Quilts for Jemima and Ben

This morning I finished my first quilt toppers! They're a mix of vintage pieces, limited edition, and cheap cotton prints. For years I've avoided making quilts because I'm an impatient sewer and I'm not great at precision. I knew that my squares were never going to line up perfectly and that it would grate on me when they didn't. This year I decided to give them a go, knowing from the outset that they wouldn't be perfect. I surprised myself by having so much fun making these. I enjoyed every minute of it - even cutting the squares. To make things easier for myself these quilts have no set pattern. I just cut out a pile of squares and then sewed them together however I wanted to.

Ben's quilt is made up of squares sewn into strips with plain fabric sashes in between.  He had a hand in choosing his fabrics (was very firmly in favour of the bird's nests, very definite about not wanting a retro space one I loved - hmmm). Once I had my strips I lined them up and had a play with the placement. I started with a baby blue and then ended up using more of a denim blue for the sashes.

It was around that time that I realised I probably should have laid out my squares before sewing them so that I didn't have the same print next to each other. I'm being deliberately kind to myself when it comes to these quilts. It's all a learning experience!

Next I ripped some blue sheeting cotton into strips and sewed them onto my patchwork. I thought this would be the easy part but it was actually kind of hard to get all of the squares lined up nicely. They're not all even by a long shot, but I think it looks OK and Benny is inlove with it.

For Ben's quilt I used a vintage Fijian table cloth which you can see in the maps, some Heather Ross guitar fabric, and some cheap prints that I picked up from Spotlight for $1.50 per metre.  The tiki in the centre is off an old Nature Baby t-shirt that has been through both children. Just a little piece of home right at the heart of his quilt.

Having made Ben's topper already I made some changes in my approach when it came to working on Jemima's. I decided to use big squares and do a straight patchwork design. Her quilt is a mix of vintage pieces, Heather Ross Far Far Away, and some cheap cotton prints. Her Dad suggested I use an old linen tea towel with printed horses that I've had saved for a rainy day and it really was the thing that made the quilt sing.

Jemima was thrilled when I showed her and we both agreed that the two horses in the square above is our favourite piece.

              

I'm both looking forward to and dreading the actual quilting part of this project. I have a bit of time to work up to it because now that I know the price of the walking foot I need for my machine and the cost of bamboo batting I'll be saving up for a while!

And lastly, thank you to my good friend Kylie over at blueteacups who kindly bestowed the Liebster Blog Award on me. The award is given to bloggers with less than 200 followers and liebster means 'favourite' or 'beloved'. My turn to pass it on now, and I'd like to give it to my talented friend Jo Stanes at Beaux Design.