The making of a quilt

A handmade quilt is such a personal thing. This is the story behind the making of this one.

It started with the backing fabric, a gorgeous fabric by Cosmo Cricket from their Odds and Ends collection. I loved it and I knew my niece, who is a big fan of inspirational quotes, would love it too.

During a recent visit, I took my niece into the local quilting shop and asked her to choose five fabrics for her quilt. As she lives in Australia and I live in England I don’t get to see her nearly as often as I would like. Our trip to the quilt shop was therefore a great opportunity to spend time together and for me to get to know more of her likes and dislikes.

So, I learnt that red is her favourite colour, that she doesn’t like overly flowery fabrics and prefers more quirky designs. After much deliberation, these are the fabrics she chose and I think they look great.

Fabrics (left to right): Perch by Timeless Treasures, Rural jardin by French General (Moda), Lost and found red stripe by Riley Blake, Folk tale birdcage by Riley Blake, Velo fleurs by Timeless Treasures.

A few days later I went back to the shop without my niece and, with the help of Merrilyn from Threadneedle Craft, chose a further four fabrics. This is the final fabric selection, just right for a young teenage girl.

Fabrics (top row left to right): Lost and found red dot by Riley Blake, Perch by Timeless Treasures, Red stripe by Sweetwater (Moda) (middle row left to right): Rural jardin by French General (Moda), Lost and found red stripe by Riley Blake, Folk tale birdcage by Riley Blake and (Bottom row left to right): Daisy (maker not known), Velo fleurs by Timeless Treasures, Folk tale fairy by Riley Blake.

Back home and it was time to get cutting. For the quilt top, I used a random arrangement of strips eight inches wide, varying in depth between two and four inches. I first laid out the strips to check that I was happy with the flow of the colours and designs before sewing, rather than relying on chance that the strips would work well when sewn together haphazardly.

The final step, basting and quilting, was expertly done by a local long-arm quilter. I chose an overall quilting pattern featuring stars as it reflects my niece’s name.

My niece now has a quilt that she loves and uses every day. She sleeps with it at night, snuggles into it when watching tv and uses the quotes to inspire and encourage her. Her quilt is soft and warm and lovely. And it is a true reflection of her. She can use it throughout her life and have something beautiful to pass on to future generations. And what could be better than that?