 This is the last quilt I made; sadly, it's practically the only one I've ever photographed. If anyone who has a quilt of mine would like to take a snap and send it to me by either e-mail or snailmail, I would be grateful! (Do you like our new fence?)
|
|
 "Trip Round the World"- this can be made very easily by joining strips of material, then cutting the strips across the seams before aranging as seen in the centre. Next step is a narrow border then a wide border with contrasting corners, a backing sandwiched with batting, quilting, either by hand or machine and binding. The colours of Amish quilts are very striking and, although I see no evidence of it here, it was quite common for a small deliberate mistake to be made in each quilt, Amish people being very religious and believing that only God can achieve perfection. |
 Here's
something quite different - it's made more like a collage
and is called "The Snow Queen" - the various
pieces are appliqued on to a background, very often
having been ironed on to a special backing to stop
fraying; they are then attached all round the edges
either by hand or by using a zig-zag machine stitch .
Batting, backing and quilting follow, as before. |
 And finally,
this is a Victorian - type "Crazy" quilt, made
up of random patches, embellished with all sorts of
things, embroidery stitches, buttons, crochet, beads,
"found" items. I think I need hardly tell you
that this would be for a wall decoration, not for a bed! |
If you fancy having a go, check out your local library for a good book on "how to", or join a class or a local quilt group. The latter quite often make quilts as a joint effort, which is much less daunting. If you go it alone, as I did, don't make my mistake and launch into a giant double-bed size!! It's a wonder it didn't put me off for life! Start with a wall quilt, or a baby quilt, or any small item, until you get a feel for it. If you don't like it, you haven't laid out much energy or money. |