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February 26, 2011

White Out: Great Ideas For Your Next White Quilt

When I see a plain white quilt, I do not see a bed covering, I see a canvas. A canvas just aching to be made into a manchester masterpiece. It essentially confuses me why people want a plain white color on their bedsheets. Its so boring and really takes away from a room, making it appear much more boring. It actually does not take a great deal to spice up that plain white bedspread!

If you’re stuck for ideas, I’ve listed a some below that are currently sitting in my project pile:

An Embroidered Mural

I was thumbing through a furniture magazine a couple of weeks back and on one of the bed spreads, I saw a white quilt with the most impressive embroidered picture of an Ibis standing near some reeds. It truly made the bed emanate the rest, the white contrasted superbly with the aqua colored Ibis. While birds would possibly not be your thing, a simple image embroidered in the middle of a plain white spread has a fantastic effect.

A Striking Pattern.

Before I found the smashing ibis picture, I was looking through a home decoration magazine (they are great places to generate ideas) and saw a straightforward but elegant pattern on some kitchen tiles. I cut this out of the magazine and reproduced a larger version of the same pattern. With an easy process of cut and paste, I was able to reproduce this black pattern onto a white quilt, which had a very striking effect. As a bonus, it really gave a victorian age ‘classy ‘ feel to the room I put the quilt in.

Stripes and Boxes

Agree with it or not, something as simple as one or two nicely positioned stripes or boxes carn turn your standard white quilt into a work of modern art. Some of the most renowned paintings use just a couple of lines or boxes to great effect, Mondarian’s composition with red, blue and yellow suggests itself. But why should artists have all the fun? Turn your next cover into something that could be hung in an art gallery.

I certainly hope this has given you a few ideas or at least a little inspiration for turning that plain white quilt into something you’ll cherish for years to come.

Love to read another white quilt article or other great info about patchwork quilts? Then visit Jane Green’s website right now for all this and more!

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February 17, 2011

Why Do What Everyone Else is Doing? Make Your Own Quilt Blanket

While technically it is a doubling up on words, a quilt blanket can turn an old unwanted blanket into a quilt that’ll be the talk of your quilting friends.

So what is a quilt blanket? Well its essentially an old blanket which has been changed, enhanced and sometimes given the works in any quantity of ways to change its appearance and give it a new lease of life.

Whether you do this by cutting up the blanket and mixing it with another quilt, or adding patches, other materials or using it as a base for a new pattern, there are two steps you’ll have to follow.

First off you’re going to need an old blanket that you do not use any more. If you’re like me, you may have thrown them out or donated them to a charity rather than having them take up room in your cupboards.

If this sounds like you, you’ll have to head out to a second hand store and pick up a second user blanket. This is going to be relatively cheap, so not very much to worry about there.

Next, when you have your blanket, plan out how you think this blanket would look the best. Don’t just have one idea, think about a few different designs, you can shock yourself! Are you going to use it as a base to stitch a design on to? Do you need to add chequers or zig zags and make it into a quilt blanket with a totally new pattern? Do you think it might look better if you cut it up into strips and mixed it with a different quilt? The only limit here is your inventiveness.

Lastly, ensure you have all the material you need available. Once when I was making a quilt blanket, I completely forgot to check if I had the other quilt I was going to blend it with and I went to get it after cutting up the original quilt into strips, only to recollect I had donated it a couple of months back.

If you’re in a good quilting flow, nothing breaks your progress worse than not having the materials you want on hand, there’s just no way to keep on uninterrupted.

Hopefully you have made the decision to try your luck at making a quilt blanket, its a good way to breathe new life into an old uninteresting blanket.

Jane Green has had her fair share of triumphs and disasters with quilt blankets and likes to share her knowledge about them on her patchwork quilt website!

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January 20, 2011

Five white quilt ideas

In this article well have a look at 5 theme options that you can try for creating a white quilt.

Parenthood

What better way to give your congratulations to a new mother to be than by presenting her with a stunning white quilt. There are numerous patchwork designs that you can select from, and this can actually be a special present that’s functional as well as adored. You may be certain that the new mom will treasure this considerate and useful present for many years to come.

Birth of a new Baby

To honor a babys birth, a hand-crafted blanket would be a nice token for the parents and kid. You might want to consider embroidering the babys birth date and name onto in to make it an even more personal gift. If you add a little matching pillow then you will have a dear present that the parents can keepsake and pass down to their kids.

