Heavy Bed Roll Quilts

[Delmonico]

This is going to be a several post how-to-do thread so if you have any questions feel free to start a comment thread.

For a bed roll or the rope bed in yer soddy, wool blankets such as Whitneys or Hudson Bay type are fine, but a good heavy quilt has far more style points.

This may take a while and I'll see about adding some pictures from time to time so bear with me.

These can be hand sewn or machine, both are correct.  Most often we see the beutiful hand made show quilts that were put on the bed when company was around and were also given as wedding presents.  These are the ones the Ladies Societies were so fond of making.  Well this ain't no Ladies Quilting Club thread, although I was asked a couple of weeks ago to join one, sadly the meetings are in Bellvue and at a time I can't make it.

My favorite types are the ones called "Crazy Quilts" and are the easiest to make for a begainer, like fine wood they almost have a "grain" to them and no two are alike, they also are more durable with used material and are warmer.

I'll give you a day or two to gather the materials for the first lesson and give you a list.  I like to piece both sides, it is more correct for everyday use, (these were made out of scraps, piecing both sides saves money and makes a heavier quilt)

One should decide how large also, sizes I have made not to include baby quilts are. 6X6.5, 5X7, 6X7 and my beloved 8X7's.  (My heavies will weigh almost 20 pounds and are a joy in cold weather and good pading when folded in half in warm.)

One can use cottons calicos, flannels (back off Annie ) and wools.  The cotton calicos I use new scraps, check for $1-2 dollar a yard material on sale.  i sew quite a bit and so does my wife, she also gathers scraps from friends who sew. The flannels and wools are both scraps and Thrift store clothing.  I hit sales for this and stock up.  One makes these up as squares and one can build them as you obtain material and put it together when there is time.

Material List for Lesson #1

Light cotton cloth enough to make 12" squares the size desired for top and bottom, any color, this is a good way to use old sheets and desigh does not matter because these will not be seen when finished.

A good sharp pair of sissiors

Pins, regular are fine and perfered if doing demos, but the larger modern quilting ones are great when not wanting to look truly period.

Material for top and bottom, your choice.

A 2X3 or so lap board will allow you to watch TV and work from the easy chair in the first phase.

Start gathering and we'll go from there, I have 5 under construction right now some just in the scroughing phase.  The one I'll finish this weekend the 6X6.5 is a cheapy, lighter than most I make, intended for a top one for warmer nights, most of the stuff was odds and ends given to me, my cost will be right at $5, with scraps from that material for more quilts.

(I made a midenite run to Wal-Mart and hit the $2 a yard bolts.)

One can also buy enough cloth to make one with just squares, this will be lighter, but very quick to make if 12" squares are used, I can make one of these almost on a dull Saterday.  Choose 2 colors and tear along the grain into 13" squares to finish at 12" squares. (seam allowance)

To quicken this type, just piece the top and buy a cheap cotton sheet a little larger than the finished size.

If a real heavy quilt is desired, get yer surplus catalog and order 1 or more of the partly wool Goverment Surplus emergency blankets for batting or gather up all those worn out wool blackets from yer Buckskinng days.  Remember this is economy class.


If buying used clothing take it apart before the first lesson.

[Delmonico]

Assembly Part 1

Wash all the material that is new to preshrink it.  This will keep you from disaster the first time you wash it.  And yes, these are machine washable, important because when they go on trip I wash them after ward in case I pick up any vermin out sleeping on the ground.

You will need your itoning board and iron for this step.

Crazy Quilt

To make the 12" squares and allow for trimming and squaring, it is best to tear into 14" squares.  One can also make them 20" squares to build the quilt out of 18" squares.  For baby quilts I tear 8 inch squares.  The size is not that important.  The one I am working on now has several sized squares.  This is to make the finished top fit a piece of wool material someone gave me that is the batting.

Iron all the squares, these go on the top of my closed treadle machine on the left side of me easy chair.  (I told you this ain't hard.)

I then iron some of the scrap material, just an assortment.  This goes in a basket on the right side of said chair.  I only iron enough to sort of cover the bottom of the basket and allow me to see what is there.


