THE GREAT PINK & PURPLE QUILTING ADVENTURE
(or how to break some rules and still come out OKAY)
This quilting adventure started when I said I would make doll blankets for my 5-year-old grandaughter and her friend. Both had birthdays coming up; my grandaughter was to pick out the fabric.
Off to the store we went -- and don't you know, the exact colors she wanted (Pink and Purple) were on sale in blender pattern. And to make it worse, the exact same blender pattern colors were on sale in both flannel and fleece.
I tried to explain that neither of these fabrics were really right for a quilt, but if you've ever tried to win that kind of conversation with a five-year-old, then you know what I was up against. They felt good to her little hands, and they were the EXACT colors she loved!
So that's exactly what we wound up with! Two yards each color in flannel, and two yards each in fleece (it was a buy one, get one free sale, and I can't walk away from one of those without at least two yards). And how did she want these blankets made? One side flannel, the other side fleece, of course!
Click here to see photos of the doll pieces . . .
After my favorite little dolls (grandaughter and company) were satisfied, there was still enough fabric on the table to make me want to keep playing. A baby blanket for the neighbor's expected new baby sounded like a good idea. I didn't have a particular pattern in mind, but thought I'd like to try a modified version of Rail Fence that I'd seen in a magazine.
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| Pink & Purple as requested! | The "Rail Fence" pattern I'd seen called for 2-1/2" strips to start. |
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| Sew the strips together, face to face. Then press the seam to the darker side (Purple!) That's fine, but I remembered from the doll blanket there is a down side of piecing with flannel -- the seams are hard to make flat! Pressing them open didn't help, either. It's just too much fabric thickness for this stage of the project. |
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| I solved that problem by using a decorative stitch to top-stitch the seam allowance flat. Yes, it was a lot of extra sewing, but the result was definitely worth it -- with a "personalized" fabric design. | Next step was to cut the strips into 4-1/2" blocks, and then decide how to place them. |
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There was another advantage to sewing down all those flannel seams --- using the fancy stitch helped get my granddaughter interested in the fun. It was simple to select the pattern and just sew. She sat on my lap for some of it, and stood between me and the machine to finish "decorating" several strips. That made it HER first sewing project, and a wonderful memory for the two of us to share.
Click here for page 2 -- playing with the pieces to find the best design-->
