Another beautiful bee quilt made by members of the Siblings Together Bee 2 but this time for Grenfell. At one point the organisers of the quilt drive had had such an amazing response that they put a stop on new quilts but when I checked after we got back from holiday they were open to receive more quilts and had pushed back the deadline to mid September. This was just as well as there wasn’t much sewing going on in my house in August. But with the new month and that deadline looming this got turned round pretty quickly.
I had a head start with blocks as I’d made a quilt from the same block earlier in the year but had a fair few spare.
It was just a question of asking my lovely Bee members to come up with any colour other than blue. It meant it didn’t take too long to get the required number of blocks. I even roped in my mum to help make some when she was up staying with us .
Prompted by Nicky Eglington who is one of the quilting power houses behind the wonderful charity Siblings Together I used a flat bed sheet instead of quilting fabric. A backing for a quilt this size which is around 65″ by 75″ needs 4m of 44″ wide fabric (yes I know I’ve mixed metric and imperial measures but I’ve been doing that all of my life, I’m not stopping now!) and then you have to piece it together. Prices for good quality quilting cotton can be as high as £16 per metre and very rarely less than £8 per metre. You might get a solid fabric say Kona for £6 per metre in a sale but it is usually around £8 per metre. So getting a backing is expensive. I’d read about others using a flat sheet and I have to say it worked very well. It cost £12 from Dunelm. The only problem was that the colours were limited and rather insipid.
Armed with the knowledge that flat sheets make a rather smooth and easy to sew backing I then went to look for more colourful alternatives. John Lewis do some lovely 200 count, 100% cotton in great colours.
But at £22 they are no different in cost than 4m of fabric from the Fabric Guild. I did a post about this online/bricks and mortar fabric shop recently. This is an example of a couple of recent purchases. The top one was £22 and the bottom £30.60. Both Makower and both being patterned means less obvious quilting on the back – no bad thing with my FMQ.
Just the label to pop on and then this is off.
This is a finish on my Q3 FAL list first blogged here
Linking up with Kelly My Quilt Infatuation
The Lilac Cat 
It’s a beautiful quilt! I like how this time you made a version with different colours, it has a different feel although very clearly the same pattern. I agree, Backing is such an expense, I buy fabric on sale for backing, or use IKEA’s plain £3 a metre Ditte fabric and piece a line of patchwork into it. Quilts are expensive enough! Best wishes x
LikeLike
Try Asda for flat sheets
LikeLike
Love your quilts! I am making a similar one with colors on a gray/black & white background. It is a fun and easy design that is coming together quick. I have never used a sheet for backing before but I’ve heard that it is much cheaper than fabric by the yard/metre. I usually get backing fabric when it’s on a good sale. I would love to try a sheet though but the less expensive ones are very plain. Was it easy enough to quilt?
LikeLike
What a beautiful quilt!! So many fabulous fabrics and colors.
LikeLike
Your quilt looks lovely! I hear you about fabric prices…they are about the same in Canada (where we buy fabric by the metre which is measured in WOF inches.)
LikeLike
I love a good plus sign quilt and these are both beauties! I usually try to hit the sale sections when searching for quit backings. I’ve also bought 100% duvet covers from IKEA to use for quilt backings. Yes, duvet covers cost more than sheets, but you get two quilt backings out of one cover and they’re more likely to feature fun prints. (My FMQ skills – or lack thereof – also makes me appreciate a good print on the back of the quilt!)
LikeLike
I don’t think I’ve been called a powerhouse before??? Jen you are such a treasure and so generous with your time and resources xx It looks great – maybe JLP will do a sheet sale…? The quilt looks great! Thanks for linking up to #scraptastictuesday we will be picking winners later in the week thanks to Finish-A-Long
LikeLike
I am new to this blog. Could you please tell me what pattern you are using for your plus quilt as I am desperately wanting to make one. Thanks in advance for your time.
LikeLike
Both quilts are lovely! Like the block design; I think I used something similar recently and I am considering making a whole quilt with them. Congrats on the finish.
LikeLike
I love Plus quilts!! Nice job with both quilts! Thank you for participating in the FAL and playing along with us! From the Global FAL Hosts!
LikeLike