A Comfort Quilt

Sorry, for the silent Friday but I just didn't know exactly what to say. I could of told you that my attempt at making orange creme soda like ice cream didn't turn out so good, or that I made Cracker Jack like popcorn because I've been craving it for weeks, or that my husband and I were plum tired and lazy yesterday. We watched two television shows and a movie on the computer. See, not a very exciting day but we needed down time after the very demanding last couple of months. So please pardon the silent Friday for in exchange I've got photos of a warm cuddly quilt I started yesterday that I'd like to share with you.

I've been hankering to sew this quilt for the past three years and once again, I've more urgent sewing projects that need done. But, I was in mental need of this project. Something warm, not demanding to be done right now, and something tactically soft and fuzzy. A comfort project shall we say. I figured since this was a fast strip quilt it wouldn't divert my attention for too long and I could stop after I'd pieced the quilt top and tuck it away until I'd figured and sent in my taxes and we'd had my mom's eightieth birthday.



The fact that this quilt is for a twin bed for a BOY makes it definitely not needed at the moment for we've three grand daughters - no grandsons. But, someday... we may be blessed with a grandson along with granddaughters.

Anyway, enough talk , let me show you this easy quilt. It's the only kind I do.

I scribbled on some graft paper and came up with a design. I'd like to say I designed and THEN bought fabric but that isn't usually how I work. Normally, I'm cruising down the fabric isle and glancing at the flannel - I LOVE flannel - then see something I think I've just got to have. Sometimes I buy enough for a baby blanket and sometimes I just pick up a 1/2 yard to 2 yards.

In the case of this fireman flannel, I thought how cute, our daughter's father-in-law is a firemen and if our daughter has a boy wouldn't this be an adorable baby quilt. That was two baby girls ago and after their older sister was born. Yup, three girls.

So you can't really blame me if my mind reconfigured that fireman flannel fabric that was intended for a baby quilt into a twin quilt. What happened was, I saw some red and green fabric that would match perfectly. I bought some of each and kept my eye out for some matching yellow flannel. A year past before I discovered any and for another two years the four pieces of fabric sat waiting while I sewed pink and purple things. But I'm making that quilt whether I have a grandson or not for even if we end up being blessed with only grand daughters I can still use it on the twin bunk beds.

I began doodling quilt designs onto graph paper as soon as I had the quilt in mind and I was looking for the right yellow flannel to appear. One idea had to be scrapped because it would need more green than I had and in another the fireman flannel wasn't dominant enough.

No, I don't worry about having left over flannel just not enough fabric to complete a project, for any remnants left over will be incorporated into a scrap flannel quilt. I'm in need of making another. Our two oldest granddaughters each have a child size nap quilt that they use when at our home but their little sister will soon outgrow the baby blankets in the linen closet and want a child size one too. There never seems to be enough quilts.

So with a plan to make the fireman fabric the focus, I began to cut strips. From the red, green and yellow flannel, I cut 2 1/2 inch strips.

The fireman fabric I cut into 4 1/2 inch strips along with 4 1/2 strips from the yellow fabric.

Then the piecing began using 1/4 inch seams. A red 2 1/2 inch strip was sewn on each side of a fireman flannel strip. The strips with the fireman flannel were then cut into 4 1/2 inch wide strips and the others 2 1/2 inches wide.


I pressed my seams open to avoid bulk when piecing.

The added 2/1/2 inch wide strips to the 4 1/2 inch strips to form a quilt block. This process goes very quickly.

Then the blocks are sewn together alternating the ones with the green and the ones without. That is as far as I've gotten and only a quarter of the quilt is done but I've only spent a few hours on the project but I look forward to many more hours of sewing and wait in expectation to see if the quilt will look the same as the one I designed in my mind. I'll keep you posted with my progress and you can watch the quilt take form. If you haven't made a strip quilt before give it a try. They're fast and rewarding.