Now pick up your board and lay a square on top.  Pick up a piece of material that catches your eye and pin it to the square.  Rough trim any over hang with your sissior.

Now pick up another one and over lap the other piece with it, fold it over where it over laps and pin it and rough trim.  The trimming is just to get the worst of the extra, we'll fine trim it later.

Keep picking up material and over lap, fold, pin and trim till the square is covered.  It doesn't make any differance if you over lap an over lap.  It get fun trying to find a piece that fits well.   One can match up material as it please you or go total random.  I tend to end up with a lot of the greens and purples together.  I think my next fancy one is going to be green checked with purple flowered material.

Keep making squres, one can make one and then sew it or make all or part and then sew.  Since I sew with machine, I sew them when there ain't nothing good on TV and pin when there is.

Next time we will sew the squares.  You will need a straight stitch sewing machine and thread, color choice is yours.  Or if sewing by hand you will need a needle and thread.  For a bit more fancy of a job get embroidery thread, embroidery needle and an embroidery hoop.  For home I like the modern plastic, for a demo I would use a wood one.

12 Inch Square Quilt

You have nothing to do till about lesson 3 or 4.  <I'm making this up as I go and don't want any one of them to get to long.>  You might as well start a crazy quilt also if you are getting bored.  I have five going right now.


If one is thinking about buying a sewing machine, buy a cheap one.  My wife and I have 5 machines, ranging from new to about a 100 years old.  The old machines have things they do better than a modern one.  So I use a $69 machine to save wear and tear on the others.  A motor for my Singer with the cam operated button holer would cost more than that so why not wear out a cheap throw away machine.

Same if you own or are planning on buying one of those $400-500 ones that do all the fancy stiching a cheaper one will still save money in the long run.  This work is a bit hard on home machines.

When setting up your work area, handy placement will speed things up.  My method works well for me, others will have to work out their own.

[Delmonico]

Assembly Part 2

The last time I left you pinning squares, one can pin a square and sew it or pin all or part of them and then sew them.  What ever works for you.  I already mentioned that these are often sewn down with embroidery floss and one or more embroidery stiching.  This makes a very fancy looking one.

For our quick bedroll quilt that might be two fancy since this is built for heavy use.  Most of my utility quilts I simply sew a seam on the fold very close to the edge, back stiching of course.  The size of the needle will vary with the type of material you use, experience with a sewing machine will help here.  I use a smaller needle for the calico squares, a medium size one for flannel and a fairly large one with wool.  I sometimes end up trying one or more till it feels right.

One can also sew these seams by hand if desired, one of these quilts can be sewn entirely by hand, it just takes more time.

Once the squares are done they need squared up and trimmed all to the same size.  A plexi-glass quilt square with the sizes marked and a rotary cutter and cutting pad are the quick and easy modern way.  For period correct work, a small carpenters square and a pair of sharp sissiors will also do quite fine.  Next lesson we will begain assembly of the top.

12 inch square quilt

Never fear we will start putting yours together next time also.  One sees why this type is such an easy quilt.

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[Delmonico]

Assembly Part 3

From now on the assembly of both will be the same. 

With either you can make both sides pieced or one side pieced and use a backing. 

Wat one needs to do is put two squares together front to front and pin them together.  For the 12 inch cut squares you put one of one color and one of the other together.  You then sew the sem and add another one and sew.  You keep adding squares till you have it as wide as needed.  You then start another line of squares till you get them all done. 

When this is done you now put two lines together face to face and sew these together.  You keep adding lines till they are all sewn into a top.

Now using your square and sissiors or your rotary cutter and cutting pad you square up the to, final dimensions are not that critical.

If making a double pieced quilt you now do the other side.

Next time we will start putting the quilt together.

[Delmonico]

Batting

The batting is what gives the quilt the loft and also the battion has a lot to do with how warm it it.  The modern polyester battings give the quilt a little bit more of a poofy looke to them and unlike polyester clothing, can be fairly warm because of the dead air it traps between the top and bottom. 