Christening

A childs christening is a particularly special occasion. Friends and family members often honour the child with mementos and white is generally the color of choice for christening gifts.

Marriage

Many brides will receive a white quilt as a wedding present. This is a present that they can treasured across the years. It could also be customized by embroidering the date of the wedding and the bride and grooms name onto the surface. A present like this may be one that gives a strong reminder of the love they share together.

Anniversary

Any anniversary can also be marked with the gift of a white quilt. This colour is neutral in tone and can be matched to any occasion. You might incorporate gold in too if it was for a fiftieth marriage anniversary. You might even decide to incorporate some special photos into the design and leave the border and background as solid white.

If you loved this white quilt article and would like to read more about making a patchwork quilt, then visit Jane Green’s website immediately.

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January 18, 2011

How To Make A Quilt Blanket

Quilting is a very popular past time and many of us love the fact that it’s so relaxing. Making a quilt blanket can be exceedingly gratifying, particularly when it’s finished and you get to enjoy the finished result. There are many different ways that you can learn to do patchwork and some are easier than others.

The most well liked method is patchworking. The idea behind this style is extremely simple, however its most important to take the time at the start of the project when choosing the colors and pattern to make certain that the finalized profuct is what you it to be.

Originally, it would have been made of bits of material that were left over from other jobs. Although today many are made from material purchased specially for the task.

There are no real rules as to what materials you can buy, nor how big the squares should be. Usually folk decide to create a pattern from nothing, or follow a prepared made-design. Its then-and only then that the material should be purchased.

Understanding the Layers

Traditionally they are made up of 3 different layers with every one having a specific purpose.

  • The patchwork is on the top layer
  • Followed by a layer of insulation
  • And then a thick backing material

Great Uses

Because of the insulated middle layer the finalized profuct is particularly warm making them great to use when watching the TV or simply relaxing on the couch. there are many other places where you can use one like a couch cover, bed cover or maybe to keep your legs warm in a lengthy vehicle journey.

They’re also superb for many different rooms in the house, and you can resize them dependent on the size of the bed, couch or chair.

Great Gifts

Many quilts are also made as gifts for charity during fund raisers. A common practice is for many alternative people to each contribute a square, and then join them together to form one big design. This permits many individuals to participate in making something precious for another less lucky person to enjoy, all with very little individual effort.

Take Your Time

Its crucial to remember that quilting doesn’t must be done in a rush. Taking your time enables you to enjoy the method, reduce the likelihood of screwing up and increases the likelihood of the finished product being something your content to put your name to.

There a more superb tips about making your own quilt blanket at Jane Green’s patchwork quilt website.

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January 1, 2011

Fantastic Cultural Quilt Blanket Ideas

Quilting is a craft that girls all around the globe take part in and their styles, patterns, fabrics, uses methodologies are as diversified as the cultures that create them.

Patchwork quilts can be employed for decoration, warmth, to help maintain traditional skills through generations and as gifts for a range of occasions. Some of these include Lap, bed, wedding, couch, wall decoration and baby quilts.

Here are a couple of intriguing facts about different types from various cultures.

Amish

These are in particular very well known for being quietly elegant with solid designs that frequently include tessellated triangles, squares and diamonds. During the 2nd world war they were forced to use synthetic materials, however thereafter they were able to once again return to using cotton.

Applique

These became well known in Baltimore, Maryland in the 1800′s and were made from blocks that have an applique design wholly original to each block. This form of quilt blanket was frequently utilized for beds and wall hangings.

Contemporary worldwide

Kantha quilts made of 2 – 3 large pieces of cloth can be joined together to form thickness and are generally utilised as bed coverings. They were also sometimes made during monsoon season in Bangladesh because they’re so warm.

Indian

A Ralli or Rilli is customary type unigue to India and Pakistan. These home made ones are used for blankets and bedspreads. Their unique use of patchwork, applique and embroidery from quilts that are breathtakingly pretty. The’yre usually presented to girls for their marriage as a part of their dowry.

General Thickness

Thickness depends on several factors. In chillier climates padding such as flax or cotton batting is used to line the inner layer, the outer layers being the top and bottom. The head layer will be of different thicknesses because of the numerous kinds of fabrics employed in its creation. The base of the quilt is commonly a flannel or brushed cotton backing. Some wedding quilts are made with a silk backing.

For more interesting quilt blanket facts, tips and concepts check out Jane Green’s patchwork quilt website at the moment.

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