Finished quilt: the Cars quilt

The Cars quilt, finished.

Quilt details

Name, Recipient, Size, Start/Finished date, Pattern and Fabrics used

The Cars quilt.

And I made it for my kids, because we've been watching that Pixar film a LOT lately.

141 x 137 cm (length x height). I was aiming for a square quilt.

27.3.2018 - 7.4.2018.

I improvised the piecing/pattern, but wanted the different characters to look like they had frames around. The rest is just to get enough background and borders to get to free motion quilt on. 

The "Cars" fabric was a small curtain I found at Palosaaren kirppis. The black fabric is the out of print "Flower Show III" (4256-12) for Benartex (100% cotton). I bought a F8 of it (along with a two violets and a yellow) at Syfestivalen in Umeå last year. The red border is a red cotton fabric I found second hand, and the pale pink background is part of an old ruffled mattress cover I got from Mikael's dad.

Batting, backing and binding fabric:

Single layer of thinnest polyester batting (60 g) bought at Eurokangas.
Reused bed duvet cover I've gotten from my mom.

Binding was made out of the same fabric I used for the outer border.

Quilting pattern:

The border is just a lot of doodling via free motion quilting. I just wanted to try out things and not think too much about it.

In the center, inspired by Leah Day's "Balloons" free motion quilting pattern. Mine looks more like a vine with petals, though.

The different cars are all outline quilted and then has their name quilted beside them in the block.

Top thread:

For piecing, Gutermann Mara 120, 100% polyester, 1000m, color 800 (white). 

For quilting, Gutermann Mara 120, 100% polyester, 1000m, color 2111 (black).

Bobbin thread:

For piecing, Gutermann Mara 120, 100% polyester, 1000m, color 800 (white). 

For quilting, the same, and I used a bit more than 6 filled bobbins.

This is where I was at when I last wrote an update about the quilt.

But I changed my mind, because when I was cleaning up in my studio I found a red solid that matched the rest. So I sew on another border, aiming for a square(ish) quilt.

And then, since I was cleaning, I also happened to find a plastic bag with batting scraps in it. Oh, what a happy day! I made some Franken-batting out of three large pieces and then - after to much internal debating - I chose a yellow bed cover with a red lattice pattern.

And then I pin basted it.

*oh the horror*

I so hate needles.

But, when you're out of money and can't buy another can of fabric spray glue, you fall back to what you have. And I have about 300 of these quilting safety needles, so...

As I wrote; a LOT of them. And they've been used for other things around the house, and not just for quilting. But it HAS been ages since I last pin-basted a quilt, and I knew I was taking a risk. Because it's REALLY hard to get a pin-basted quilt to get quilted evenly and not get any tucks or folds on the backing fabric.

Unlike most pin-baste practices (where you quilt from the center out to avoid the problems I mentioned above) I started quilting on the borders. Just because I wanted to get the size of the quilt down pat, and get to remove all the extra surrounding extra fabric.

And here it is, all quilted:

Since I know the fabrics in this quilt are old and reused, it might be that they won't last. And the kids certainly won't care about any fancy quilting on it. So, I had the freedom of being able to quilt whatever I damn well pleased on it.

And I did.

I doodled on the pink background, making these vines creep around the inner border and then move inwards. I quilted pebbles at random points, to add a little interest.

The border, on the other hand, was a real mish-mash of free motion quilting doodles.

Here are a five photos of some of the better parts I did:

Getting to part when I could finally put the binding on, which was the same fabric as the outer border, all my new(ish) binding clips were being used to keep track of cut pieces for the Scrappy Sawtooth Star-blocks. So I had to pin the binding on as well.

*sigh*

I so hate working with needles. But here, the result is always good.

This is the quilt back. First, I just considered it the least bad choice out of all the fabrics I had on hand in my backing fabric stash, but after it was quilted, I think it was the best choice because it matches really well.

And here, the reason I hate pin-basting.

Tucks and folds.

That one above was the biggest, but this weird dragging was awful in it's own way.

Oh, and since this was the first quilt I quilted on my Pfaff sewing machine and not my Husqvarna, learning how to set the thread tension actually took a while too. So I got parts on the back where you see the top thread showing through.

But then, when I got it down pat, it looks really good.

Yupp, really good.

And that's how this quilt was made :)

Then, it took me that last Saturday to sew in all the thread ends, and then I gave it to the kids. Since it had been pin-basted, I didn't have to wash it to remove any fabric glue. So it could be used immediately. 

And the kids like it.

Peek-a-boo!

I see you! Little boy and girl playing on the sofa with it.

(here, I removed my daughter's face, because sorry-not-sorry)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PLEASE ask permission BEFORE you PUBLICLY copy anything from my blog.

All images, all my text, and content that I specifically haven't referenced as belonging to someone else on this site are my property and they cannot be used, copied or transmitted without my consent.

The exception here is Pinterest, because I give you permission to pin my photos there IF YOU CITE THEM AS COMING FROM THIS BLOG AND THUS FROM ME.

I understand that Pinterest is useful for saving tutorials and photos for quilting inspiration, because I use it that way myself, and I'm okay with you doing that too - but PLEASE: "cite when you write". Give the creator some credit, will you? I have nothing against you trying to make something similar, or even selling it, but I'd like to get some credit for being your inspiration. Why? Well, because lots of crafts are passed down from person to person, and it feels nice to be able to say "yes, I taught you how to make that".

What I DON*T LIKE is you flat out stealing my photos and my written text. 

If you want, check out my own shared Pinterest board: My creations

Or my Flickr photos: My photostream

For questions or further permissions, please email me at linnea.gronstrand [at]gmail[dot]com