EXPAND YOUR QUILTY SKILLSET AND GET CONFIDENT WITH FREEHAND IMPROV CURVES
YOU WILL NEED
To the Sea mini quilt
■ Assorted denim or similar trouser fabric: (see Cutting Out section for details)
■ Light fabric: 10in x 22in
■ Assorted patterned scraps:
approx. 3in square
■ Card or heavy drawing paper
■ Batting: 23in square
■ Backing fabric: 23in square
■ Binding fabric: 1/4yd
FINISHED SIZE
■ 20in square
NOTES
■ Seam allowances are 1/4in, unless
otherwise noted.
■ Press seams to one side, unless
otherwise instructed.
■ When working with recycled fabric, wash all the clothes before starting and try to avoid picking stretchy fabrics.
■ Download and print full-size templates
from gathered.how/lovequiltingmag.
CUTTING OUT
1 Sort your denim or trouser fabrics and trim into strips. You will need approx six strips, at least 22in long. Each strip should be approx. 5in–7½in wide, to accommodate cutting the curved edges.
2 From the binding fabric cut:
■ Three (3) 2½in x WOF.
MAKING THE LANDSCAPE
3 Begin by planning your landscape and the order that the strips will be placed by laying out your cut pieces on a flat surface to visualise the final quilt (Fig A). Jo used five strips for the sea, and one light fabric 10in x 22in strip for the sand.
4 Working from the top down, take the first two strips. Cut a gentle curve along one strip (Fig B). With both fabrics right side up, lay the cut curved piece on top of the second strip, so they overlap. Cut the second piece along the edge, so that it 'shadows' the other curve (Fig C). Once cut, the two pieces should fit together like a puzzle (Fig D). Discard your scraps, or save larger pieces for another project.
Mark the centre of the strips with a pin, 5
or a removable pen. Place the pieces RST, matching the centres and pin at the
centre mark. Sew from this point towards one end of the strip (Fig E). Manoeuvre the pieces side-to-side in order to match the edges of the curves as you sew.
6 Turn the piece around and sew the other side of the curve, again from the centre outward. Make sure to overlap your stitches in the centre to lock the seam in place and prevent it from unravelling.
7 Press the seam downwards. Finger-press the seam first, before pressing with an iron. Press the seam on the back, then turn it over and press from the front.
8 Cut the next curve at the bottom of your joined strips. Layer this over the next strip, and shadow cut, as in step 4 (Fig F). Sew in place as in steps 5–7. Continue adding strips to the bottom, using the same process. When you are happy with your 'sea', finish with a 'beach' strip as shown in Figs G–H. Trim to 20in square, or your desired size (Fig I).
ADDING THE PEBBLES
9 Draw pebble shapes onto your card (Fig J). Jo used simple organic circular and oval shapes with sizes between 1in and 2½in, drawn freehand. Carefully cut
these pebble templates out using paper scissors. As you can reuse these paper templates any number of times, you only need to start with approx ten shapes.
10 Cut out a fabric pebble approx 1/4in larger than one of the pebble paper templates, all the way around. With the wrong side of the fabric circle towards you, knot your thread securely, then sew a small, neat running stitch all the way around using a 1/ 8in seam (Fig K).
11 Place the paper template in the centre, then gently draw up stitches and secure your thread. Press from both sides (Fig L). Carefully pop the paper piece out and your pebble is ready to stitch down. Repeat steps 10–11 to make around forty pebbles.
12 Lay the pebbles over the beach area in a random layout. Keep a few aside to overlap with later. When you are happy with the arrangement, pin them in place (Fig M). Then topstitch the pebbles in place. Jo used an Aurifil 50wt thread and her walking foot to help her control the layers. Work your way around the pebbles, traveling between nearby pebbles in order to chain stitch them together (Fig N).
13 Once the first layer of pebbles is stitched on, you can then add a few extra pebbles on top, overlapping the first layer, as demonstrated in Fig O.
QUILTING AND FINISHING
14 Press the quilt top and backing well. Make a quilt sandwich by placing the backing fabric right side down, the batting on top, then place the quilt top centrally and right side up. Baste all of the layers together using your preferred method.
15 Quilt as desired. Jo used Aurifil 12wt cotton thread in white and a walking foot to machine quilt straight and wavy lines that echo the landscape. Jo added extra detail by hand quilting around the pebbles with the 12wt cotton in a range of coordinating colours. Trim off the excess batting and backing fabric and square up the quilt to measure 20in square.
16 Sew the three binding strips together end-to-end using diagonal seams. Press the seams open. Fold in half lengthways, with the wrong sides together, and press.
17 Sew the joined binding to the right side of the quilt, creating a neat mitre at each corner. Fold the binding over to the back of the quilt and secure it temporarily with pins or clips. Hand or machine stitch in place around the edge to finish the To the Sea mini quilt.