Comfort stitching

I've been down with the lurgy all this week which has played havoc with my marathon training but given me plenty of time to work on the quilt with the result that...it's finished!

The quilting was done using running stitch around each rectangle and the edges are bound with strips of the backing (snail) fabric.

I wasn't sure how machine stitching the bindings would work out without a walking foot for the machine so I hand stitched each strip in place with running stitch, then folded over the edge and stitched down the other side with mattress stitch.



I wasn't feeling quite up to dealing with mitred corners so I just squared them and closed up the open ends with mattress stitch.



I'm so pleased with the finished quilt and I really enjoyed the hand sewing. I don't quite have the technique down yet though. When I was at the Festival of Quilts I saw stitchers gathering several stitches on the needle at once and then pulling the needle through. I'm still working one stitch at a time - at least they're not too wonky though. Still my seams are pretty straight and the whole thing looks very neat. The best bit is that I've found out that my sister has chosen green for the nursery with cream/green/blue curtains (which my Mum is busy stitching) so it will even match.

Finished object - red and white flowered shirt

I'm really pleased with how this has turned out, especially given that it's my first attempt at a sewn garment and it was made rather on the fly.



The collar is a little shorter than it should be (I've not even tried to give it a top button) and I had to make it sleeveless after I ran out of time on the machine. The armholes are bound off with a thin strip of the fabric instead. Still I don't think I can ask for much more than a wearable garment from my first go.

Next up I want to make this shirt (or at least something similar) from Burda Style in an insane green flowery print.

Meanwhile I've finally washed the wadding for the quilt so I should be able to start the quilting this weekend once the bottom piece is also washed and dry. I'll be quilting by hand in the same green thread which I used for the piecing.