I started this little quilt a few weeks ago from some fabrics that were already in my stash.  The main squares in the middle of the quilt were from a stack of fabrics from Camille Roskelley.  I love the combination of the red and the light turquoise which happens to be her signature color combination.  Then, I added some other fabrics along the way for the borders.  This quilt was not pencilled out or designed before I started sewing.  Rather, I just let the fabric selection and final design come to me as I stitched.  So, we pick up the quilt here:

Measuring for the Second 6" Border

I love adding borders to quilts.  I have tried all different styles and sizes and each quilt wants a different type of border.  You just have to pull different colors out and see how they work.  And, then play with sizes.  I ended up doing three borders on this quilt.  A 2″ border in white to frame the squares in the middle.  A 4″ turquoise border and then a 6″ border in the large pink floral.  The other thing that I paid attention to is the colors that were in the quilt that I wanted to highlight.  In this case, it was the pale turquoise and pink.  Also, you will notice the scale of the print on the two border fabrics is quite different; the turquoise with a smaller scale print and the pink with a larger scale print.  I didn’t particularly plan it, but I do know that you want to change up scales of print throughout your designs.  Too many large scale prints next to each other is often offensive to the eye and too many small scale prints makes it too busy.  Rely on your eye and play with combinations.

Pinning is the Key

My tips for making sure your borders fit correctly:

• Measure your border size using the middle of your quilt and not the ends.  If your quilt is “wonky” and not perfectly square at the corners, this will help to straighten it up.  Measure from the middle, but the border and then attach to the end of the quilt.
• Now, if the size is not exact, you will need to stretch or bunch up the border and then pin.  You want to spread out the excess or the lack of fabric across the entire edge.  Trust me - we all create “wonky” quilts at one point or another.  The border is the trick to fixing this.  Be patient and don’t get too pissed off.
• Pinning is the key to making sure that your borders are affixed correctly and match up end to end.
• DO NOT measure your border at the end and then free sew.  Your quilt will be worse off…trust me.  Been there…done that.

Close Up of Front Panel

When your front panel is all done, make sure you iron really good so that it is ready to be sandwiched with the batting you have selected and the back.  I like to create the backs to my quilts so that they have a little bit of personality.  When I first started quilting, I hated doing anything on the back because I just wanted to get the quilt finished.  Now, I like to take my time so that the front and the back are just as nice.  The product of a good pressing job is that the back of your panel looks like the photo below.  Well, kind of…there are still a few seems that need to be repressed.  By the way, I hate ironing my clothes….but, I do iron my quilts.

Back of the Front Panel - The Iron is Your Friend

Then, it is off to creating the quilt sandwich:  front, batting and the back.  I always use 3M 303 spray adhesive to create the quilt sandwich.  It is the quickest and easiest way to do this…I have tried all different ways and this is my preferred method.  Then, I quilt.  I use my own Bernina to quilt all of my quilts.  I drop the feed dogs and go for it.  The next few pics show some closeups of the quilting.  I just used the standard stipple (meandering) pattern.

Quilting Close Up

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Quilting Close Up

And, here is the finished product.

She's All Done

Perfect Spring Quilt

Here’s a quick snapshot of the back of the quilt and my label….I wasn’t very good at labeling my quilts in the beginning.  Now, I label all of them.  You never know where they will end up (or where I will end up).

Back is Matching

This quilt is up for sale at my etsy store.  Check it out here>>>> Spring Quilt on Etsy

My next quilt is already rolling around in my head.  It has something to do with green pastures and cute sheep.  Stay Tuned!  Have a lovely day and do more of WHAT YOU LIKE!