The Disappearing Yellow Block Quilt

On Saturday, I continued to sew the crib quilt.  The big dining table wasn't wide enough to measure the backing (I wanted to bring it to the front to form the binding, as well), so I spread it out on my bed.  I had barely done so, before I had help:

"I'll hold it down for you, Mummy"

Since the quilt top was a square and I wanted to make it a rectangle, I had to made a wider border at the top and the bottom.   I cut the backing fabric so that it extended 2 inches out at either side and 5 inches at the top and bottom. 

"What do you mean I'm messing it up?"

While I waited for him to get off the quilt, I did a load of laundry and hung it up to dry! And I chatted with one of my aunts who called to say that maybe she and my cousin might visit me in the evening.  She called me later to say she's unable to come as my cousin was working till late.

Eventually, I cut out the backing, lint rolled the quilt top to remove Dancer fur, and pinned everything in place.  I brought the edges of the backing to the front to form a second border and the binding, and hand-sewed it down.  I had just enough of blue thread to finish it!  There was about an 18-inch piece of thread left!

 

Just Enough Blue Thread!

Sewing the binding down took most of the afternoon.   After that, I tried to do some "in the ditch" quilting in the machine, but my machine was having a hard time with the thickness of the batting (I just have a very basic sewing machine bought for under $100).  So, I unpicked the bit that I did and decided to tie the quilt, instead.  I couldn't find the blue yarn I know I have (it's probably in one of the bags with one of the in-progress knitting projects).  So, I decided to use 4 strands of pearl cotton in various shades of blue, instead.

The Ties

Each knot is tied twice and each bow is tied twice, too, to make it difficult for little fingers to untie the knots.  

I had tied most of the quilt when I decided to take a break for dinner.  I left the quilt top on the table and this is what happened:

Product Testing!

 I chased him off and finished tying the quilt.  Now I'll have to lint roll it, all over again!

The Finished Quilt

The problem with using the yellow fabric for the border is, it makes the yellow squares along the edges disappear!  The same problem would have happened if I had used the red or the blue, too.  What I needed was a border of a different fabric color, such as green.  Oh, well.  You've no doubt heard of various quilt patterns called the disappearing nine patch and disappearing four patch, etc.  We shall call this the Disappearing Yellow Blocks quilt! 

 

Close Up of the Ties

The finished quilt measures 36 inches by 48 inches, which is the size of the piece of quilt batting I bought.

Tomorrow, I will go over it with the lint roller, again, to remove any fur I might have missed tonight, before wrapping it up and putting it into a gift bag.  I am planning to visit my cousin in the evening to give the quilt to the baby.

Today, I am grateful for:
- Being able to play with fabric the whole day.
- Having everything I needed for the quilt, other than the quilt batting, in my stash.
- My stash is now lighter by two pieces of fabric.
- There was just enough blue thread to sew down the binding.
- Getting my quilt "fix"!

 How was your Saturday?