Heather Ross wonky triangle Trixie whole cloth

When I saw this Wonky Triangle fabric by Heather Ross for Windham Fabrics, it was just too pretty to cut up! So I decided to make it up into a baby whole cloth. Whole cloth quilts were traditionally a way to show off exquisite quilting. But whole cloth quilts have become popular with modern quilters for their simplicity. In this project, I’m using it to showcase this adorable fabric! If you would like to see another example, check out this previous post.

The Top

Heather Ross is famous for her charming whimsical prints. I’ve followed her work for years! They’re perfect for children’s projects, quilts, dresses, and bags. The whimsical motifs made them popular for fussy cutting and I spy. I fell in love with the Trixie range. So I chose some ginghams and little strawberry prints to set off the larger prints that featured the adorable little mice.

The Fleece Backing

There was some pretty pink fleece in my stash that went nicely. Fleece is a good backing choice especially for children’s quilts. Fleece is ideal for machine quilting. It doesn’t ravel and washes beautifully. Best of all, it serves as backing AND wadding. This double duty usage makes it super economical. And I think that it shows off the quilting pattern beautifully.

Adding the side sashing

I ordered 2 yards of the wonky triangle print which was more than enough for the baby quilt. Then I added some side sashing from some scrap yardage in my stash. The side sashing is going to give me a place to practice my quilting design and work out any tension problems. It also enables me to carry my quilting design off the quilt onto the sashing. This makes the quilting look great right up to the edge and beyond. At the end I’ll slice off the sashing fabric with my rotary cutter.

After I’ve added the sashing all the way around my top. I cut the fleece accordingly.

Thread Auditioning

There were lots of thread that would have looked great with this fabric. To help me choose, I like to audition the thread OFF the cone to see how the actual line of thread looks directly against the fabric. In the end I went for the bright variegated Fantastico called Flower Power #5043. The one-inch colour-change included lots of colours in the fabric. There was also a nice balance between the thread showing up and blending in. It showed up enough to see what I was quilting and blended in enough to hold all the bright colours together creating a cohesive whole. This quilt is really all about the fabric and this thread works perfectly to show it off.

For the bobbin, I chose a dark pink Bottom Line prewound that blended in with the pink fleece. Bottom Line is a very fine 60 weight no-lint thread designed for the bobbin. The pre-wound bobbins work great in my Juki TL QVP Mini straight stitch, The fine matching coloured thread just sinks into the fleece so when you look at the back of the quilt all you see is the glorious texture.

The Frame

I use a Machine Quilter frame made here in the UK. The frame perfectly tensions each layer of my quilt so that I never need to baste pin glue or tack a quilt. Not ever! And because the layers are perfectly tensioned, there are never any rucks or wrinkles on the back of the quilt. Not ever! The frame has a platform that rides on a set of tracks. My sewing machine sits on the platform and allows me to glide the sewing machine every which way over the top of the quilt. Like magic! This transforms the needle of my sewing machine into a pen. Quilting becomes simply doodling with my needle.

The Sewing Machine

I’m using a Juki TL 2200 QVP Mini straight stitch sewing machine. I love it. Follow the link to find out why. It has all the features that make it perfect for free motion quilting on or off a frame. The Juki TL QVP Mini behaves just like a little long arm. Being a simple reliable workhorse, it’s easy to tension. You can find out how to tension your Juki TL QVP Mini for free motion quilting here.

The Quilting Design

I like to use a quilting design that works well with the fabric. This fabric is so whimsical that I needed a whimsical line design for the quilting. The wonky triangles are arranged in wonky rows. So I decided to stitch rows of loops that fit the rows of triangles. Brilliant, right?! It turned out to be the easiest quilt that I’ve ever quilted. The fastest too. And fun! It was really fun!! The quilt was a one day wonder start to finish. I unpinned it the next morning to admire it in the morning light.

Finishing touches

All that was needed to finish the project was to slice off the side sashing and choose the binding. We wavered between the yellow and green strawberry print but went for the green in the end. Now it’s back to the Juki DX7 to stitch the binding. My friend Jackie loves to do the binding. We like it pretty thin; the double fold binding that’s machine stitched on top and hand stitched on the back. Megan Pitz from Canoe Ridge Creations does a brilliant Double Fold Binding Tutorial. Sewing the binding will take longer than the making and quilting! But it sets the quilt off so beautifully!