Friday, November 22, 2024

Quick Baby Quilt with a Panel--Christmas Idea


Getting Back in the Groove with a Panel

Very briefly, I have been on a hiatus again. Life got crazy busy this year between the garden, greenhouse, family, and first grandchild. Yes, we got the blessing of our lives a few short weeks ago, and it's as good as everyone said it would be. I'm elated, and sewed my little heart out before she arrived! That's all for another day, but today let me show you what I did with a simple panel left languishing in my stash for the nursery at our house. This type of project makes a darling Christmas gift for someone on your list whether young or old as it's a quick and economical make overall. 



Panels are inexpensive ways to dive back into a project, and most are good as they are for a lap size or add a frame of coordinating fabric to fill it out. Most quilters have batting remnants that will fit or can be pieced--think long, wide zigzagging and butt up edges, and most accommodate regular width fabric for the backing. 

They are also a great way to break your quilter's block when you haven't worked in a while. Honestly, muscle memory can get quite rusty whether you longarm or freemotion with a sit down machine. I think it forces me to dream up new ways to fill spaces, and more easily transition the flow in and out of areas. One of the time killers of quilting is standing there thinking where to go next, or what motif to use.  And yes, even seasoned quilters get anxious at times. Small projects help everyone maintain momentum.

The low cost of the panel makes a panel quilt a great baby gift at about $30 or less retail for all materials vs. a pieced quilt which is far higher, and more time consuming. We're more willing to take some quilting risks if it won't break our budget either.


McTavishing here was a great background filler. It added so much texture to the piece in an area that wasn't heavily printed. Lower volume prints take and show more quilting than the denser prints so why spend all your time quilting an area where it disappears? If you're not comfortable free motion quilting, mark diagonal lines and do a straight stitch from edge to edge. Just make your stitch length about 3.0-3.5 mm, and loosen your tension slightly. Always do a practice run, but this panel would have looked great with straight line quilting as well. 

And, as you can see, I machine bind nearly all my quilts, but especially those meant for children. They hold up so much better through washing, drying, and dragging around.



My BEST advice: Don't get so hung up on the quilting that you don't make the quilt. A quilt made from a panel is still a homemade quilt.

Soon to be loved.
Come on, Doxie girls.
Let's go sew.


1 comment:

Linda Swanekamp said...

Gorgeous quilting! Congratulations, Grandma! So good to hear from you again.