One Quilt Three Ways
In 2020, I was given bags of pre-cut squares, and I used some of them to make four I Spy quilt tops. I placed the fabrics in pretty much the same position on all of them, aiming to balance colors and motifs throughout the quilt. But each one has different borders, backing, and edge finish, and I thought it was a good opportunity to try different quilting designs as well.
Three finished I Spy quilts. I have one more top to go.
The backs — peace symbols on the left, my favorite colorful circles in the middle, and a red that I should have washed beforehand on the right.
Since I quilt on a domestic sewing machine, I am always trying to find a stitching pattern that goes quickly, and that makes the finished quilt supple and drapeable.
I completed the first of these quilts in November of 2021. I gave that one the most effort in quilting — first I stitched in the ditch, then I stitched diagonal rows with a variegated 12 weight thread, and then I stitched the ribbon candy pattern in the white sashing areas. The stitch-in-the-ditch and the diagonal stitching involved using a walking foot and pivoting the whole quilt often, which is not my favorite thing. Overall I didn’t feel the effort resulted in a great effect.
Three stitching styles combined.
The combined-stitched quilt with its backing.
For the next one, I tried a simple large-scale meander. I had a lot of trouble getting into a rhythm with that pattern.
For the backing, I used a piece of red fabric, and then I did a basic machine-stitched binding in a black print. I did not wash the red fabric first, and although I used two Color Catchers, you can see that one of the sashing fabrics absorbed some red dye. Fortunately it absorbed it consistently and not in a splotchy fashion, so it’s not that noticeable.
Basic meander. Or should I say “meh”-ander.
And for the third, I did one large spiral in each large square, and then smaller spirals in the sashing and corner stones. (I got this idea from a consignment store quilt, and it is the most supple of all the quilts I own.)
For that one’s backing, I used a favorite fabric, “Arlee Dotted Disc” from Springs Creative Products Group. That design is from 2012 but it is still available. For the edging, I used a strip of that same fabric for a facing, and hand-stitched it to the back.
Spiral stitching. Of the three, I am most comfortable with the motion of stitching this one.
The spiral-stitched one with its backing. I did a facing of the backing fabric and hand-stitched it down.
The meander quilt turned out to be the most supple, but that may also have something to do with the backing fabric; it was the most lightweight of the three.
I would say all of these results are serviceable but not spectacular, but that’s okay. To me these quilts are about letting the variety of fabrics shine, and I am content to just hold the layers together. 🙂 Of all the quilt steps, I prefer piecing and even binding to quilting. It was fun to try different methods, and I hope I find my perfect method soon!
Nice job figuring out the stitch per suppleness or suppleness to stitch! Must say, I LOVE the backing with the circles. They always call to me, no idea why.
I came across that concept by accident, when I once quilted something as heavily as I had seen in a Craftsy class, and it looked good but would hardly bend! And the ladies in my local quilting group were saying, “Oh yes, that is a problem when you quilt too close together.” If I would actually research and read all the quilting articles I have, I might find that kind of thing out ahead of time, but I am more of a trial and error quilter. 🙂
Wow! Those spirals are cute but look like a lot of work. I find meander the fastest way to quilt. Michele Scott taught me to do one section of the quilt at a time and iron each section before quilting. I find that helps. How do you baste your quilts? I’ve tried every method under the sun, I think.
I have not heard of ironing each section before quilting; that sounds like an interesting idea. I do try to quilt by section but I find myself wandering. My biggest problem is that I don’t have a nice little mnemonic to help me move smoothly through the stitch pattern. I ended up making sort of Ws and Ks and Ts but they don’t always fit into each other nicely.
I have tried lots of basting methods too. My fiber life started with weaving back in the 1970s, and the great thing about that is that everything is held under tension while you are working on it. So I always feel like my quilt layers are too loosey-goosey. For some bed-size quilts I used two big folding tables, and rolled each layer around a heavy board, laid them down together, and hand basted — it gave me the feel of weaving beams that keep the tension even. It took forever but I listened to a lot of good podcasts. 🙂
For these small quilts I am just relying on June Taylor basting spray, and then some strategically placed pins. They stay together well until I can to quilting them.
Yep, I’m using basting spray at the moment, too.
Wonderful job with all three quilts! I like the quilting you did on each one. I mostly stitch in the ditch, but I’m doing some practicing of FMQ. Not nearly good enough yet to try it on a real quilt.
Thank you so much!
My stitch in the ditch never stays where it is supposed to, and when I turn the quilt 90 degrees, it seems like where the rows cross, I always get a pucker.
I’m with you on the quilting. I’m getting a bit better at it on small mini quilts, but haven’t been gutsy enough to try it on a larger quilt yet. I like your quilts, though, and think you did a great job!
Thanks! I really have to steel myself to face the quilting stage but I am always so glad when it is done. 🙂
I really love all of those, especially the spirals.
Very good use of precut squares! You have been very productive 🙂