit during the cutting and seeing process so be sure to have one handy.
Here, all three block have been completed and are ready to be sewn together. Full disclosure on the blocks... The block on the far left had one row wider than the rest. Although I'm not sure why I measured it wrong (it was with the narrow row that had multiple pieces, so my seam allowance variance was off in my favor- if it were too short, I guess I could have added another piece), I did and had to cut off the spare bit. If this happens to you, don't fret. Make the necessary adjustments and/or repairs.
Be sure to line your rows up right sides together, and pin the length before sewing together.
For the quilting, I chose to use a less traditional method of tying. The easiest way to keep your top, back, and batting together is to use curved safety pins. These are available from numerous online retailers.
Ensure your safety pin goes through all three layers. It is not uncommon for the pin to only make it through two layers.
This blanket is tied in the center of each rectangle, although you can tie in precise increments, or at the corners instead. In general, as long as you have tied every eight square inches, the final quilt should hold up find to use, and washing.
To finish this blanket, I used the back fabric as my binding. To finish your blanket, bind it in whatever way you prefer. Likewise, if you prefer to quilt your blanket in a way other than tying, I recommend you do so. The final measurements on this blanket are 42"x30". It's a perfect size for a baby, toddler, or someone who is wheelchair bound as a lap blanket. Regardless of the use, it's a lovely way to use up spare materials that may otherwise continue to lay around.
In case you were curious as to what fabric was my backing/binding, I chose this lovely decorator canvas print. The colors tie together nicely with the fabrics on the front. Although this blanket is prefect for anyone, the scrap fabrics I chose are made from a variety of fabrics: flannel, cotton, canvas, satin. The tactile awareness it brings makes it a wonderful match with any youngster exploring the world around them.
To purchase this lovely scrap fabric quilt, visit my website, or click here to find it in my Etsy Storefront.
As always, thank you for taking the time to visit my blog! Be sure to find Caught Red Threaded on your favorite social media outlet.
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