A Class Quilt

Today's quilt is the result of a class taken by my daughter and myself many years ago.  Everyone in the class made the same quilt, but used different fabrics.  The main thing we learned was how to use freezer paper for appliqué.  We learned to secure the turned edges of the pieces to be appliquéd and then blind stitch them to the background.  The paper was then removed by making a slit in the background fabric.  I am not going to share the method we were taught in its entirety because it was very confusing and I generally don't use it.

The most interesting thing I learned was how to do Sashiko.  It is a type of decorative quilting sewn with relatively large running stitches and heavy, contrasting thread or yarn.  It is an Asian innovation to embroider the top fabric or to secure the top to the batting.  It does not go through the backing.

This is a very small quilt, only 12" x 12" and did not require extensive quilting.  At least we didn't do any!  Obviously this is one of my early quilts and I consider it a valuable learning experience.  The binding is horrible, but it was a start.  It takes time to learn to do a perfect binding.  Fodder for a future blog.  However, I will never look at this little effort of mine without remembering the fun it was to spend this time sharing quilting time with my daughter.

TIP:  Take classes.  I can guarantee that you will learn something no matter how little or how much experience you have had.

TIP:  Take time to share an activity with one or more family members.  It is very rewarding.