Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Pink & Purple Unicorn Strip Quilt

While I was on bed rest with my last baby the Pink & Purple Unicorn fabric from Michael Miller arrived. It was absolutely painful to not be able to get my scissors into it back then, but I did today!!! I feel like a little kid in a candy store when I walk through my shop choosing fabrics, and creating this bundle absolutely made my day!

I wanted to make a quilt for my girls with these fabrics and decided on a strip quilt for several reasons but mostly because I LOVE making them!!! The strip quilt design is perfect for letting the fabric be the focus, rather than the piecing. The fact that I can quilt as I go feels like I'm skipping a step and saving time...although it takes me just as long to make one of these as it does any other quilt!

My Unicorn Quilt
The finished size of this quilt is my new favorite "Kid Size Quilt" or 40" x 60". The size of this quilt is perfect for your little to snuggle up with on the couch to read a book or watch a movie. We are big snugglers in my family, so we all LOVE and very much need our quilts to take naps, read books, watch movies...this is basic survival in this Diva's house! I used the seven fabrics pictured in the Unicorn Bundle (see above) and these are the cuts I made of each:

1) Pink & Purple Unicorns 14"
2) Pink & Purple Mini Chevron 8" (I cut 8" to create a 6" cut, details to follow)
3) Violet Mini Dots 5" for the top strip and 5.5" for the bottom strip
4) Once Upon A Time 14" (I cut 14" to create a 12" cut, details to follow)
5) Grape Ta Dot 6"
6) Pink & Purple Small Castles 12"
7) Pink & Purple Princess Chevron 8" (I cut 8" to create a 6" cut, details to follow)

To make a Quilt-As-You-Go Strip Quilt, you begin with the backing right side down.

Add the batting
Then, you begin by adding the first strip at the top. As messy as my layers look in these pictures, I actually spend a lot of time getting them lined up perfectly to start my first strip. After I have my first strip lined up I take the quilt sandwich over to my ironing board and iron all three layers at once. After ironing, I then pin a LOT to keep the quilt sandwich from shifting. I use straight pins because I am lazy and have gotten really good about not sticking myself constantly, but safety pins would be the smart choice!

The Quilt Sandwich
I like the heavily quilted look on my strip quilts so I spend more time than is really needed making my quilting lines, but this part is entirely up to you and the look you are after. I quilt in straight lines no more than three fingers between lines.
FUSSY CUTTING: The three measurements that I cut larger by 2" were to allow for fussy cutting the chevrons and Once Upon A Time fabric. Whenever sewing with directional, worded, or heavily patterned fabrics ALWAYS buy a little more fabric than you need! The extra 2" gives me enough wiggle room to be very specific and exact with my heavily patterned fabrics:

Fussy Cutting Chevron
After you have all 8 of your strips sewn/quilted as you like, you have this:

Quilting Completed!

The next step is to clean up the edges, so I use my rotary cutter and mat to cut the raw edges off.

Cleaned up and ready for binding!

So, as much as I LOVE to quilt as I go and make up a new pattern with every quilt I make, after I reached this step I realized I had planned to use the Grape Ta Dot as my binding fabric...but I had already used it for my backing. Sigh. I really love the look of contrasting fabrics so the thought of using the same fabric as the binding was too boring. So...I created a two-sided binding, problem solved!

Two-Sided Binding

To make this Two-Sided Binding I cut 5 strips of 1.5" x 44" of each fabric: Grape Ta Dot & Spot On Purple Mini Dots. 10 strips total, 1.5" x 44" each. I sewed all five strips of Grape Ta Dot together, then all five strips of Spot On Purple Mini Dots together. Next, I sewed both of these fabrics together. Next, I pressed the edges to the middle and voila - Two-Sided Binding, crisis averted! I have to admit, I REALLY LOVE Two-Sided Binding and it might just become my new favorite thing to add to my quilts!

My Pink & Purple Unicorn Quilt

The Pink & Purple Unicorn Bundle is BRAND NEW and made specifically for the launch of our new website: www.StitchStashDiva.com While we plan to carry all of these fabrics for a while we never know when fabrics will be discontinued. If you have a special little in your life who would LOVE to have a Pink & Purple Unicorn Quilt, buy your fabric today!!! To purchase, CLICK HERE.

Have you made anything with any of these fabrics!?! If so I would LOVE to see pictures! Please feel free to post them on our Facebook page WITH a link to your shop, if applicable! www.Facebook.com/StitchStashDiva

Happy Sewing!!!

5 comments:

  1. I love all the fun colors and patterns

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  2. your fabrics are fresh and new. love the colors and the fact that you match everything easy to choose.

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  3. purple unicorns! not found everyday:) I like your robot patterns too!

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