Christmas present

I already know what I am getting for Christmas this year, that's because I picked it out and ordered it. Bad, I know. But here are some pictures of it.

My old sewing machine works but the tension is going out on it and gets very frustrating when I am sewing a long piece and it breaks the thread or blouses the material.

And we have a finished quilt

This is going to be a long post so bear with me. You remember I said getting the back on would be a breeze, well here it is. I started it this morning and I am done.

This is the back of the quilt, notice the brown panel that I was talking about earlier. I place it down right side up so that the part I want facing out when the quilt is done faces the ceiling.

I place the top on next and this is upside down unlike the back.

To center the quilt I match up the center seams of the panels, it's kind of cheating but it works.

Next I trim the bottom fabric to match the top fabric, with a little help from the cat.

Next I get out the batting, I am using full size batting not twin or queen

I lay it over the top

Then I trim it and pin all three layers being very careful to match them up exactly and leave room to sew the edges.

Then I sew the edges, double stitched of course, there is no other way for me

Cutting the corners makes it easier once the quilt is turned right side out

Make sure you take out all the pins as you go

and leave an opening, you will need this to turn the quilt out.

Turn the quilt out using the opening you made

This is what it looks like turned out, but it's not done

I always sew the edges, this serves many purposes, first, the opening you left can be closed and no one will ever know it is there, also if there are any other accidental openings you can close these too.

And this is it, finished quilt. TA DA! Took me long enough.

Finishing the back

The sheet that I bought for the back of the quilt was just a tad bit short lengthwise so I am improvising. That's the neat thing about making quilts, you can literally do anything you want with them. I am taking some of the left over brown material and making a stripe panel on the back just at the top. I don't usually mess with the back of the quilt but this will be unique.

I don't know if you can see it from this picture but I have taken out all the seams on the sheet, this makes it a tad bit bigger and gives you a good reference on where to sew.

I will try and post more pictures later on in the day but there is the possibility that I could get called into work so we will just have to play it by ear.

DONE!

The front is anyway and here is a picture of the finished product. The rest will be super easy but I am not tackling it today.

Here's a peek at what I am doing next.

Sick

Turns out that cold I thought I had coming on got the better of me today and I only managed to get the last panel sewn on the quilt. I will try to take more pictures tomorrow. In the meantime want to know what I use for the back of the quilt? Let me show you.

This is much cheaper than buying yards of material and I usually buy it one size bigger than what I am making. This cost me 8.00 at Walmart.

Almost finished

This looks like just a brown stripe but it is the last two panels on one end of the quilt. Once I sew the panels on the other end the rest of it goes fast. I'll be doing some more of that today, check back for pictures.