A Trip Around the World

Having completed my first quilt, the prospect of starting the next was a little less scary.  When I heard the news that two of my close friends were expecting their first child, I quickly decided that I wanted to make a cot quilt for when the new baby arrived.

Choosing the fabrics for this quilt was really fun.  I went with bright, sunny fabrics, which would be suitable for a girl or boy.  I wanted to include a nursery pattern, but nothing too cutesy, so I was really pleased when I found this red alphabet fabric at Doughty's shop in Hereford.

This pattern is called Trip Around the World.  The new parents are keen travellers and so I thought this would be a perfect pattern to adorn a quilt for the new addition to their family.

As I was on a deadline, I decided to make this quilt by machine rather than by hand to ensure I had it finished in time.

I made this quilt using the strip-piecing method.  There are already plenty of instructions on the internet for this pattern, so I won't try to explain the detail here when others have already done a much better job than I could hope to.  For an example of instructions with useful diagrams, see this so-called "idiot's guide".

This method involves sewing strips of the fabric together to form a complete loop.  This loop is then cut widthways, so you are left with loops made up of squares of each of the different fabrics.  The trick is to then unpick these loops so that you have strips made up of the different fabric squares sewn together.  These are then sewn together to build up the pattern.

Making this patchwork top by machine meant it grew fairly quickly, and it was really pleasing to see it progressing.

For the quilting, which I also did by machine, I decided to use a basic pattern of straight lines to emphasis the diagonal lines of colour on the patchwork top.  It also makes a pleasing pattern on the reverse of the quilt.

I have written previously about my first attempt at mitered binding.  This was my second attempt, and I think I can see improvement, which is always encouraging. 





Making this quilt was not without its frustrations.  I always want to do things well, and this time I particularly wanted to do a good job as this quilt was going to be a present.  It was frustrating when the seams of some of the squares did not match up perfectly, or the machine quilting did not stay true.  But this is the nature of quilting, and something I need to accept if I am to be a quilter.  Making this quilt has helped me accept this.  It is lovely to be able to make something for a special new baby, and my friends are really pleased with the quilt.  Being able to make things for people you care about is a wonderful thing.  Thinking about it this way helps me realise that projects like this really aren't about striving for a perfect make.  They are about the time and thought invested in them.  And I am not going to let a bit of frustration over minor mistakes stop me making things for the people I care about.

The finished quilt measures 86x100cm approx.