A patchwork bedspread

Life has just been a tad hectic over the past couple of weeks.  I made a big decision at the beginning of the month to change my career path, and I've been swamped with job searches, applications and the rest of it. Plus handing over my research to my colleagues. Hence the blog silence. I'm hoping to fit in some more blogging in my spare time, along with some more job applications. Woot! 

So here I am, finally, sharing a bedspread that I made a few weeks ago. I like to have the bed made each morning, even if nothing else is tidy. Things just don't feel right otherwise! 

We needed to get rid of a few bedding sets when we moved in, because who on earth needs 5 doubles and another 6 singles just for two people? However, because I can't bear to ditch anything made of cotton (since I discovered patchwork), I managed to hold onto it with the promise that I would make something out of it soon. 

Inspiration came from here, long before I made it. I didn't have this particular design in mind; instead, I came up with my own, just taking the idea of cutting lots of squares from fabric. I started out with a grid, and made a few geometric patterns before I settled on one I liked:

I settled on number 3. I liked the way the colours progressively get darker from the middle and then go back to light. I did the grid in Excel in the end (Paint was too much effort), and calculated the number of squares I'd need taking into account seam allowances, based on a total size of 225cmx225cm. I decided that I wanted 10 inch squares, and worked out that I would need a 9x9 grid.


This project was a hiccup project. Plenty of "oh cr**" moments where I thought I'd ruined it. I'll explain those as I go along. But all the same, I'm happy with the result. It's not the most beautiful bedspread there ever was, but I like the mismatched seams and the wonky squares. The colours suit the room and my intended colour scheme for our bedroom. 

I used the grid as a reference to make the patchwork. First I did each row, according to the colours on the grid (my final grid was also 9x9 squares but I don't have a picture of it to show you). So I ended up with 9 rows of fabric. 

First hiccup: I'd calculated the size of the squares including a 1/4 inch seam allowance. Ahemm. The fabric was basically rubbish, especially the beige one. It was so wonky and biased (I'm not a fabric wizz) that I did not end up with straight rows AT ALL. Nor did I have rows of equal length. So at various points I just had to go with a bigger seam allowance, up to 2 inches, because otherwise there would have been holes everywhere! 


Second hiccup: Once I'd put all the rows together, to make the completed bedspread top, I discovered that due to hiccup #1, it totally wasn't 225x225cm, and not long enough, but too wide instead. It just didn't fit the bed. Oops. But the aha moment followed: I rotated it 90 degrees and now it *just about* fits perfectly! Phew. The picture above shows the spread once I'd rotated it. Thankfully, because I chose a symmetrical pattern, it doesn't matter which way round it goes :D




In the spirit of using up old fabric, I took the reverse side of the duvet cover for the backing, and then came hiccup #3. The reverse side wasn't big enough, so I added a strip at the top from the leftovers:











 

To attach the back to the front of the bedspread, I laid both down, right sides together, and stitched all the way round (on a machine), except the last corner, so I could turn it back the right way round through the hole. I didn't use any batting, because I wanted this to be light and manageable for both of us in the morning.








 
Once I'd turned it the right way round, I just used the machine to stitch as close to the edge as possible. To make it look flawless, you'd need to handstitch it, but I'm impatient, and I don't know how! 

I did plan to quilt it, and iron it, but it works just fine like it is (it gets crumpled every night anyway!), and I've never machine quilted anything before, so I didn't want to risk ruining it completely, after all the hiccups! 



I kinda like the rough edges, not-so-square squares and mismatched seams. For me, it adds to the charm of patchwork. Using up scraps of any fabric to make something else. 

Here is the final product again:

As a little extra, I want to draw your attention to the two bedside tables. These I got for free on Freecycle before we moved. I love the prospect of restoring furniture so that is firmly on the project list.


See the wonky drawers:

Yeah. They don't work so well. That would be because all of the drawer runners are broken. So off I went online (ebay) and found these:

And I really must do something about this lamp:

It's an eyesore to say the least! 



I'll save those for another time, but I just wanted to give you a sneak peek of what I have on my project list!

-Linda


Anyone have any clever ideas for lamp re-do's or bedside tables? I'd love to hear your ideas! 


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