I often use this for the fancier quilts I make for wedding presents and new born babies.  I also used it in the single size purple 9 square it take with me on my all to frequent trips to the hospital.  I use this for such quilts because they do not need to be really warm since they will be used inside.  I do not use this for bedroll quilts.

The second option is cotton batting.  It is not as lofty as polyester, but it is warmer.  I have made several with cotton, including the one for my new granddaughter.

Both polyester and cotton should be obtainable in any fabric store, but it will pay to shop for price as it varies a lot between stores.  Get one at least a couple inches larger than the top.

Old blankets work well, I like to make heavy ones with wool blankets, old army blankets and the cheap surplus emergency blankets that are 80% wool work fine.

The advantage of cotton and the poly batting is you just buy it larger than the quilt and then trim.  Wool or other blankets often have to be pieced together to fit.  I put them edge to edge and whip stitch them together, making sure to tie the thread often to keep them from parting company at a later date.  I also use nylon thread for this, nobody will see it, but it is much stonger.  I have one that has slipped inside and I am not sure if it came untied or the thread broke.

When piecing blankets, the finished batting should be at least 1 inch larger on each side, this will make putting it together a bit easier.

Before next time, get a couple of curved quilting needles, some yard, embroidery floss or crochet thread.  Also if doing one that is only pieced on one side you will need a piece of material a couple inches larger than the top.  Two or three pieces of calico sew together works well or a sheet will also work, a cheap cotton one works fine and don't have to sewn together.

Also you will need to find a place large enough to lay out the quilt flat.  My sewing room does not have enough space for this with out major moving, but my gunroom accross the hall does by moving two chairs.

[Delmonico]

Edging

Before we lay our quilt out on the floor to tie, we need to disscuss edging a bit because this will affect the way we lay it out a bit.  There are two common ways to do this.  Most quilters make the quilt that is pieced on one side, these often have the backing folded over to the front and the backing, becomes the edging.  This involves a lot of hand sewing, but is the most common way fancier quilts are and were made.  If this is what you want to do, just make sure the batting is at least an inch wider on each side and end that the top and a good 2-3 inches longer for the backing is needed.

For a double pieced one, a seperate edging is made from strips of calico material.  The strips need to be 4 times wider than the desired finished width and 4 will be needed, these can be pieced together from 2 or 3 strips.  I often just buy enough material to make these the right length and use the extra for more quilts.  This often comes off the bargin bin at the fabric store.  The nice thing is, these can be sewn by machine.

Get yer bottle of linement out and get them joints oiled up, next time were gonna get down on the floor, unless you have a quilting frame.  The quilting frame is more usefull if you are going to quilt with a running stitch.

[Delmonico]

Find a place on the floor somewhere a little larger than the quilt and lay out the backing, smoothing out all wrinkles.  On my wool/flannel, double pieced ones this is the flannel side.

Next lay the backing out on top and smooth out all of the wringkles in it.

Now lay out the top, centering it on the bottom and the backing if using the backing as the edging.  If using a seperate edging they should match up close in size.
Smooth out any wrinkles in the top.

Now grab your tying material, your sissors and your curved quilt needle.  Sit yourself near the middle of the quilt and thread the needle with about 6 inches of tying material.  (Yarn, embroidery thread or crochet thread.)  Now push the needle through all the layers and bring it back upgetting about a 1/4 bite to it.  Tie the thread to stay, I use a square knot, but any solid knot you like will do. 

I then pinch the thread between my left finger and thumb and cut it off the width of my thumb.  One can wait till it is all tied if you desire, but it is easier for me this way.  (A quick check with a ruler says 1 1/16 inch wide for my thumb.)  Some may find two fingers or even measuring is best, the exact length is not critical but they all should be about the same length.

I then head on toward one edge with my tying, doing about every 6 inches.  When I get to about 2 inches from the edge I go back and go the same way to another edge. 

When the quilt is dived into quarters with the ties I start on on quarter and finish and go on to the rest.  By starting in the middle I work any slack to the edge. 

When the quilt is completly tied we are ready to edge it.