You may remember this picture I took of some of the squares.
I started with dark colors for half of the squares and light for the other half to use up more of the different colors, but I didn't really have an overall design in mind for the quilt when I made them. I made mock up designs in Corel Draw to see what arrangement might look the best.
This is how it might look if I put them in rows of similar colors.
This is how it might look with alternating colors and also changing the orientation of the squares.
I liked the look of alternating the squares, so I laid them out on the futon upstairs. This is with them all oriented the same way. I think it looks pretty nice. I will go ahead and sew them together like this. I am having a bit of a dilemma, though. With just the squares, the quilt is 32 inches by 48 inches. I want it to be a crib sized quilt which is usually about 36 by 52. This means I need about four inches in both directions. I could solve this problem by adding a two inch border all the way around, but that would change the look of the quilt considerably.
This is a close up shot of one strip of the Winnie the Poo fabric I added. I had this fabric in my collection and used it to make the scraps stretch farther. It has eyelet holes, so I basted it onto a second layer of white muslin before piecing it together. So far, I have left in the basting stitches. You may be able to see them in the above shot, if you look closely.
This is all the scraps I have left. If I cut them into two and a quarter inch strips, I don't think I will have enough to make it all the way around the quilt. I checked at Joann's last time we went, and they only had a few fat quarters of two of these fabrics left. They were on sale, so I bought one of each, I am contemplating the best way to put this together. Also, I still have not bought the batting for it. It will be on sale next weekend, for 50% off, so I will try to get it then.
I don't know what to do about quilting or tying it. My sewing machine will not handle quilting. It just isn't built for that. I don't have a walking foot and my feed dogs do not go down. I could hand quilt it, but I really don't think I will have time. I have decided to try and finish this quilt before St. Patty's day and give it to my cousin, Courtney, at her baby shower. She is having a little boy. All of this put together means I will probably tie this quilt just like I did the other one. Babies like those ties, anyway. They like to feel them and look at them. It gives interest and texture to the inside of their crib.
I laid out the quilt with 2 inch borders and put in virtual ties in Corel Draw. This is the most uniform arrangement I could come up with without putting ties on seams. I don't like putting ties across seams because it is hard to do. The seam allowances make it harder to push the needle through and it puckers more when you tie it. You can see that they are not all exactly the same distance apart. The center square tie is two and a half inches from the next one over and then the next two are three inches apart. This is more evident along the border. I think it will look okay as long as I am careful about making them straight and accurately spaced.
I will be posting about this quilt next week, probably, after I get some batting for it. After all, I have loads of curtains to sew and a corset to floss in the meantime.
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