11/19

Our Hand Printed Quilt: Part 2

Bedroom, Budget: $$, Crafts, D.I.Y. Project, Epic Projects (Advanced), Home Decor, Kids Room, Sewing
By Elsie Larson

Hand Printed Quilt with Tutorial (via A Beautiful Mess)Making this quilt was so much fun! As I mentioned before, we handprinted most of the squares (read more here). Mallory stitched the triangles into a quilt. Here are her instructions… 

Elsie and I bought 1-2 yards of quilting cotton in 3 colors we loved as well as white.  For the back we chose a cozy flannel, and the batting is cotton in the crib size (45”x60”) which also works great for a lap size quilt (nobody's pregnant around here—we just like small quilts). We also bought three packs of quilt binding in bright pink to add a pop color.
 
1. If you plan to use your quilt every day, pre-wash the cotton before cutting it out. Otherwise handwash if the blanket gets dirty. I cut the solid fabrics into 8”x8” squares and we hand printed them. We also used some 8”x8” squares of the fabric Elsie designed and printed through Spoonflower. In addition, we supplemented with some basic, commercial black and white stripes and polka dots. There were around 60 squares total. 2. After all the squares were printed and cut, I spray starched the backs and gave them a good press. Some needed trimming. Then, I cut them on the diagonal to have about 120 triangles. 3. I laid them all down on the floor to find the best composition, to balance the colors and prints.  I laid my measuring tape down on the floor to make sure the end measurements would be close to the batting. Of course I also took out the quarter inch per each edge that would end up being seam allowance. Once I finally decided on the layout (after an hour of staring) I cut the triangles that stuck out on one edge in half to make the side straight. I used the discarded halves to fill in the gaps on the opposite side, straightening it out too. 4. I left the triangles lying on the floor and stacked up one row at a time to take it and sew it. Be very organized, so your row doesn’t get out of order or end up backwards. 5. After all of my rows were complete, I ironed the seam allowance (if possible iron it toward the darker triangles so it won’t show through). Once pressed I sewed all of the rows together to finish the front.  Then I ironed all of the new row seam allowance down in the same direction. 6. I laid my backing down, good side facing the floor or table. I then laid my batting on top.  The last layer was the quilt top facing up. I trimmed the layers to be the same size, and pinned it all over. 7. To quilt I stitched down each row then finished the quilt off using the pre-packaged binding! Note: If you prefer a tutorial with photos of each step check out Rachel's or Elise's. 
Hand Printed Quilt
Hand Printed QuiltThe back of the quilt is flannel, so it's really warm. It's the perfect cozy blanket for movies and popcorn on the couch. :) 

Hand Printed Quilt DIY
Hand Printed Quilt DIYI am so pleased with the finished quilt. I love the bold mix of patterns and the pop of pink that the binding adds! This was my first quilting experience. Thank you, Mallory, for lending us your amazing sewing skills. 

Have you ever made a quilt? If you are considering trying one, we highly recommend this mini lap quilt size for your first time. It's small enough to complete in a weekend. xoxo. Elsie 

49 Comments

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.