Raffle quilt for Sunraysia Patchwork Friends

A few years back, at our quilt show, Judy from Cornerstone Creations donated a fabric pack. It was beautiful and was just sitting there without any plans to use it. I suggested we use it to make a raffle quilt for our next exhibition.

So off I went and calculated out a plan.

Dragged in some members to help sew it. Then it became a group effort.

The centre of the top was completed without too much trouble. 

I took it home and added the borders.

Choosing the backing. I chose the denim/floral looking one. I didn’t realise it was a directional print when I bought it so it will just have to go on sideways. BUT when I went to iron it and trim up ready for the quilt frame the lovely store had cut it 2” too short. That’s not all. It was cut so crooked I would have had to cut off another 4” to straighten it. Not happy Jan. Therefore it definitely wasn’t suitable for a frame. So back to the lovely Spotlight to get it replaced. Oh no!!! The last piece they had was 12” too short.

Now  to choose another fabric. So I went with the same print but in a lighter colour blue. It was on special for a cheaper price and as I didn’t have the receipt, it had been handed in to the quilt guild’s treasurer who was on holidays in Queensland, they were only going to refund the lesser amount. I took the opportunity to buy another 75cms to put it the right direction and convinced them to give me back what I had previously paid. I only had to add $7 but I would be keeping the leftover fabric.

The rush was on because I had the quilt frame booked and needed to drop it all off. Well, now at home to iron and trim up again. Wide backs are not folded straight and yes, it was crooked again. Luckily the staff member had cut a bit extra and by the time I had finished trimming it was 1” less than what I had paid for. As I had bought an extra 1/2 metre we were safe.  Dropped it off to the quilt shop.

Okay, I’m ready to quilt this. The quilt shop hires out the frame for you to quilt it yourself. The staff load it, line it up, fill the bobbins and roll on each and every row for you. You just have to press start and follow the groovy board for one side to the other. As I only wanted to quilt within the braid panel due to the flange and sashing it was to be a little more precise than a basic edge to edge. I did a simple flower vine. 1 1/2 hours later and the centre braids were done.

I took it home and finished it. I decided to quilt in the ditch down each flange to hold it nicely and stitch around both sides of the sashing. Then I cross hatched the border which made it look like a lattice.

 This light colour backing worked better than the first choice as you could not see the sewing thread on it.

Here it is before I dropped it off to the next person to hand stitch down the binding.

Thanks to all the helpers for stepping up.

Also, thanks Judy

https://newsfromjude.blogspot.com/

for donating the fabric pack

and Mandy @ Lesley Mays for donating the time and help for the quilting frame

https://lesleymays.com.au/