I have a lonely little singer machine with limited amout of stitch varieties.   It’s a work horse without any frills, yet I manage to home quilt, sew and repair most everything that comes to mind.

With  limited funds to up grade,  I decided to make what I have work FOR me..and do those Large, Beautiful Quilts I see on-line and in magazines.  EX:   BH&G and Quilt Shows.

I basically break my project down into smaller workable stages.

1.   Make the main focus/pattern for the  quilt.    Then sandwich it with backing fabric, batting and my top.     I follow the LINES, or PATTERN with my straight stitch with  mark and painter’s tape the straight lines that go across large areas. OR stitch-in-the-ditch on my blocks and seams.  I buy a minimum of 4 yards of fabric for the backing  and a twin size batting roll for just this top.  

2.  I work out my border/s  using the fabric and pattern.  A Backing fabric, batting & border pattern  sandwich is then quilted, keeping in mind the straight stitch pattern I started with on the MAIN body.   A 20 inch wide border generally takes 5 yards of backing fabric & another crib size roll of batting. Depends on if you are doing 4 sides or 3.     Or if you are bit short on backing fabric use up any extra blocks and stash.  

3.  I love making a “special Header”   for most of my quilts.  They cover the pillows on the bed and seem to take the most of my time with the planning phase.    Make sure you measure and have enough fabric (extras) for this part if you make a Header.  I recommend a minimum of 24 inches x width of your bed for most headers.   I order/buy an extra 2 yards of backing fabric & a crib size bat.     

4.  Getting these pieces all together is a bit tricky.. so take your time,  Do start with the Head or top of your quilt…  Add your bottom or foot of quilt.. Then Make your borders!!  They have to be LONG enough to match from Header to Foot(er).   

joining seams as you add your header, sides & foot..

Start at the Back of your quilt.  Place right sides together, sew a generous 1 inch seam. Turn quilt to the front and lay it flat..exposing the seam from the joined back fabric.  Trim away the extra batting.   

tuck the main body fabric under the Top (addition) fabric.   Turn that top fabric under a good 1/2 inch then top sew it down (thru all layers.)

 Back view:

finished seam is where the dark green meets the stacked coin row.  As you can see, I am not a straight stitcher, but it all works out to be a versatile, user friendly Quilt.. not meant for show..

DD#2 insists this one goes on her “recovery from surgery bed”….  OK.. I can live with that.

 

Get creative:

The back of your quilt doesn’t have to be just one fabric!!  you can piece in other large fabrics,  add left over blocks or use up your stash… just don’t let it overwhelm the front design.   But get creative and use what you have if you run short of fabric.