A strip has been added to connect the two shorter columns.
Now they are (about) the same width as the BUCCANEERS section.
A horizontal sashing strip and the BUCCANEERS section have been added.
Uh-oh - ran out of thread!
Fortunately, an extra spool of "Blue Hawaii" had been purchased.
Finally, the last piece of vertical sashing was inserted,
which connected all the T-shirt sections together!
The next step is to add edging all around the outside of the quilt top. This will help frame the T-shirt sections. Just as for the sashing, the edging was cut at a width that would make it finish at 3 inches wide.
Here is the edging strip for the top edge of the quilt top.
It had to be 60 inches long, plus a little more for seam allowances.
Then more edging strips were sewn onto the sides of the quilt top.
It had to be 60 inches long, plus a little more for seam allowances.
Then more edging strips were sewn onto the sides of the quilt top.
Here is the entire quilt top, with edging all around.
See how the edging is like a frame? The sashing strips work that way, too -
they separate the T-shirt sections so each one stands out on its own.
Here is what the back of the quilt top looks like.
Mostly you see white or pastel colors - these are the interfacing pieces
that have been ironed onto the backs of the T-shirt sections.
The large blue area at the bottom is the piece of fabric that
Declan's own T-shirt was stitched onto.
Declan's own T-shirt was stitched onto.
This is our last chance to look at the back of the quilt top!
Now we're really making progress - all three parts of the quilt are ready to be made up into one big quilt sandwich!
For this step, the first (bottom) layer will be the quilt back, and it gets taped down to a large flat surface. Taping it down will ensure that it stays taut and wrinkle-free even when it can't be seen when hiding under other layers. The best thing to tape it to is a hard floor. But CH didn't have a piece of floor big enough to fit the quilt. Instead, she taped the backing onto a table, in sections.
The quilt backing is laid out wrong-side-up.
Two sides have been taped down, but the backing hasn't been pulled taut yet.
Two sides have been taped down, but the backing hasn't been pulled taut yet.
The batting is unrolled and is laid out on top of the taut quilt backing.
It's larger than the quilt backing, and the other two sides of it will need to be trimmed off.
Batting has no right or wrong side.
This batting is not very thick - you can see through it.
Some battings are thicker, and would make a heavier, warmer (and stiffer) quilt.
This thickness of batting seemed just right to make a quilt for Declan to wrap up in!
The last layer of the sandwich is added - the quilt top. It's put on right-side-up.
All the layers of the quilt have to line up on all four sides. (Usually there are some places
that don't line up just exactly right, and these will have to be trimmed off later.)
Then all three layers are pinned together with "quilt pins" (which are just special safety pins).
The more pins that are used, the better the sandwich will hold together
while it is being moved around and quilted. CH has about 100 quilt pins.
while it is being moved around and quilted. CH has about 100 quilt pins.
Watch out - a cougar is eating that quilt pin!! :-)
When all the quilt pins have been used, and the quilt's three layers are all fastened together, it's time to untape the backing and to move on to the sewing that will connect the layers together!