patchwork newbie need some help!

ChocClare

msb5262 wrote: »

Hello all,

Has anyone made a patchwork duvet cover? I'd love to hear your words of wisdom.

MsB

I have made a patchwork duvet cover before. The "difficult" bit was getting the backing fabric (assuming you don't want it patchworky both sides, that is). It's fine if you're making a single duvet, but double or king size needs wider fabric.

John Lewis in Oxford Street used to sell double width sheeting fabric - d/k if they still do. Of course, you could use a sheet as the backing, just depends if you have one in the colour you want.

My one tip would be to stitch round the squares. If you think about it, you have an awful lot of seams in a patchwork quilt top. Ordinarily that doesn't matter, as you have the wadding and the backing and you stitch through all layers so it's held together. However, with a duvet top, there is nothing except the top and the backing, and they are not stitched together. I'd therefore suggest as you join your squares together, just "top stitch" round each one so that the seam is stitched to the patch - that way you won't end up with any lumpy bits when you wash it. It'll also give it more of a quilty feel - often it's the quilting which transforms a fairly ordinary top into something which looks really nice.

My second tip would be that if you do that, then those seams may be visible - especially on white or light-coloured fabrics (try this if you don't know what I mean, and you will see straight away!). Therefore you might want to trim the seams so they are just a bit wider than the top-stitching, as they'll then show less.

ETA - size of squares (just noticed this) - that really depends on what sizes of fabric you have available. Measure a duvet cover top and then start doing sums. Remember, you can always have it an inch or so bigger, but you can't have it smaller :rolleyes:. Also, you need to add on a 1/2 inch seam all the way round, so whatever size square you decide on, you'll need to add an inch each way to make it turn out right. I have a piece of coloured tape taped to the bed of my sewing machine in such a way that if I hold the edge of the material level with the edge of the tape, it will come up with the correct seam for me. I know there are measurements on the bed of the machine, but they don't extend far enough! And you can also get measury things which attach to the foot - I have actually got one, but my method's simpler (not unlike myself)...

ChocClare

rachbc wrote: »

for the past few years I've been mulling over making an all white patchwork with different patterned and textures of white fabrics - been collecting a few bits from charity shops, children clothes and bedding etc - I might just make 2010 the year i finally get on with it - thanks for the inspiration

If you get a chance to see it in your local library, Crazy Patchwork by Janet Haigh has some nice examples of all-white stuff. Even if you don't like crazy quilting, it's quite inspirational to see how effective it can be to combine eg broderie anglaise with textured and self-patterned fabrics.

I have a magazine called Womancraft which I bought in about 1977 (not that I'm a hoarder ) which had an article about a very crafty lady who had made some things which I thought were quite wonderful at the time (though they look pretty dated now!). Anyway, she had made a wedding quilt out of white, ivory, and cream satin, brocade and velvet patches - they may even have been upholstery samples, I can't remember - and she had outlined all the squares with narrow white velvet ribbon. I looked at it the other day when I was having a clearout, and it still looks really effective 30-odd years on (good grief, I can't believe I've held on to a magazine that long - I was a VERY crafty 15-year-old, you understand!).

Go for it!

beautiful_ravens

Caterina wrote: »

I need to get cheap or free fabric too because I am getting into morsbagging (in case anyone wants to know about this, here is the link that explains everything: http://www.morsbags.com/). The name of my pod is Cool Crafters Morsbag Factory!

I looked at that link, what a great idea!! I might start making some

I also had the idea to make a patchwork quilt this year to use up some of the material Ive managed to hoard over the years and hide in a cupboard :rolleyes:

415SanFran

Try this web site.
Easy pattern, photo instructions, lots of tips. www.quiltville.com look at "A streak of sunshine" pattern.....so easy and very pretty.

rosekitten

if you are making a quilt for the first time
sim to keep it simple for your first one.
wish i was better at describing this but
you might get the gist of it from my
description,my camera is up the wall
so i cant show you pic by pic as I
would normaly do.

Hardcore quilt makers look away now
you will be howling in horror

48 squares of fabric
each oone measuring 11 inches by 11 inches
6 squares to a row,sew 8 rows then sew the rows
together you end up with a panel 60 inches by 80 inches
the seams should be half an inch in size

#buy a piece of wadding 60 inches wide by 80 inches long
there are sellers on ebay who sell 60 inch wide wadding
very reasonably priced even with the P&P on top.

An old sheet or piece of fabric 62 inches by 82 inches
the tricky bit is layering this,pinning into place with
quilting pins.Get some quilting cotton and a decent needle
do tacking stiches accross the quilt and down as well
turn over the edge and stitch.
this is the only pic I have of one I made wishing
now I had taken pics of others.

debbym

WRT getting fabric try charity shops, street markets, sari shops, even online. I have been known to use polycotton sheets from the supermarket cos I liked the colour (hard core traditionalist quilters will be looking away in disgust now ). Try and get material that is the same weight - this is the thickness of the fabric - otherwise you will end up with some parts of the quilt thicker than others and it will wear out on the thin sections first.
The mistakes I made with my first two quilts some nearly 20 years ago were - using a shiny fabric (I had some left over silk in blue and white and made a log cabin cot quilt first) it skidded all over the machine bed when I sewed it (Ok using a not very stable table didn't help) and hardly any of the seams where really straight then I used a thin dressmaking weight fabric for my second quilt, it wore through very quickly and as a result has been in my UFO pile for the last 3-4 years to be repaired as I still love the pattern.
Good luck and let us know how you get on

rosekitten

charity shops get lots of stuff in that is perfect for quilting
especially among the blouses ans size is not important as
your going to chop it up,also check out the kids clothes
you get lovely patterns amongst them.

Another thing definatly worth looking for is sheets
amongst the bedding.they get some good stuff
flannelette shhets make a lovely cosy backing.

Dont forget to wash all your fabrics before you
use them thinking mainly if you are using
brand new fabrics or anything that you pick
up in charity shops that looks like it may be
new,just to see if it shrinks.
It would be a shame to discover it after you
have sewn it into a quilt.

Try to avoid really dark fabrics mixed with lighter
ones unless you are sure there will be no colour
run

valk_scot

Best place I've found for patchworking fabrics is Ebay. No, not the highly expensive fat quarters that most UK patchworkers buy...look instead at the US sellers. Even with postage costs their prices are about a third of what we pay here for exactly the same fabrics, in many cases.

toottifrootti

LilacLillie thank you for your enthusiasm and inspiration! I think your blue and white idea would be lovely and what a lovely present for your son and DiL.

I will be following your progress with a view to trying it myself but I have a question for the experienced quiltmakers out there.

I have a machine but due to health problems I am not able to set it up myself so could I hand stitch the squares together? I know it would take longer but I am in and out of hospital every 10 weeks so I could take some sqares with me but couldnt take a machine!!!!!!

TIA
toots

ChocClare

toottifrootti wrote: »

I have a machine but due to health problems I am not able to set it up myself so could I hand stitch the squares together? I know it would take longer but I am in and out of hospital every 10 weeks so I could take some sqares with me but couldnt take a machine!!!!!!

TIA
toots

Of course you can! This is how the original quilts were made, after all! My one tip would be to draw a pencil line along the stitching line of your patches. I made a quilt like this last year because I wanted to do something in front of the telly rather than be banished to my sewing room. It's amazing how much straighter you stitch when you have a line to follow! And don't worry about doing a back stitch to make it "stronger" - the original quilters used running stitch, and as long as your stitches aren't TOO long or uneven, that will be fine.

Best of luck for your hospital stay and kudos to you for finding something fun to do while you're there.