Oh Deer - More MoMo Fabric and a Quilt.

More fabric from my favourite fabric designer for Moda fabrics, MoMo, and a new precuts quilt as well! Usually I have simple quilt made up from one Layer Cake in the shop, just so people can see exactly what size they sew up to. The last one was from Blackbird Designs Garden Party, and so many people wanted to buy it, I finally succumbed. But then of course I had to make a new one. I can't resist MoMo's cute Japanese Kawaii designs, and the new collection is no exception. Oh Deer, has funky colours, deer, birds and flowers, stripes and spots - gorgeous!

                             

You can see, every time a new range arrives I have to make something with it. One of my recent posts was about the little Zakka style cushion I made from It's a Hoot. And the quilts above are from that range, and also Freebird, both using the precut packs, Layer cakes and Jelly Rolls.

There is nothing earth shatteringly new about this quilt and I wanted to keep it as simple as possible - time is scarce for samples when I keep trying to make art quilts as well - and I tied it instead of quilting.

I used a variegated Sashiko thread and a strong Sashiko needle. If you don't know, the knot used for quilt tying is most usually a reef or box knot. 

If you can remember back to Girl Guides it's the first knot you learn - right over left and under, left over right and under. I used some little fabric pads on the back to lessen the strain from the knots on the fabric. These were just left over 1" selvedge strips from the backing fabric cut to 3" lengths then folded and pressed as you can see below. This was an idea I adapted from Denyse Schmidt's newest book, Modern Quilts Traditional Inspiration. She has a lovely whole cloth quilt on p.70 which is tied using this method.

You can see the back here and if you look closely, you can just make out the little tags on the back. they feel quite soft and textural. Of course, you can tie your quilt with any thread, but I find cotton or wool best as both stay knotted better and wash to create an interesting texture.

The other thing I really wanted to use was one of my new, stunning stripy bias bindings. I think it makes a really nice finish on the edge of this quilt, don't you? (You can get some yourself from my Etsy Shop.) It's so easy to sew on all in one go. Just place it over the edge, pin and sew.

 You can make a quilt like this from any Moda Layer Cake, or any 42 x 10 inch squares of fabric. Lay the squares out 6 across x 7 down and the finished size will be 57" x 66.5". It's a large throw, and if you double the quantity, you end up with a full queen size quilt…so easy, yet so nice.

Finally, a little traditional Japanese finish with this sweet owly obi. I love the playful design on this so traditional piece of Japanese apparel, don't you?
I can't wait till my Japan trip at the end of September…
Ann.

How to make an Easy Peasy Little Quilt out of Moda Charm Squares.

 I promised my Facebook page likers that I would write up a tutorial/pattern for this little quilt.

It only takes a few hours to make and is a great stand-by, go-to quick project for a gift for just about anyone.
I've made lots of these, and it's my favourite little starter quilt to teach.

Here it is in gorgeous  Australian designer fabrics: Saffron Craig on top  and a  Melanie Hurlston back.

It finishes up at about 1m - 1.2m square, so just big enough for a baby, child or lap. It's perfect for watching TV, babies to crawl on, decorating a spot that needs it or giving as a gift.

9 Squared Quilt

What you'll need

• 2 Moda Charm Packs with 42 squares each (I used Tend the Earth by Deb Strain in this quilt)

or

• 81 x 5 inch squares
• 1.2m, 115cm wide  fabric for backing something a bit different to the top is fun) 
• 30cm binding fabric cut into 4, 2 - 2 1/2 inch strips across the width of fabric.
• 1 x 1.2m square of natural wadding (I prefer bamboo)
• neutral cotton thread for piecing
• machine quilting thread (I used Wonderfil Confetti in a light grey)
• Sewing machine, rotary cutter, ruler, pins etc.

My lovely Janome 6500 is back from the sewing machine doctor.

This is the combination of Moda fabrics I used in the quilt : Tend the Earth charm squares, grey Sunkissed backing and  a graduated spot from Hoopla. (Could have probably gone for something a bit less of a statement for the binding...c'est la vie!)

How to Make it

• First, open your charm packs and sort through the colours and patterns. You will need to use 81 of the 84 squares in the two packs, so you can straight away put aside three of the squares you don't like.
• Next, lay the squares out on a design wall, floor, bed - somewhere you can see how the fabrics look together. Move them around till you're happy with the placement of colour and pattern.
•  Start by sewing across the rows. 
• Then sew the rows together, working down the quilt. To get the points exact, I prefer to press the seams in alternate directions. For a quilt like this, you can press all the seams in a row in the same direction. Then all the seams in the next row will be pressed in the opposite direction. Very easy.
• Once the top is all together, give it a good press and run a row of stitching about 1/8 inch all around the edge to stop keep it neat.
• Now baste the top, backing and wadding. 

•  Quilt "as desired". By machine, the easiest way is to sew a continuous cross hatch through all the squares using a walking foot and increased stitch length (about 3.5). I made this one a little bit different by using one of the sewing machine's inbuilt fancy stitches. Sometimes I stipple, use a free motion foot and do a curvy design. You could also quilt by hand. Whatever you choose, it won't be hard, or take long, because the quilt is so small.

The quilting stitch is a fancy stitch on the sewing machine.

• Run a line of stitching  around the outside, a bit less than 1/4 inch from the fabric edge.
• Square the quilt by trimming the edges using a rotary cutter and ruler.
• Make the binding and attach using your preferred method. For these quilts I usually do an all in one machine binding which I make by cutting 2 inch strips of fabric and turning them into binding with a one inch bias binding maker, then sewing onto the edge through all layers all in one go. 

*I saw a fabulous post about different machine binding methods on Kathy Mack's Pink Chalk Studio Blog, so have a look there at some other methods used by quilters.)

•  Your quilt is finished and you can throw it in the wash, gentle cycle, gentle low phosphate liquid detergent; tumble dry on synthetic cycle for about 90min. this will make your quilt soft, crinkly and fluffy

You can see the machine sewn binding and the "fancy" stitch quilting here.

Finished.

Of course, you can use any fabrics you like. Sometimes I combine two different charm packs. I've also used just fabric I like. But to keep the quilt and the requirements simple, the finished top has to be less than the width of a regular 115cm wide cotton fabric so you can easily cut the backing. If you're using 240cm wide batting, you can get 1.2m and you will get 2 quilts out of it.

Hope you get time to make a 9 Squared quilt, and I'd love to see it if you do. 

This Quilt is for SALE @ $75.00
SOLD

Have you got an easy peasy little quilt you like to whip up for all occasions?

Till next time -

Ann ♥