Tag Archives: Very Hungry Caterpillar

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Begun in late 2015, when my son was 5, I am so relieved to have finally finished his bed quilt. And it's a big one. This twin sized quilt measures 72" x 90". The pattern is Fat Quarter Fizz by the Fat Quarter Shop.

The curtains are from before he was born. They matched his baby quilt.

I'm glad that I used the blue on the back so when he's tired of Very Hungry Caterpillar he can use the reverse side up. Fabric is all Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle, made by Andover.

It's quilted with large square spirals with oval spirals in the center using Aurifil 50wt Marrakesh Variegated (#3817). I machine bound with the same thread.

I finished a much smaller version of this quilt back in 2016.

This was my UFO project chosen (#2) from my All People Quilt 2020 UFO Challenge list. I'm linking up to One Monthly Goal January Finish List. I wrote about this project in my OMG Goal post at the beginning of the month.

I'm also linking up to the Beauties Pageant and TGIFF.

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Most of the past week was spent stitching my block and preparing my post for the New Block Hop I participated in this week. If you haven't checked out those posts, we have some amazingly talented participants with some really awesome blocks. (Links to day one posts and to the hosts can be found in my last post.) Beyond that, everything has been about preparing to quilt a number of quilts. That number happens to be five.

The Quilts

  1. I helped my daughter baste her doll quilt. She's getting very excited to give her gift. Here's the front view and a peek at the backing/label. I love that she's named it Striped Quilt.
  2. I have a secret project that is basted and ready for some straight line quilting. No pics.
  3. The race car quilt is basted and ready to quilt. I'm going for some Jess inspired free motion on that one. 
  4. My sister and brother-in-law requested another quilt for my baby nephew to play on so I'll be finishing up Star Light Star Dark for them. I've chosen backing (see below) and binding fabrics for this one, and made the label. (Edited: I'm linking up to the Star Light Star Dark Final Linky Party with my finished quilt top.)
  5. I hope to crank out a fast finish on a Very Hungry Caterpillar baby quilt to deliver this weekend. It's all ready to baste. I love that it's small enough to not need a pieced backing. The label is above. 

Now I'm hoping for some great sewjo and a few really productive days of quilting. Fingers crossed.

 

A Little Bit About My Quilting Process

I start by working on my hardwood floor to baste, using blue tape to tape down only my backing fabric. I pin baste. I like to use Clover Flower Head Pins and Pinmoors. I am very generous with the number of pins I use, pinning every 3-4" to avoid shifting. Generally, I put all the pins in, remove the tape and then sit in a comfortable seat while I put on the Pinmoors. (I love how fast and easy they are to remove during quilting.) I use Quilter's Dream cotton batting exclusively. My quilts usually stay in California, and it doesn't get that cold here. My preferred batting weight is Select. I use both walking foot and free motion quilting, all done on my domestic machine, which has a 7" throat (the space to the right of the needle). The largest quilt I think I've quilted on it to date is Bold Blooms, which is 65" x 83". Our king-sized bed quilt is the one quilt I've sent out to a long arm quilter. (I just wanted it done!) I use a closed toe darning foot for free motion quilting, but wish I had an open toe darning foot. I think that's about it. Let me know if I missed anything you'd like to know about!

Thanks for visiting!

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I love the Very Hungry Caterpillar and was so excited, many years ago, when the fabric came out. I used it to make my son's first quilt and to decorate his room. I have a twin-sized VHC quilt in progress for him (quilt top is done) and made a couple others with the same blocks I used for his. Then I had a few bits leftover. With them I made this little 24" x 24" quilt. I have no idea where the quilt is going, but I think I've decided this is the last thing I'm piecing with the fabric. It's cute, but I'm over it. ;-)

I've recently been admiring spiral quilting and decided this project was the right size for trying it out. Not a lot of bulk to get through the machine as I spin it around a million times. I marked the center circle by tracing a large Aurifil spool and used my walking foot from beginning to end. I am loving the Aurifil Marrakesh variegated thread (#3817, 50wt) that I bought to use on my son's quilt. I think the variegated thread helps to forgive the imperfections of my spiral quilting. (So will a good wash!) I used my walking foot guide and aimed for a 1/2" to 5/8" gap between stitching lines. Overall I am really happy with the look. My son and I agree that it's very fun to trace the spiral with our fingers. I'd love to try it on a larger project, perhaps with multiple spirals, but I think I'd shoot for spacing the stitching out more to speed things along.

Once again a lying "label"... I finished this one Yesterday, June 30, 2016. That's the trouble with labeling before quilting and binding. (It's small, but it reads "May 2016")

Have you spiral quilted? If so, walking foot or free motion? Are there any quilting motifs that you're itching to try?

Thanks for visiting! I'm linking up to Finish it Up Friday, TGIFF and the Q2 FAL Finishes Linkup. See all my Q2 goals here.

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