Clashing pieces takes just as much skill as matching it can end up looking shabby chic and cool or a total mess and China bonded fabrics suppliers cause headaches.
Getting Started
When the items arrived it was time to get cracking, I decided it was best to wash the material so that any shrinking that could occur would happen before I cut out the pattern. After sewing my piece of material on as the border I was finished and could not have been more proud!
Although the experience takes time it just makes the end productall China bonded fabrics suppliers the sweeter, I have a brilliant quilt that I can keep on my bed and the skills to make more for friends and family which could be passed down to future generations and I can sit on my porch on a rocking chair ..
I have always been a enormous fan of homemade items everything from jam through to curtains and dresses, not made of the same fabric, so I have always been desperate to give quilting a go. So I decided to go underground and pick my items without the whole world watching, I opted for classic floral fabrics that would clash in a country cottage kind of way.
So I went on the web to find my fabric and patterns, although home crafts are certainly becoming in vogue I’m not sure whether this exciting revival has made its way through to patchwork quilting yet.
Then I decided that the best way to approach my first quilt would be to use a patchwork quilt pattern, that’s when I realised I should have looked at a pattern first so that I would know how much of each contrasting colour I would need!! Luckily I had not picked too far off what I needed so only a slight adjustment was needed. You also need to be careful about where each seem goes because you want them to lie flat when the block is finished and it is quite easy to sew over a bit and realise you have created a lump in your square. So after a lot of sewing, ironing and pinning I have the blocks that are going to make up the top of my quilt, now they just have to be sewn together cue more pinning, sewing and ironing! Phew!
Finishing Touches
Then it was time to make the quilt sandwich, all 3 layers, top, wadding and batting had to be sewn together in the quilting part of the exercise… I should have made it clear that the seams have to be ironed to one side or another, never flattened out down the middle because it will weaken the seam and could cause holes which will not look great. So with it washed dried and ironed I was ready to begin, the patchwork pattern I chose provided templates and told me how many of each colour and shape I would need to cut out, so scissors at the ready I began. Naturally the prospect was pretty daunting there is not only the sewing to contend with you also have to ensure that the fabrics you pick compliment each other whether you are matching or clashing them.. Then I needed wadding and backing fabric and I was good to go. This turned out to be a fairly laborious task and I can’t honestly say that every piece was exactly the same size and there were more than a little bit of fabric pen on each one.
rfher