12.3.10

one top down

I finally got around to finishing this scrappy crib quilt top. (Say that three times fast - "scrappy crib quilt top," "scrappy crib quilt top," "scrappy crib quilt top.") It's a bit smaller than I expected to make it. The finished dimensions are 36 x 53 1/2 inches. That's still a good size for a crib quilt, I think. Maybe I'm jumping the gun here because I am so eager to have this done and move on to the "Little Village" quilt, but I'm calling it done. I will be quilting it this weekend and hope to have it bound and finished by the middle of next week. I am working on the backing now.

There are a couple of things that I re-learned while sewing this all together yesterday, things that I know yet in my haste totally threw out the window. I think if I had paid attention to these details, the top would be a little nicer (and there would be fewer mistakes):

1. Always square up your blocks before you sew them together. Doing so would have spared me some wonky diamonds at the corners. There are a few bits that don't quite align, and there are seams that are not quite 1/4" inch (sometimes a hair more or a hair less) because my squares were not all nice and flush. For this quilt, I will allow it because hey, I don't think the wee one is going to be offended by that when he's puking stuff up on it. Let me state here, however, that if this were for a friend or a bee, I would have been a lot more meticulous.

2. Always press your seams in the same direction. I was consistent with pressing my seams in the center for the first 2/3 of this top. Since I put this away for a while, I totally forgot that's how I had done it throughout and mixed it up while finishing this last part. (I should have taken 2 seconds to turn over the part of the top that I had already finished just to check and see. Doh!) Not sure if that's going to pose a problem when I quilt it, but for now it's no big deal. Going forward, however, I am going to pay attention to this because it is an important detail (even if you can't see it once the quilt is finished). That and my machine prefers sewing center-pressed seams.

Now that I think of it, I'm glad I will be quilting this top before the "Little Village" top because doing so will be a refresher for me. I haven't quilted anything in a long time, and as you can see I just might have a lot of stuff to re-learn. Happy weekend, folks!

6 comments:

Unknown said...

So pretty. Love the tone on tone and spots of color.

Monet said...

Maritza, I never made the connection that this was you...but I have been following your blog for ages and think that everything you make is so beautiful! It was so great to meet you and I hope to see you at the next meeting (?).

Jen said...

Such a lovely quilt top. I love the energy in the little diamonds and how they sparkle on the tonal background! Wonderful.

grumperina said...

It's beautiful! I think it's a lovely size for a wee babe born right before the onslaught of the hot months :)

Karen said...

That's beautiful. It turned out great!

maritza said...

Hey, Monet! It was great meeting you at the guild meeting, too. Unfortunately, I won't be able to make it to the next one because I will be knee-deep in potholders that day - it coincides with the day we have planned to sort through all the potholders for the swap this year. But I hope to go to the following meeting, though. I'm looking forward to joining you again.