I’ve wanted to make a Christmas quilt for years.
I’ve sewn lots of festive things in the past; sacks for my sons (that I still bring down for them today); stockings; cushions; decorations; but never a quilt.
Last year I decided it was time. I bought the fabric and cut it out but didn’t get any further. To be fair, I had a very poorly dobermann and everything took a back seat.
This year I decided it was now or never.
Planning the design of the Christmas quilt
My journey making this Christmas quilt has been interesting, to say the least. Not having a clear plan of action and having a limited amount of fabric to play with is not something I would recommend, especially for a first foray into sewing a patchwork quilt.
That said, those who know me, know this is generally how I roll…not the lack of fabric but deciding things as I go!
I had bought a lovely festive fat quarter bundle that I wanted to use and jumped straight in.
Having settled on 4″ finished squares when I originally cut out the fabric, I played with the placement of them until I created a design I liked.
It was going to be a lap quilt. Perfect for keeping the out the draughts whilst watching television. I decided to add a white border to increase the size of the finished quilt slightly and added some of the white into the quilt design too.
The next decisions to make were regarding the binding and the backing fabrics. Not having made life easy for myself, I now had to find fabrics that complimented the existing selection.
I have to say I was really pleased with my choices. They really blended well, adding just enough contrast to the overall design.
Bringing it all together
This is where a plan of action would have been extremely helpful and it would have saved me a lot of time and effort. I initially decided to do straight rows of narrow quilting, but half way through the process I thought it looked too busy and spent a good couple of hours unpicking it all. In the end, I still used straight lines but in the middle of the squares only.
Finishing touches
Next came the binding.
A breeze to cut out using my Accuquilt Go machine and well within my comfort zone when it came to stitching it in place.
Binding was also made easy with the use of my Wonder clips. These clever little tools keep the fabric in place without the distortion that pins can create.
The finished Christmas quilt
Here it is in all it’s glory.
Is it perfect? No.
Would I let you inspect it closely? Definitely not.
Am I happy with it? Yes.
Will I make any more? Of course.
I’m looking forward to snuggling under my new Christmas quilt this year and hoping it keeps my family nice and warm for many, many Christmases to come.
Until next time…
Gaynor xx
