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Wednesday, December 28, 2011

A Quilter's Two-Fer... They're Reversible!


Reversible quilts like the two shown here are really fun to make. They are fairly quick quilting projects since the blocks are machine quilted and thereby finished as they are made. Once the blocks are completed, all that remains is to trim to size and join them with narrow strips. These become part of the overall design, and are finished by sewing down the folded edges on one side, similar to binding. All that hand sewing of the joining pieces may seem daunting, but it goes along very quickly and makes good hand work for travel or tv watching.


 The Wheels blocks are made from vintage fabric pieces given to me by a friend. What is it about old bits and pieces that makes us want to preserve them? I just loved the colors and vibrancy of these pieces from the start. The green-dot background is a current fabric from JoAnn's, but it seemed to work nicely for the wheels. The lime and brown fabric on the back is also a JoAnn's sale fabric. All a bit funky, but I like the feel of this quilt!






The String-Pieced reversible quilt below was the first reversible quilt I made. It was a class project taught by Debra Johnston. The fabrics I chose for this one also turned out to be rather retro-looking once they were all combined. It definitely has a '60s flower-power vibe going on.





Because both sides of the quilts are so different from their counterparts, I wanted to use double-faced binding for them in order to keep the fabrics and colors cohesive. This is one of those tasks that makes me ask "now how does that go again?" I had to look up instructions for making the two-sided binding each time, and I couldn't describe how I did it today. But the instructions were good because I even got presentable miters at the corners. So if I make yet another reversible quilt, I'll be looking up two-sided binding methods yet again.


I'm most fond of the Wheels side of the top quilt. But I go back and forth with having a favorite side on the other one, depending on the day. Do you have a favorite?

3 comments:

Nancy said...

Nancy, they are beautiful...and double sided..wow...you get two quilts for one.....great idea....

I love the pinwheel too....gorgeous.....

Susan said...

very intruiging, might have to try that, and look up some instructions for double binding.

Beautiful quilts.

Unknown said...

So hard to pick a fave. I'd have to have them all in my possession for a couple of months to decide. :o) I do love the pin wheel though. I've never attempted a reversible quilt or double bindings - They are ALL beautiful Nancy. I love the way you put bits and pieces together. Donna