Quilt Story Feature

Remember this Chenille Cut Quilt I made a few months back?

And of course the original one

Well today it is being featured on Quilt Story! It was such an honor to get asked by Megan and Heather, the sister team behind the blog, to feature this blanket, as we all know I am not really a "quilter".

They have some fabulous giveaways on their blog and some truly amazing quilt ideas to share. So hop on over and take a peek. The original post can be found here.

Chenille Cut Quilt for a New Baby Girl

I am sure you remember when I made this chenille cut quilt. Well ever since I made it, I couldn't stop thinking about it and wanting to make another one, and as luck would have it, there is soon to be another baby girl in the family, so perfect! (hopefully the mom doesn't mind me blogging about her new quilt! a sneak peek at what will be coming in the mail soon!!)

Following the same steps as I did with the last quilt, I used 1.25 yards of a fun flannel print, and 4 coordinating Kona fabrics (1.25 yards each). Since the flannel is such a busy print I wanted something more solid, less busy, but still striking for the back and opted for purple over pink, as girls just have way too much pink sometimes. I used a gray thread instead of white because I thought it blended better with the flannel.

This time though, I decided to get the Olfa Chenille Cutter (you can find them on amazon or joann fabric) instead of cutting all the rows by hand, because seriously my hand could not take another round of that.

How this puppy works. (no i didn't read the instructions that came with it, perhaps it says all of this...) So you pick which "leg" fits inbetween the rows the best, I found L to work better than LL, and you just slip it in between the flannel and the first layer of Kona and off you go. I had to cut about 1/2 inch into each row to get the cutter started, otherwise it sorta tugged on the fabric to start, and even though it would get covered with bias tape and fuzz in the wash anyway, I thought this method was best.

About 1/3 away across the blanket, it really started to hurt my hand and I had to use a lot of force to get it to go, well guess what, as soon as I turned the blade to a new cutting edge, it magically was super easy again. I used 3 cutting edges to do the whole blanket (you turn the dial to get a new edge). The cutter is a lot easier and much much faster than doing it with scissors, but your hand still hurts a little from gripping this thing and I don't think that it cuts as nicely/evenly as scissors. You don't notice it after it is washed, but it didn't cut exactly down the center - but this is probably me not holding it centered? But bottom line is yes I will always do it this way over scissors. The $20 is totally worth saving your hand for another few years.

I don't know why but I love just running my hands over the quilting on the flannel and over the cut fabric on the back, maybe there is something wrong with me! But I love how it turned out and almost don't want to give it away!

Chenille Cut Quilt

Okay so when I set out to make this blanket, I really wasn't thinking 'quilt', as a quilt means quilting (and for some reason when I think of quilting I think of little pieces sewed together and not the actual "quilting" part, which is what actually makes a quilt a quilt). But since this blanket requires quilting to make it, I've now crossed over to a whole new world possibilities. So without further adieu here is my first quilt!

[The other random thing about this quilt is that I didn't make it for The Bubb (obviously) or anyone in particular. I had found this ballerina fabric (probably when I was buying tulle for Maddie's tutu) and couldn't resist it. Then I found this tutorial at Aesthetic Nest and decided it was the perfect fabric for a test run before I make one for The Bubb. But it turned out really easy to make, so I think I might give it away?!]

Below is how it all came together....

Supplies used:

1 yard ballerina flannel fabric
4 yards of Kona cotton in 4 colors, 1 yard each
1 yard of Kona cotton for bias tape
2" bias tape maker
Walking Foot (not necessary but certainly made this project easier)

I started by placing the ballerina flannel face down on the floor and then layered the 4 yards of Kona cotton on top (all face up). Then I pinned them together with safety pins.

I didn't worry about cutting them to size, as I anticipated the fabric to shift a ton while sewing (but it actually didn't, but still it made one less step of cutting). After I got it pinned, I drew a diagonal line across the fabric (corner to corner) with a disappearing fabric pen on the ballerina flannel side (as that is the side I was going to sew on). Then I stitched straight down that line through all 5 layers of fabric (this is why a walking foot made the world of a difference).

I used this first line as a guide to sew another line one half inch away from it and repeated until I had half the fabric stitched together (I moved the needle to a position so I could use the edge of the foot as a half inch guide). After doing one half, I started again from my original diagonal line and stitched the other half of the blanket, until the whole thing was quilted.

Okay so after that was done (it took me a about a day working solid during The Bubb's naps and after he went to bed to get it finished). Next I trimmed the sides and made the corners round (I used a bowl as a guide). Now this is where it becomes interesting. To make the faux chenille side of the quilt, I cut through the four layers of the colored fabric but NOT through the ballerina fabric inbetween each row of stitching. After cutting you can see all the layers of the Kona fabric peeking up at you. Cutting all of this took about a day as well, and yes my hand seriously was cramping by the end. Apparently they make a tool that will cut for you but I decided to just power through!

Next I made bias tape. I had never made this before, so I bought a 1" bias tape maker, thinking oh 1" that will be 1" on each side. Wrong. Apparently my brain doesn't think like other peoples, so it only made 1/2" tape. So I had to find a 2" bias tape maker, which no store carries. Thanks to my mom's super duper fast amazon shipping my tape maker arrived yesterday so I could finish the quilt! I attached the bias tape and stitched it down.

After the blanket is finished you throw it in the wash and wait for the "magic" to happen. When it comes out of the dryer, all those lines you cut  become frayed and super soft making chenille on the back.

And with each wash it just frays more, and the ballerina side crinkles a bit form the quilting. Pretty exciting. Now I just need to make a boy one for the littlest Bubbadoo.

*Post Update: Since this I've now made another one but using a chenille cutter instead, you can check it out here*