Washing and blocking a quilt

You probably think I've been hiding under a rock for the past month as I haven't been active in blog land but I'm back now and I have a good excuse for my absence.
Remember this old quilt that's been hanging around unfinished for years?  If only I didn't have so many other quilty distractions, sigh.

I've been focusing on a deadline to get this quilt finished and had just over half the trapunto feathers to stuff. Oh boy, that was a big task  finally the day has come to wash and block the quilt before it gets bound. It's a job I don't enjoy but it was better than cleaning my pantry out.

 

I soaked the quilt in the washing machine first to get out all the marking lines. I spun it dry and then washed again in cool water with a wool wash detergent and an abundance of dye catchers.

I laid a flannelette sheet on the rug in the lounge room with the quilt on top. The flannelette works well to hold the quilt in place with minimal movement.

Next step was to square up the middle section containing the rings.

I made sure the diagonal measurements matched and pinned those points

The next step with help from the man of the house was to measure and pin every ring in the middle section and pin as I went. I matched the measurements horizontally and vertically.

After the center was done, it was time to double check that the rings were lined up correctly.

Out came the trusty laser levels. I really must shout myself a right angle tile level.

You can see that I used a large square ruler to get my 90 degrees sorted and lined the edges of the ruler up with the preblocked rings.

 

The next part was to measure my preferred border width from the edge of the rings.

In this case, it's 7 1/2"

Pin, pin, pin and it can stay there until dry which will probably be a day and a bit. I do have a ceiling fan which speeds things up.

When the pins are removed, I'll be marking my cutting lines for the border. I think it's best to do that on the floor while it's all flat.

The next stage will be to bind, sleeve and label. I've named this one Rings And Roses because I couldn't come up with anything better.

I have a nifty trick for the binding part which will be next. I'll lket you know about it next time.

 

Oh and by the way, if  you're at the Sydney quilt show next month, you'll see it hanging out with other quilts.

 

Here's a link to an excellent tutorial with step by step photos for blocking a quilt with borders that I wanted to share with you. You never know when you'll need it.

Quilt Me Happy (click)

 

Until next time, Janet