Tie Quilt Experiement

I haven't had a permanent place for my sewing machine in ... ever ... and I finally set up a sweet little craft room in an extra bedroom upstairs. My sewing machine is now accessible and can be used without clearing off the kitchen table and hauling it downstairs! Yay! It's the little things, right?

So I went to the fabric store. It had been awhile since I bought fabric, and honestly, I didn't really have anything specific in mind. After browsing a little bit and choosing some fun colors & patterns, I managed to leave having spent ... a lot... on varying yards of 10 different fabrics.

My grandma used to make quilts that were scrap fabric—typically old shirts—just pieced together and tied to a backing and batting. She literally made hundreds of them. They are amazing, and I love that we have three of them. I haven't ever tied a quilt, so I thought I'd give one a shot. 

I had enough yardage for a quilt using the teal, red and aqua color palate that I bought, and so I started cutting 6" squares for the quilt top.

 I laid it out on the floor and made sure that no two alike were side by side.

I sewed the squares into long strips and pinned them to my wall so I could  keep better track of my place. I then sewed the long strips together to make the complete quilt top. In between all the sewing, I pressed the seams open. I'm not entirely sure that's what you're supposed to do, but it made it look better. Or maybe it was my imagination?

I used 88 squares for the quilt top, which ended up being about 42"x59". It's not quite big enough to be a twin size, but makes a good sized lap quilt.

1-5/8 yards of red fabric made up the the backing and I bought 1-3/4 yards for the batting.  It was 44" wide. I did cut off some batting off the sides and ends, but am glad I had too much.

Seam binding (is that what it's even called?) scares me so bad,  so I just folded over an inch of the backing fabric onto itself and sewed it all together from the top. The corners were....interesting, but they work.

The last step was to tie the quilt. I used three inch pieces of thin crochet yarn + a tapestry needle to sew a small knot in the middle of each square of the top, making sure I went through all three layers of the quilt. I snipped off the extra, so about one inch of string was left on the top.

This quilt took me about 8 hours spread out over three days.

Things I learned for next time?

• I need to get better at iPhone pics. Seriously. Or I need to keep my better camera in my craft room. Yes. Probably that.
• I hate pinning the fabric together, but it really is crucial to keeping lines straight and other important things like that. I'm just lazy.
• I need to change the blade on my rotary cutter. 
• Folding tables shake too much when you sew too fast.

The Chevron Problem.

So. I think I have a problem. And really, when you think about it, there are worse problems to have. However. This one is growing a little out of control.

The problem? Chevron. As my friend would say, I'm "gently" addicted.

Okay.

Maybe not so gently?

Here's why I love it so:

• It's classic. 
• It's easy to crochet, but not boring.
• It works up relatively quickly. 
• It's versatile.
• You can do a lot with color and stripe work.
• It's always a hit.

And...as a bonus, (maybe not? I'm not sure yet?)

Chevron is really popular now. My first chevron afghan I made back in August 2011 and I haven't been able to stop! But it's everywhere. Rugs, dresses, necklaces, fabrics, paper...everywhere! I LOVE IT!

I've made two adult-size afghans, and am on my third baby blanket.

Here's one I made back in July for sweet baby J.

For sweet baby J's, I used KnitPicks (my fave!) Comfy Sport (my fave!) in Creme Brulee (that lovely mustard yellow) and Whisker (the amazing gray).

For each baby blanket, I use the Sunshine Baby Afghan pattern, which can be found here.

I always buy extra yarn but really need to keep better track of how much yarn I used for each blanket. With Comfy Sport, I used  probably 5-6 skeins of each color. Each skein makes one of the big stripes.

Currently on my hooks is a blue and white one for baby C due in February!

Lindsay's Chevron Throw

I wanted to make a chevron blanket for my sister-in-law, Lindsay, for her birthday, and so I based one off of this Berroco pattern called Madrid.

However, I didn't want that much color so I stuck with Berroco Comfort  (acrylic & nylon) in Hackberry Heather & Ivory and I modified it to 4" wide stripes. The pattern states to work in the back loop of each stitch, which gives it this amazing & visible texture.

Some tricks that I learned along the way:

• TRUST the pattern. Especially on the downslope. It doesn't seem like it will line up, but it all works out in the end.
• Always count your stitches, 9 up & 9 down. 
• At the end of each row and section, I chained one in the working color and then started the new color with my sc in the next stitch.

I love how it turned out!