sunnuntai 19. marraskuuta 2017

Suomi 100, Finland 100 years!

On 6.12. in Finland we celebrate independence day. This year it is extra special and we had many 100 years celebrations, exhibitions, and activities. There is also a Suomi 100 quilt exhibition on facebook.
I absolutely love the idea to make a special blue-white quilt to celebrate our independency and the thought has been in my mind... well... since january. Quite to my shock the months of september and october flew by on my calender. And no Finland-quilt was yet under my maschine.
And with all my other obligations and other half-finished quilts it became also clear, that I am not up to a full sized quilt, because I wanted it to be ready for 6.12. Therefore I decided a pillow case will do, we don't have many of those anyway, and I can surely do a pillow case in one month!

Blue and white fabrics
After browsing possible patterns online and in my stack of magazine. I decided, I wanted something not only blue and quilt, but something modern and which actually comemorates this year and all that it was. Then I remembered having seen online QR-code-quilt with a wedding day and the brides' and grooms' name. A quick google search revealed an easy to use QR generator. I tested several phrases, taking into account the small size of a pillow case.

From there I calculated the size I need for each square, and decided for 1 inch squares including seam allowances, that means 1/2 inch finished size.

Cutting one inch strips
I also decided to sew each square, even though there might be several same coloured ones in a row, to keep the feel and the pattern of the pillowcase even. That means, at first I took a very close look at the pattern to analyse the repeating units. Then I sew several strip units in white-blue, white-white, blue-blue, white-blue-white-blue, blue-blue-blue, etc.

Sewing strip sets
Several strips sewn and pressed

I imagined the pattern into nine units guided by the three big framed blue squares in the corners. From there, I assembled the top line by line.

The top is ready
At last, I framed with a white and a blue thin stripe and a bigger white strip to make up to the 50 cm pillow. Because there are so many seams, I added batting and quilted front and back side of the pillow case, it also gives nice stability.

I am quite happe how it turned out and it the pillow is currently decorating our sofa in the living room.

If you haven'f figured it out yet, the code says "Suomi 100", so this really IS my Suomi 100 quilt.

Have you done any crafts for this special year?


  
The final pillow case

sunnuntai 12. marraskuuta 2017

Recycling fabric for a baby quilt - a first

I wrote in my column in "Tilkkulehti" my experiences concerning recycling fabric. I love flea markets and secondhand stores. Many of my clothes and day to day items were purchased in one of them. But then there is my hobby...
I am almost ashamed to admit, that my quilting fabric is 99% new fabric, in quilting cotton. Quilting is my guilty pleasure. So I challenged myself to try to find cotton fabric suitable for quilting at several fleamarkets and make a baby quilt out of it. The main criteria for me were bright colour, cotton in about quilting weight quality, not too light and not too thick, and also not too washed out.

I received "free hands" in design, when I asked the mom-to-be about the baby quilt. She only asked for bright colours. The gender was unknown, when I started the work, but I knew it would be a boy by the time I added the binding.



The final babyquilt



I ended up buying a couple of shirts and blouses, a cotton skirt, and a dress.

Because of the small pieces for my design and the change in cotton quality, I opted for paper piecing. The template was quickly drawn in "Paint". I didn't feel the need to starch the fabric, but I could see that it might be useful for thin fabrics. The baby quilt ended up being over 50 % made of recycled fabric.

Pulling out the paper pieces after assembling the quilt.

The occasional curse escaped my lips, concerning the small, small pieces I chose to use. But the end result was worth it, in my opinion.


The batting was leftover cotton batting, and the backside is made from an "ikea" fleece blanket to make it nice and soft and cuddly.

The backside, finished quilting.
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I opted for a small meander pattern, with the occasional flower free handed into the quilting. I think flowers are fine for baby boys, too. The thread was Aurifil white to blend and sit into the fabric.


The quilting


Closeup on the front.

I quite liked the experienced and I am sure to look out for good recycle fabric in the future. This is not my last recycle project!

What is YOUR experience with reused and repurposed fabric?