Yes, I’m a guy that makes crappy quilts… but I make sure they are quality crappy quilts.
I can remember when I was growing up, my grandmother seemed to constantly be busy; whether it was cooking amazing meals almost entirely from scratch (her homemade bread was a favorite of mine), making needlepoint decorative pillow covers and framed art works, or sewing – and I was fascinated with how easy she make it all look. When I think of everything she use to do, it sadly seems to be a lost art and skill in today’s world.
One thing that stood out the most was the quilts she would make. The designs and detail she put into them were incredible and I loved how heavy they were… unfortunately I wasn’t able to acquire any of them when she passed. A little over five years ago I made my first quilt… my first crappy quilt.
The inspiration for my first quilt was my youngest daughter; adjusting to a dual home environment because of my divorce was difficult for her and she didn’t like having to go to her mothers’. A couple of days before she would have to go to her mothers’ she would get more quiet and look sad. As parents, we want our kids to be happy and see the positive things in life and it’s hard when we have to tell them it’s necessary for them to do things they aren’t happy about. I wanted to do something special for her, to give her something that was unique just to her and I thought a quilt could be just that thing.
I wanted it to reflect her personality and be something she could find comfort in whenever she felt a little sad. While searching through a local fabric shop I found a print that had a phrase that we actually would say to each other… my daughter would tell me she loves me, and I would reply by telling her I love her more. I found a couple more fabric prints that reflected her personality so I was set… I just needed to figure out what I was going to do. Since I’d never made a quilt before, I opted for a simple pattern. After several hours of cutting fabric, laying out the design on the floor and rearranging it several times… I was ready to start sewing. I can’t stress enough the importance of a consistent 1/4 inch seam… I learned that the hard way.
Once I got the hang of it, the sewing went fairly smoothly with only a couple of “minor” adjustments…. Quilting the backing, batting, and top together was straight forward since I opted for a simple grid pattern, it was just tedious but seeing the end result was definitely worth it. The final step was the edge binding… all I can say is ugh. Most of what I read about binding a quilt indicated it was the least pleasant and most difficult part… couldn’t agree more. My quilt binding skills are the hallmark of my crappy quilt signature.
When it was all said and done, despite the various imperfections and flaws, I was and still am very proud of that quilt. I worked on it when my daughters where at their mothers’ so my youngest wouldn’t know what I was doing. I finished it while she was at her mothers’ and put it on her bed to surprise her when she returned.
When she came home and discovered it, the sound of her voice and expression on her face said it all. I told her whenever she feels down or sad to look at the quilt and everything it represents… it will always be here for her just like I am.
After I made her quilt, of course my other daughter wanted one. Selecting the fabric for hers was an easy task… she really likes the Tim Burton movie ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ so I picked several fabrics with that print design. To keep things simple, I used the same design layout but decided to make hers bigger since she has a queen size bed.
All of the prep work (cutting fabric) and sewing went smoother since it was my second quilt, but when it came time to actually quilting the three layers together it was more challenging due to the larger size. I’m using a low-end sewing/quilting machine and I quickly realized the throat space was not very accommodating for this large of a quilt. I had to roll it really tight and seemed to wrestle with it as I was quilting the layers together. Despite the challenges it didn’t turn out too bad…. until it came to my signature binding… yay!
Regardless of the imperfections that I knew where there, my oldest daughter absolutely loves it and it has been her favorite blanket/quilt on her bed.
Now that I had two quilts under my belt, I was feeling a little cocky and decided to make one for myself… but this time I thought I would try a design that was more detailed. How did it turn out you ask? Let’s just say I dove into the shallow end of the pool head first… triangle cut fabric sewn into squares that were sewn into larger squares…. that turned into an abomination of misaligned seam lines and ultimately a box of “scrap” fabric. After this debacle, I decided to revert back to simplicity. I went back to the fabric store, selected new fabric and went to work.
Returning to my basics, I opted for the same initial pattern design I used for both of my daughter’s quilts. However, this time I decided to experiment by cutting the larger sewn squares into triangles and sew in a fabric strip between the halves. It was a much better exercise in working with triangles since these were much larger than the previous ones I had to abort. This quilt design choice also taught me the importance of seam accuracy because any sewing or measurement inaccuracies became immediately visible once the square corners were joined which created the diamond pattern.
This was also the first quilt where I used cotton batting… I had used poly-fil in the previous quilts. Holding true to my quilting skills, the binding continued to be my signature of a quality crappy quilt… though of the three to date, this binding turned out the best. I also really liked how this quilt felt with the cotton batting. It reminded me of the quilts my grandmother use to make even though it didn’t seem as heavy.
Fast forward a couple of years, I’ve made several more quilts and some quilted hot-pads for friends who really like the appearance and feel of them. The difficult part of making quilts for friends has been when they ask me how much to pay me. I enjoy the creative aspect of it but I understand they appreciate the time and effort I put into them and they even like the subtle irregularities of my quality crappy quilts… though there are a lot fewer irregularities now than in the earlier years.
Now that colder weather has arrived, I’ve decided to make myself another quilt, but this time I wanted it to be heavy like the ones my grandmother use to make. I also wanted this one to have a fabric print that reminded me of the fabrics prints my grandmother used. I selected a couple of floral prints that reminded me of her style.
For this quilt design I went with a subtle connecting block pattern and I used a double layered cotton batting to make it a heavy weight quilt. The top on this one came together really well and every seam lined up perfectly. When I first laid it out on the floor after sewing it together, it reminded me of one of those color vision tests where a number is hidden is a circle of colored dots. When it came to quilting the layers together this one was a bit of a monster.
Not only was it bulky and heavy, but it also reminded me just how small the throat of my sewing machine is… and how I should “treat” myself to a new one… haha. I also probably need a better sewing table setup because my shoulders and arms really got fatigued working with all the bulk of this quilt. My sewing station consists of a collapsible folding table since I currently don’t have a dedicated sewing/craft area. At least not until my oldest daughter graduates in a few more months… a story for a future post. To ensure I held true to form with respect to my quality crappy quilts, I went with a fuller edge binding which I had never done before… and in a few areas it showed. In the end, this has now become my favorite personal quilt. The dense floral fabric prints and weight of the double batting take me back to when I was a kid at my grandmother’s house.
Even though I may jokingly call them crappy quilts, I put a lot of effort into them to ensure they can become heirloom quality items. The quilts I made my daughters will hopefully one day pass to their future children and the quilts I’ve made for myself, one day pass as “grandpa’s” quilts.
None of us will live forever, but the memories we leave behind and pass along can….