I Can Has New Quilt?

My cat, Sophie, finds her way into almost every sewing project I endeavor.  Her ears perk up at the rustling sound of pattern tissue; she is ready to make a sneak attack as I smooth out fabric ready to cut and has her whiskers within inches of the scissors!


I was putting together a new quilt today, made from a heavy cotton flannelette sheet and panels of polar fleece.  These are very cozy to have on the bed especially now that the temperatures are dropping and most days have been wet and dreary (never mind hurricaine Igor!).  On my bed I have been using one that I made a year ago and made a new one today for our spare bedroom since I had the supplies all ready to go.  In this picture I have taped the sheet to my floor with low-tack painter's tape so that it does not move around while I am positioning the next layer.

Egads!  Some wrinkles are harder to smooth out than others, especially when they are occupied by lumps of a feline variety!  I am very thankful now that the sheet is taped down and prepared for sneak-attack shifting.  I put Sophie in the office to watch her nemesis, Allie, lazing outdoors while I smoothed out the layers and pinned the edges, which actually form the binding - really simple.

Here is the quilt smoothed out and ready to bind the edges for sewing (and I let Sophie back into the dining room).  The middle three panels are actually a blanket I made and has been kicking around for a few years - one of those cuddly couch blankets.  I cut two 12 inch-wide panels to add to the sides to fit the size of the sheet, but I guess I over-estimated the width, oops!  I trimmed the sides by approximately an inch and turned in the binding edge.

The edge of the flannelette sheet has now been folded over to form the binding and pinned.  I also ran two long basting stitches (not pictured) along the joins between the polar fleece panels.  Once I finished machine-sewing the binding on the edges, I zig-zag stitched along those two joins across the quilt to keep the layers together and to prevent them from shifting and sagging.   The combination of flannelette and polar fleece make for a super-warm quilt that is very quick and inexpensive to make (unless you have a kitty cuddled up to your toes - no quilt needed!).