A couple of cot quilts.

I've not been busy blogging, but I have been busy trying to improve my accuracy when cutting and piecing. Squares ought to do it then, nice and simple. Well, yes and no - it's definitely a big job to cut, let alone piece, a lot of squares really accurately. 

Anyway: here are the results, a couple of brightly coloured attempts, which have been a useful process if not entirely successful as an end product*. 

Both of these are about 62 x 78 cm, so roughly cot sized, and they were fun to make. They are machine quilted, which I'm not particularly great at, though it does have the advantage of being quick. I like the curving lines on this one, it works well against the regular march of the checked pattern.

This one is not quite as successful to my mind, mainly because the straight line quilting doesn't 'do' much for the check pattern, and even sort of breaks it up in a way that I'm not convinced about: I think it's because it sort of chops it up instead of bringing it together. Ho hum.  

What have I learned from making these?

Well: I definitely like working with solid colours. But, I have also found that accuracy is even more important** (or that inaccuracy is more apparent), particularly if there are strong colour or tone contrasts. Patterned fabric is more forgiving on this count.

I'm not very good at machine quilting - and not entirely convinced by it either. It's nice and fast, but I'm not sure it's going to be my go-to method, at least not yet and certainly not for all my projects.

The quilting pattern is more visible and 'up-front' in a design with solids than with patterned fabrics. The interplay between fabric 'noise', (and probably piecing 'noise' as well if you've got a very complex design), and the dynamic of the quilting lines, probably matters more to the success or failure of a piece made in solid fabric.

Mixing fabric types and weights, and particularly mixing up-cycled material with brand new stuff is going to be a bit of a lottery in the wash (and, shame on me, brand new AND unwashed...I know I know I know, I really do know I should pre-wash all new fabric..sigh). 

A just finished quilt is such a lovely thing, all the loft is still in the wadding making it look and feel very satisfying and plump and smooshy looking. That first washing seems to be a bit of a variable. So far my quilts have not only acquired that mostly-charming post-wash crinkle, but have also flattened out considerably as well. I think this is mainly due to the nature of the poly wadding I'm using - tight budget dictates and all that. It's something to think about.

*I'm being a bit hard on myself here - it's not like they can't be use as quilts or anything.

** The question of accuracy is debatable I suppose, and perhaps accuracy is only important if you want or need it to be. I suspect it is never going to be my strongest suit.