After I bought the pattern I bought some fabric from Spotlight when they had 50% off quilting fabric. Due to Covid their supplies of quilting fabric and notions is limited and things are out of stock more than usual as these things come from China. Anyway I set about to start on this big patch quilt and cut out the fabric and pieced it together.
I remember reading somewhere someone said about making a quilt. You buy a whole heap of fabric, cut it up and sew it back together again which sounds kind of crazy when you think about it given the hours all of this takes however that's exactly what it is.
My first ever quilt I made which seems like 100 years ago was a "Lone Star" quilt which I hand quilted...oh the pricks of that needle into my fingers I can still remember it. Hand quilting a double bed quilt took a long time however my sister and I had a craft group of friends and we would meet every second Thursday night for crafting and then have coffee and cake for supper in fine bone china tea cups and we did that for years and years until I moved interstate. They are my sisters friends so they still catch up with each other however there's no crafting now just catching up for coffee. If you have never made a quilt before Susan's "Big Patch Quilt" Pattern is the ideal starter pattern and is easy because it's joining big pieces together rather than small squares, triangles and more complicated patterns.
I use a quilting mat, ruler and cutter which I was taught how to use years ago. As soon as you use your rotary cutter you click the lock on and put it down again. Never ever think I'll use that in a second because those blades are razor sharp. Pick it up unlock it with your finger, cut the fabric, lock it with your finger and put it down at the top of your cutting mat. A good habit that I was taught in the beginning.
You can get some other quilt ideas from Elise on how to make a triangle quilt. Elise also has in her archives other quilts she has made and how to pick and pair fabric. Worth a read as she is a powerhouse when it comes to completing projects.
I had my sewing machine serviced last month [first time ever] and I can't believe how good it is to sew with it and what a difference it makes. It was totally worth the 40 minute drive to drop it off and then 40 minutes back out to pick it up again. Here's a few photos of how my "Big Patch Quilt" is going. You can also search the hastag #bigpatchquilt on IG as well for other colours and people who have just purchased Susan's pattern and made this quilt.
One thing with quilting projects it's not an overnight process. Cutting the fabric is one step. Sandwiching the quilt is another and quilting the quilt is the final step and then adding your border to the finished quilt. All of these steps takes time and hours and time flies by because it's enjoyable. Here's a few photos of how it's all going.
The dining table with the cutting board, sewing machine and fabric.
Then the bamboo wadding and then the quilt top pinned [sandwiched] together. The safety pins are quilting pins which I got from Spotlight - also out of stock when I went back to get more. They are bent which allows you to rock them back and forth to get through the layers of fabric and then pin it. I used a little wooden skewer [reject shop kitchen section] - we had them on hand. It helps to lift the pin up and click it into place. I used this tutorial "how to baste a quilt" so you get the idea of how to pin and she had a special tool the little bamboo skewer worked perfectly.
The start of quilting doing straight lines.
I haven't finished all the vertical quilting lines let however I've done 3/4's of them and then I will turn it around and sew the other side so I will end up with squares of quilting lines 4". All quilting references are in inches because it's American and even though when I was at school we learnt cm etc. quilting is all done in inches even here in Australia. Quilting mats, rulers etc. all in inches.
