Number Baby Crib Quilt B
I
PART 2 OF THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR MAKING THE NUMBER BABY CRIB QUILT
MAKING THE QUILT TOP
So that's all the blocks completed and putting them together is simple.
The first step is to press each block carefully. Iron on the wrong side so that you can be sure the seams lie flat. Try to lift and put down the iron rather than moving it across the block so that you don't stretch the fabric and so that you have more control over which way the seams lie. When that is done, trim the blocks if necessary to straighten the edges and square up the block.
Lay the blocks out in the order that you want to sew them together: 1,2.3 in the top row, 4,5,6 in the next row and 7,8.9 in the bottom row.
With right sides together, and using a 1/4" seam, sew the blocks together for each row.
Now sew the first 2 rows together and then add the 3rd row. Pin at the seam of each block in the row both so that you can pin the seam the way you want it to lie and also so that you can ease the fabric if there's a slight difference in length. Otherwise you could end up with a mismatch in length by the time you get to the end of the row.
ADDING THE BORDER
Measure the length and width of your quilt top - it should be somewhere around 24.1/2" both ways. Cut 2 strips of 1.1/2" green fabric 24.1/2" long and 2 strips 26.1/2" long. For the binding you will need 3 strips of 2.1/2" wide green fabric. When you arrive back at where you began, stop sewing about 3" from the other end of the binding. Trim the binding so that there is about 1/2" overlap. Turn under a 1/4" on the left hand piece of binding and tuck the right hand piece of binding inside the fold. Pin in place and sew the 2 or 3" across the join to meet up with where you began sewing. Flip the binding over to the back of the quilt and hand sew in place. Begin by slipstitching the join of the binding and then sew the binding to the quilt backing.
Add the smaller strips to the top and bottom of the baby quilt top and the longer strips to the sides.
Then take 4 strips of background fabric 2.1/2" wide, 2 of them 26.1/2" long and 2 of them 30.1/2" long. Again add the smaller strips to the top and bottom and the longer strips to each side.
MAKING UP THE QUILT
For this quilt I chose to use the same fabric for the backing as I had used for the background on the quilt top.
Cut a square of backing fabric about 32" by 32" and a square of wadding the same.
Lay the backing fabric on the table with right side down. Lay the wadding on top and smooth gently. Lay the quilt top on the wadding with right side up and again smooth gently.
Pin and baste the 3 layers together. I quilted them together by stitching around each number and then around the green part of the border.
Trim the excess backing and wadding.
BINDING THE QUILT
Sew all 3 strips together by putting one at right angles to the other, right sides together, sew the diagonal and snip the triangle 1/4" away from the seam.
Press the binding in half along its length. Beginning half way down one side of the quilt, place the binding along the edge of the quilt with the fold towards the middle. Start sewing about an inch from the end of the binding.
At the corner, stop sewing 1/4" from the edge and backstitch. Fold the binding up away from the quilt, hold in place with your thumb and fold back down in line with the next edge of the quilt. Continue sewing from the corner and repeat at each corner.
I will be covering borders, quilting and binding in more detail in the Beginner Quilt series as it gets under way.
rose@ludlowquiltandsew.co.uk