Bright Braid Quilt
Have you ever made a quilt that just wouldn’t cooperate with you? This quilt fought me every step of the way. I’m relieved that it’s finally finished.
First problem: I’m trying to use up the stuff I already have in my sewing room instead of buying new stuff (just got the painful news about how much my daughter’s college will cost next year!) The fleece fabric I wanted to use for quilt backing wasn’t quite big enough to cover the quilt back plus sashing. I decided to make the quilt in sections. I backed the braid sections with the main fleece pattern, and machine-quilted them before sewing them together. Then I added sashing sections backed with a different fleece.
Second problem: the method I chose to join the sections left allowances visible on the front of the quilt. I needed a good-looking way to cover the seam allowances. I found a coordinating color velvet tape to cover the seams.
Third problem: when I stitched the tape down, the seams showed an alarming tendency to curve to one side. I couldn’t get the quilt to lie flat, and it resisted my efforts to square it, too.
Finally I just gave up and bound it. Done! I’ll give it to someone who doesn’t care if the sashing has a little case of scoliosis or if the quilt folds into a perfect rectangle.
