Making a red and white quilt

[Victoria M.]

I have always sewn , using alot of colors , but I want to make a red and white quilt , I would like some tips and suggestions. Before I start. To avoid any disappointments later . Like what color of thread is best red or white? Also how to press seams . And any other tips would be appreciated . Thank you . Victoria

[Constance G.]

Hi, Victoria, and welcome to the Forum! I, too, love red and white quilts, and just completed one last month. It was a signature quilt made for my daughter and son-in-law with fabrics signed at their wedding reception, and I presented it to them on their first anniversary. That gave me a year to shop for fabric, finalize the design, and construct it. Red is a favorite color for both of them, so I figured a red and white quilt would be easy to live with.

I prewashed all of my fabrics, but I did not check them individually for bleeding. I may do that in the future, and there was alink to Esther Aliu's blog from the TQS Daily Blog posting of August 29 that describes how to do just that. Since the quilt I made for Matt and Sarah is a wallhanging, i have recommmended that they never wash it (I'm guessing that there is still a bleeding risk for some of the fabrics, even though prewashed).

I pressed all my seams open on this quilt because I didn't want to see red shadowing thru the white triangles, and because I wanted the top to be as flat as possible.

I machine quilted it using white Bottom Line thread on the top and in the bobbin. The signatures were the star of this quilt, so it is mostly ditch quilted. I did do a feathered wreath and grid quilting in the center section with their monogram, and I was pleased with the result.

If you need design ideas, just do a google image search for red and white quilts, or search on Pinterest. There are a ton of beautiful designs out there! Good luck and have fun with your quilt.

I bought lots of fabric to make this quilt, and I have a lot leftover, so I see more red and white quilts in my future!

[Constance G.]

I haven't (yet) done a red and white quilt, but I have used quite a bit of reds this year and last and I totally second Connie's advice to prewash them all, and if any are in the mood for bleeding, put them in a bucket of hot water and leave them there for a day or two. I learnt this from hand dyeing - it is not necessarily the number of rinses that is important, but the actual amount of time in the water. Retayne is recommended at this stage of washing.

[Lois B.]

I haven't made one but the thing I remember being said about choosing the reds is "the more the better". The more you choose, apparently, the better they all look together. Sounds good to me. Good luck and keep us posted. We like to see work along the way to completion.

[Margo C.]

I haven't made one but the thing I remember being said about choosing the reds is "the more the better". The more you choose, apparently, the better they all look together. Sounds good to me. Good luck and keep us posted. We like to see work along the way to completion.

I think that's great advice for any multi-fabric quilt! That way, if there are a few "dogs" in the lot, they won't be as apparent!!

Also...there are no ugly fabrics! You just haven't cut it into small enough pieces!! :lol:

[Victoria M.]

Thank you all for your comments, but should I piece using red thread or white ? Any suggestion?

[Nancy R.]

You also don't have to worry about running out of a specific fabric. You can fill in with anything.

Nancy

[Nancy R.]

Not sure what I would use for the piecing. I'd probably start by looking at a light to medium gray and see how it blends in with both colors.

Nancy

[Margo C.]

Thank you all for your comments, but should I piece using red thread or white ? Any suggestion?

I think that if the tension on your machine is correct, and your stitch length is correct, you should be able to use either red or white!

You can always make some samples. Stitch a couple of units with each color thread and gently pull on the seam to see which is more noticeable to you.

[Constance G.]

Victoria, I pieced my quilt with light gray 50 wt Aurifil thread, and it worked fine.

[Constance G.]

I'm using Superior Threads MasterPiece Granite (light gray) so far it blends great wil light, dark and multi brights.

Barb

[Constance G.]

Connie, really like your red and white quilt, I bet your daughter and son-in-law do too!

Barb

[Constance G.]

Personally I would go with white, but Margo has the best suggestion, try out a few combinations and see what works for you & your machine.

[Rita C.]

I am doing the BOM in red and white and I used bottom line cream coloured thread in the top and bobbin. Because a lot of it was paper pieced the stitches are very small so nothing has shown through at all. I also used a wide variety of different red fabrics. I think that if you space them evenly throughout the quilt it works best. Good luck and hope we get to see what you are doing at some point.

[Victoria M.]

Thank you all so much, lots of good ideas , I'm anxious to get started. Victoria