Its all backwards

Start at the bottom of this page and work upwards - everything is reversed. 

Patchwork - A

the picture on the top right is the border before it was flipped over and I love the cow square.   I already have the picture of the border flipped over posted somewhere on my blog.  Here is hopefully a clearer picture of tying off and I will try and put in another picture.  

Patchwork continued

The picture at the end of the instructions for the patchwork quilt is supposed to show you how to tie it off, so I am putting in, hopefully a better picture, that will show this.  i will be posting some pics - to give you closeups of some of the designs I was able to incorporate and also I think I have pics of the border before it was flipped over and after.  

Patchwork quilt

Instructions for making a homemade quilt.   The actual instructions will be underlined but the notes in between will help you as you go along. Making the quilt is realatively easy - all it takes is a simple, nothing fancy, sewing machine with a simple stitch. 

First step - go to your local fabric store or retail store and pick out some flannel material.  This flannel is going to be the backing for the quilt.  There are so many beautiful designs to pick from.  Bewqre of the heavier flannel as you will have a harder time tying it off, which I will explain later.   I do not use batting in my quilts.   These quilts are  made to be thrown into the washing machine on gentle cyle.  If you can get the flannel on sale, so much the better.   If you are making a quilt for a baby i would suggest you purchase at least 2 yards - I think the fabric usually comes 45" wide.   If the quilt is for an older child then you will want to purchase 3 yards.   If at some time in the future you want to make a quilt for your bed, then you would need to sewing a seam down the middle to form a wider backing.   

I do my quilt in stages.  One day i am cutting, then one day is arranging and sewing the squares togehter, another day to sew rows, then another day to tie it off and sew up the border.  If you have a big quilt, tying it off will add another day. 

Here comes the fun part - start looking around the house for old clothing that has stains on it, that you can only wear around the house - you can't wear it in public but it is still to good to get rid of.   I do not use any type of knit - it just doesn't work well in the quilt but you can use faux suede, corduory, denim, cotton, and so forth - anything washable.   You can also get some great bargains in the clearance section in the fabric departments.

Now decide how big you want your squares to be for the quilt.     I made a cardboard template 6" sq or you can do one 8" square - seems big but you will lose a 1/4 -1/2 " all around when you sew the squares together.  I laid the cardboard template on the reverse side of the fabric you are cutting and then marked it with a ballpoint pen     If you are making a baby quilt, you will need a minimum of 56 - six inch squares.   I originally had 7 rows but when i started to sew them together I found that i needed another row - I didn't want to have a huge border.  DO NOT COMPLETELY COVER THE FLANNEL BACKING, YOU WANT TO LEAVE A 4-5 INCH BORDER ALL AROUND THE QUILT.

Now lay your flannel backing, soft side down and raw side towards you on the floor, your bed, anywhere you can lay it out completely flat.   Take your squares and lay them out in rows - you can have some type of design or just jumbled up.  I try to keep the color balanced, with lights and darks, stripes, prints, and so forth. 

This is where you begin to pin the quilt blocks together.   decide if you want to start pinning  the top or bottom row.   Flip over the second block in from the edge from whatever row you begin with, so the wrong sides is facing you.  Pin it together using one or two pins about 1/2" in.  This is where you have to be careful.  Open the pinned side and then immediately flip over the 3rd block, wrong side out.   Do this for the entire row until all blocks are pinned.   Then repeat for all the rows that you have.  

Now carefully gather ONLY one row and take it into wherever your sewing machine is.   Sew one square at a time at least 3/8" seam.    When all squares are sewn together take the finished row in, lay it back down on the flannel, and pick up another row.  I found that if I took everything the pins stuck together into the other rows and then it was a mess.  

Follow the previous instructions for every row in your quilt.     Once you have all the squares sewn together in rows, now it is time to sew the rows together.    Flip the second row on top of the first row, wrong side out again and pin together, and then go and sew that row with a 1/2" seam - you want the strength there.  do not worry about getting the seams flat, they will be inside and no one will see them.   Now take it back to where the rest of the quilt is and flip the third row with wrong sides out.   the quilt will get heavier and obviously bigger the more rows you include. 

this is where the homemade part comes in.  there is no way to keep the squares perfectly square or lined up as you sew.  the grain of the fabric or something slides a bit - you just can't control it.   I don't worry about it - I think it lends to the quilt itself - these are quilts that the kids will drag through the house , they are meant for wear and warmth not show.   They are machine washable.

After you have sewn together everything , lay the whole thing back on your flannel.  You may find that it has shrunk a bit and you might have to add another row like I did.   Place the finshed rows into the middle of the quilt.   If you have them, use dessmaker pins (heavier and larger) to pin the quilt top to the flannel bottom so it does not shift when you start to tie it off.   it is not necessary to pin everyone just enough to keep the quilt stationary.  

ALMOST DONE.  Get the biggest needle you can find, about 3 inches long - awl like, and it has to have a fairly good-sized eye as you will be pushing yarn through it.     You are ready to begin tying the quilt off.  Thread the needle with a single length of yarn.  i use the yarn that is multicolored, like a single color wheel on a strand of yarn.  

Where 4 squares come together pick two points cross-wise of each other, like an x, pushing the needle down into the bottom right tip of the square into the top left tip of the x.   snip off and Leave about 2 inches of yarn on each side, then tie a double knot, and then trim to about an 1 & 1/4 inches.   

LAST STEP.   Your border has a raw edge that needs to either be sewn or use an iron to iron a small seam.  When that is completed then flip the border over so it covers at least 1/2 inch of the edge of the top of the quilt.  Stitch in place.   

FINISHED