COMPLETING AN ESTATE SALE QUILT DURING THE CORONA VIRUS CRISIS

Another crafting project I have completed during the stay at home order was this one.

One of my junking friends is always on the lookout for items that would interest me.  Every once in awhile, I will mention that I'm  looking for a particular item.

One day this past winter, she texts me a picture of a hand quilted front that she saw at an estate sale. She knew that I had worked with quilting(though I am far from an expert) and told me that the topper was on sale for$10.00.  Now, think a minute.  Just to cut all of those pieces out and then, hand

stitch all of the triangles together!  That took a lot of time and energy. 

Part of the reason I said yes was because every crafter knows, that for every one project you complete, there usually is another that is NOT finished.  It is so aggravating.  I wanted to complete this stranger's project.

Here is the quilted fabric.  It was made with flannel fabrics, so its very soft.

 I believe it's a twin size quilt. I have it laying across the queen bed in the guest room.

Martha, my quilt expert, mentioned that for a while now, instead of putting batting in her quilts, she uses mink fabric.  She states that if the person lives in the south, she purchases light weight mink and if they live in the north, she purchases heavy mink fabric.  I'm sure you have all seen mink fabric.  When it first hit the fabric stores, a lot of it had dimples.  I made a pillow using this fabric.

Getting back to using mink fabric for a backing.  Martha says that instead of having 3 layers to sew together, you only have 2 because the weight of the mink fabric is substantial.  I bought my mink fabric and it comes in multiple colors.  I was lucky enough to be there for the 40% sale.  (See ticket)  Important note.  Always wash it before making it into a quilt.

I think in the old days, we used to call this a fur type fabric.

The light pink fabric matched the front of the quilt.  Now, all I had to do was buy the binding.

The stores had closed down so I had to order my binding online. 

Martha suggested that I buy Repositionable Adhesive.  You have to buy it at sewing supply stores.  What is so great about it is, you don't have to pin your 2 fabrics together.  She suggested laying the backsides together.  Then starting in the middle, spray the adhesive and spread the fabric flat and work your way down the quilt.  The adhesive is forgiving so if you made a mistake, you can move your fabrics.  She also had tried numerous types of adhesive and found this one to work best.  Pay attention to lessons learned by the experts.

I basically just quilted on my machine every 2 squares in each direction.  I always start at the middle.  Using the adhesive made sure I have no bunching of my fabrics.

When I was done quilting the quilt itself, I sewed around the entire perimeter and trimmed the extra fabric.

If you have never sewn quilt binding on, watch a few YouTube videos.  I also learned the correct way to hand sew binding to the back of the quilt.  I'm still  progressing using a thimble and learning how to perfecting mitered corners.  I am improving, but have a long way to go.

So to the sweet lady who started this quilt, I finished it for you.  She is a beauty and so nice to have on chilly evenings.  The quilt would make a nice twin bed covering for a little girl.