double-gauze quilt DONE

After a burst of productivity, I managed to knock out this fun project.

I love the super soft double-gauze top & have been enjoying using this on nights I end up crashing in Mr. Itty Bitty's room. I also really like how light it feels. I'm not loving the scratchy essex linen I used on the back. Ugh. I've washed the quilt twice and it is everything I dreamed in terms of wrinkly goodness but the back is still too itchy for my tastes. Won't be making that mistake again! 

I have also found myself second guessing my decision to be so random with my fabric placement. I'm glad I did it because it definitely took me out of my comfort zone but I think I will forever be wondering if I shouldn't have made some fun pattern out of the greys, yellows & whites. Diagonal stripes? Herringbone? Arrows? On & on. I spend a lot of time looking at this quilt while rocking IB to sleep.  

Technicalities:

This quilt finished up 16 blocks wide by 17 blocks long, blocks were cut 6" square before being made into HST blocks.  Final size was approx 83.25" x 78.75" unwashed & 81.25" x 75.5" after washing. This was my first experiment with not prewashing my fabric & batting. 

I used a bamboo batting & I like how lightweight it is. 

I stuck to the stated plan for quilting- in the ditch diagonally to baste the batting onto the quilt top & then quilted diagonally across the blocks in the other direction after I attached the back. I didn't draw guides for my diagonal lines so they aren't perfectly straight but I really like how it turned out. 

As for the no-binding technique, I really like how it turned out! It was hard to get the backing to the exact size I needed for the front but once I did, it was pretty straightforward to sew it all around, turn it out & hand-stitch the opening closed. I had a couple of puckered spots on the back but I think that is because I didn't use any basting pins. They were easy enough to repair & I was worried about my pins snagging the delicate fabrics so no issues. 

So excited to have finished this one up! 

Double-Gauze Top Complete!

Very excited to report that I've finished piecing & ironing my double-gauze quilt top AND I basted it onto the batting (a bamboo blend).

Since I'm trying a new no-binding technique (from here), my next step is attaching the batting to the top before I sew the backing on.

My plan for the quilting is to baste along the HST diagonals & then quilt a diagonal in the opposite direction through the squares. I'm worried that it will skew the quilt a little bit since it's going to be so one-directional at each stage. Fingers crossed it works!

This Isn't a Real Post, I Just Need to Remember the Plan

Look how far I've gotten on my double-gauze quilt! Time to start piecing my blocks together, but how? I had a moment of panic where I worried my HSTs & fabrics were too haphazard but I think once it's all together and washed it will lurve it. I tried a couple of different layouts & think I've found one I like.

Baby photobomb. Tee hee.

Getting a 2d opinion.

Awesome pin cushion I got from Etsy 4.5 years ago that I am still obsessed with.

Left

Center

Right

I only got 3 rows laid out before we had to do bedtime & I had to put them up. I hope I remember how I had them but if I don't, here's some pics of the plan! Quilt is going to be 16 wide x 17 long, blocks were originally cut 6x6, should finish up at 5" when quilt is assembled.

Scenes Around the Lady Workshop - Double-Gauze WIP

All of my fabric is in & cut so I am slowing piecing my squares together. Usually I fly through this part of a quilt but bitty baby is really slowing me down!

My fabric marker is almost dried up so I used good old No.2 pencil to mark my diagonals

Piecing my HST 2 at a time

Workstation

Need 272 blocks- oi!

Leftovers being saved for my future, girlier double-gauze project

Clain piecing as fast as I can- bitty baby isn't big on naps!

Progress!

Oops! Double-gauze is slippery to work with.

Ugh. Double-gauze is so stretchy. It's pretty tricky to work with. 

work in progress... more like shopping in progress

While interneting this spring, I realized that I need to make a low volume quilt (thank you Red Pepper Quilts  and a double-gauze quilt (thank you Made by Rae). Since I'm further along in the process of my double-gauze, I'll chronicle that fabric-hoarding shame spiral.

I've actually gotten so far as to actually piecing some HST but need more fabric to have enough for a full size quilt. I'm planning to use this on the full size bed in the nursery, though I seem to vaguely remember preordering a briar rose collectors pack from Heather Ross for the same purpose. Oops.

Plans. I think maybe they've changed since this?

So anyway, double-gauze isn't something I usually work with so I'm excited to see how this turns out. It also means I didn't have much to pull from my stash going into this project- just some Heather Ross & Japanese imports I had unintentionally collected.

Pretty Heather Ross

I started off at Super Buzzy, my FAVORITE for Japanese imports & got some ridiculously cute panda & honey bear prints as well as some odds & ends I thought might work. At this point I thought it would be a yellow, pink, etc quilt though I have since decided to use the pinks on a separate double-gauze quilt.*

Just a few new fabrics... I might've gotten some extras for a different project.

After my super buzzy order arrived, I reevaluated my fabric choices (decided to make 2 different project) & made some basic guesstimates as to how much fabric I needed. 

not sure why this last pic is so blurry

Then it was off to etsy, my 2d favorite source for Japanese imports. My first order is a good example of why etsy is a distant 2d- it never arrived. So I try tried again with a few other sellers & patiently awaited the arrival of my fun "kawaii" packages. At this point I had decided my quilt was going to be yellow, grey & maybe some blue. I had also decided to use some Heather Ross nursery versery even though it's not double gauze because why not. And I ordered some other odds & ends because why not.

for a future project... couldn't resist adding them to my order.

Once my 3rd round of orders arrived, I started cutting & matching up fabrics. I stopped about 3/4 of the way through piecing to count up my squares & realized I only had about 1/2 as much fabric as I need total so it was back to etsy. 

I'm currently stalled out waiting for this 4th round of fabric to arrive & keeping my fingers crossed that it actually will. I'm pretty proud of how well I did only buying for this project (& the other future double-gauze project...) considering how full my etsy cart was when I went to check out.

*this is another one of my problems- the inability go just make one thing at a time. I always buy extra in case I like my project enough I want to make another or use the fabric in another project.