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Sometimes my dad is the hardest person to shop for at Christmas. He has plenty of interests and hobbies that I could use to inspire gifts, but his hobbies are so far removed from my realm of knowledge, I don’t know where to start.
What’s the next best thing?
Just make a quilt. Right?
I don’t know for sure, but that’s what I did. I gave it to him for Christmas.
This quilt came with a few firsts. I’ve never done an entire quilt top with only solids. I’ve never backed a quilt with plaid. I’ve never pieced a top in such a simple fashion.
This quilt was completely inspired by a quilt Emily Dennis created a couple of years ago. While I didn’t follow her tutorial, the ideas for this quilt were formed from some of her pictures I saw on Pinterest.
Go check out her tutorial for more inspiration!
I used three different solids on the front.
Kona Cotton in white.
Bella Solid in graphite.
Bella Solid in silver.
You can see I did VERY minimal quilting. I quilted a quarter of an inch off of each seam. Then I used my hera marker to quilt lines seven inches apart.
The stripes are each ten inches tall, and there are eight stripes total.
The quilt is just under 60 inches wide and just under 80 inches tall. I like big quilts!
I can’t find the backing listed in stores anymore. It’s a peppered plaid by Cory Pepper. The RN number is 110614 and the color is 2834-03. Since I bought the rest of the bolt, they sent home the cardboard with me.
I originally walked into my local quilt shop looking for some flannel. I browsed a bit and found a small selection of flannel. Then I walked by this large plaid. My parents have brown leather furniture, but their home emanates some modern farmhouse flair as well. I thought this plaid would fit well.
Another first on this quilt was trying out some big stitching on the binding. I’m growing a love for hand quilting, and I thought it could be a nice touch to see some hand quilting on the binding.
While it’s a bit hard to tell in the below picture, I used a light gray thread. It’s a Pearle Thread in size 8. The color is Pearle gray. (Be sure to always check the size and color before ordering.) Remember the smaller the number, the thicker the thread. For example, a size 5 is thicker than size 8.
Do you want to know what the hardest part was about this quilt?
The basting spray!! I’d never used this brand, and you guys, it was SO STICKY! Basting spray is supposed to be sticky right? But this was too sticky. I have one more bottle of this at home, and then I likely won’t buy this brand again.
There is no turning back once the fabric has hit the batting. With the other basting sprays I’ve used, there’s always room for a bit of error. If I found a ripple in the fabric, I could always gently pull the fabric off the batting to re-smooth everything. It wasn’t a problem.
For this quilt, I tried to pull up the fabric a couple times, but it’s adhered so well so quickly that it’d quickly begin splitting and pulling apart the batting if you tried to separate the two.
Despite that the stickiness is what you need with basting spray, it was just too sticky for me.
If you are in the market for a strong, fast adhering, making no mistakes type basting spray, this one’s for you!
This quilt is a great living room quilt. Even though the quilt was made for my dad, this simple pattern is great inspiration to give to anyone. It was enjoyable and fun veering from the typical florals and colors I use for most of my quilts.
I know that you did this quilt years ago however, I wanted to comment on the basting spray. I used the same spray on another quilt, and it was terrible.. it was so sticky that my thread kept breaking when I was doing the quilting. Never again..
Will you tell me what type of fabric the plaid one is? I saw the name and searched for it, but couldn’t find it. So I’m going to try to make a design myself and have it printed on fabric, but I want to make sure it’s the right kind and I love the look of the one you got.
Thanks!
Hi Marissa, it’s a peppered plaid by Cory Pepper.
“Peppered Cottons are yarn-dyed shot cottons, meaning the weft and warp are two different colors, giving each color a unique look. Created by Pepper Cory, these shot cottons are a heavier weight that others on the market and thus have earned their standing as a ‘favorite’ amongst quilters. Available in several gorgeous colors with an incredibly soft hand. Find bundles and yardage at Cottoneer Fabrics!” I found that on Cottoneer Fabric’s website. Is that helpful?
You could search for other shot cottons. Otherwise, I would say it has the same feel or weight of a Harriot or Essex yarn dyed linen. I think either one of those wovens would also work well!