P.S. I just realized exactly how much typing I'm going to have to do, so this post is just going to be about planning the layout and such.
So first things first, I had to figure out what the heck to do for the layout. I decided to start with the back of the quilt because hey, I like doing things backwards sometimes. I was hoping to not have to do anything special with this and just use a huge piece of broadcloth, but the fates were just not smiling on me. Or at least, JoAnn's doesn't have hugely wide pieces of broadcloth. (Maybe I should start looking into a wholesaler's?) so I was going to have to sew the two backing pieces together regardless.
After staring at it for a while, I decided that it would just look too boring and a little awful if it was just the two halves. So I decided to jazz it up slightly--but still keep it easy--by doing it in a four-patch.
It's very easy to do. Just sew the two pieces together, carefully measure and cut it in half, then flip around and sew together. It sounds more complicated than it really is. But anyway, once I had my backing finished, I spread out the cotton batting onto the floor. (Thankfully the batting was wide enough that I didn't have to buy more and sew it together.) I then laid the backing on top; the picture above shows the finished backing spread on top of the cotton batting (the white stuff peeking out).
Figuring out how big the patches needed to be was a bit of a hassle. I had to look at the fabric swatches and figure out how big they each were, and how many patches I could potentially cut out of them at different sizes. Basically, your nightmare SAT question. I ended up having to judge by the "fat quarter" pieces of fabric I'd bought. I could easily cut each fat quarter into four pieces, so I used those as my template. I don't know where I put my notes, so I don't remember exactly how big each patch was, but I think it was in the ballpark of 10-12 inches square.
At that point, it was time to lay out the patches and decide what my pattern was going to be. Since I do really simple, basic quilts, it's not so much of an issue to figure that out after you decide to start the project. I decided upon a nice, simple diamond pattern. The diamond itself would be made of the solid-colored fabric and the simpler-patterned fabric, with the bolder patterns filling up the outside space.
The dragon fabric, of course, got put into the center since it was the "special" piece. That was a pain in itself since it was so much smaller than the other pieces. I had to sew a border of fabric around it so it would end up being the same size as the other patches. Borders aren't hard to do, but joining the corners (or "mitering," in more technical terms) is a little annoying. When you sew the border strips, you have to leave space at the corners with loose fabric overlapping. I basically pinch the two strips of fabric together, pin them so there's a nice diagonal line, cut off the excess, and then hand-sew. If anything is difficult, it's mitering corners. Yuck.
And whew, that's a lot. Obviously, there's more steps to go, but I'm gonna take a break here. Miss Scarlett, signing out!
