The Loving History Of Quilt Bedding
Women made strings from used, old, and new fabrics. All fibers and thread counts were candidates for the string quilt including the thinnest dress fabrics. Often, a flour sack served as the foundation fabric for sewing string pieces onto, in the flip-and-sew fashion, until the foundation was covered. They snipped off fabric leftover around the pattern edges, and the blocks were sewn together as any patchwork block would be. As a result, some string quilts offer a cacophony of fabrics not often used in quilts.
The best fabric for simple quilt patterns is 100% cotton because it minimizes seam distortion, presses crisply, and is easy to quilt. Good simple quilt patterns specify quantities for 44/45" wide fabric unless otherwise noted. You'll need to allow for a little extra yardage to accommodate minor cutting errors and slight shrinkage.
The method above uses machine embroidery on relatively small quilts. Larger quilts can be done the same way or may be quilted with machine embroidery by individual quilt blocks. Experiment to decide which method is easiest for you and remember that the machine embroidery quilting method may change with each unique project.
The hardest decision is in choosing your colors and materials. Remember to always use complementary ccolors in a selected tone of pastels, dusties, or jewel tones. Strive for a pleasing mix of textures, patterns, and solids. As you sew make sure the pieces complement each other in color and fabric type. Above all, remember to never put pattern against pattern to make sure your beautiful embroidery stitches will show up! Always bounce a solid fabric against a patterned fabric.
Quilt Blanket Here is a basic Crazy Quilt pattern you can use to try your hand at crazy quilting. Just remember that you can do this many different ways, and that this is only meant as a suggestion.
A hand quilter will use a frame or a hoop to keep all pieces together while using a variety of basic running stitches in and out of each piece while stretched taut. It's at this point where details are sewn with as little or as much as the quilter prefers. From the outlining of patterns to hand stitching every petal of every flower in each block. This is time consuming but often the most rewarding part of quilting.
Decide the amount of usage the baby quilt will receive and how often it will be cleaned or laundered. If the project will be a wall hanging, more intricate patterns could be considered as opposed to a child's personal blanket that will be well-loved.
The middle layer or the batting is the inner layer between the quilt top and the backing. The batting gives the quilt its thickness and strength, not to mention it's coziness. You can purchase batting by the yard or precut to fit different bed sizes. It's important to remember to follow the manufacturer's instructions for pre-treating and washing your batting.
