Quilt in a Day Forums

I am thinking of making a double sided quilt, i.e. each side would be a quilt and there would be no backing as the backing would be the other quilt. Is this a NO NO? Am I asking for problems?? I was thinking of machine stipple for the quilting on it. Help, ideas, thoughts, hints. Thank You!!!

I think those are called "Quilt as you Go" or "Flip and sew" projects. I like the procedure, when you're done you're done. LOL

as long as you dont use a specific quilting pattern it shouldnt matter . I think it woulld be great then you could just flip it on your bed and have a whole new look. good luck and send a photo.

Never done it but would like to try some day Good luck and please post pics.

There are NO no nos in quilting. If you want to do it, do it!! I have seen several quilts that are double sided. I think the only hang-up would be positioning them carefully so that both are 'square'!

I think I'm confused. Are you putting to quilt tops together, back to back without batting in between?

Sunsup, no I was planning on putting batting in it, just in place of a backing I would piece another quilt and use it. The idea was a more summer type one side and a fall winter type one on the reverse.

All of you who have replied--thank you so much. Great help, I appreciate it.

If you are talking about putting 2 random quilts together, just make 2 quilt tops the same size, put them together, wrong sides, with batting in between and then stipple, quilt, or whatever. Then bind. If, on the other hand, you are talking about putting the 2 sides together all at once, that's a different story.

I made one of those once. It wasn't HARD to do, but if you don't want it to just be a scrappy quilt, you do have to have a plan, and keep those rows and squares marked so you don't lose your place. One side I did in pastels, the other in brights. It's beautiful. Once it's done, you don't need to stipple it, because it's already quilted once you're finished. That's what you're doing when you're putting it together.

First cut your square of batting. Mine was a thick batting so it has a lot of dimension, but any will do. Next, decide what is to be the main color of each side. Mine was pink print on my pastel side, and black print on my bright side. Let's say you want your finished squares to be 8". You cut the batting squares 8 1/2 x 8 1/2. Mark a diagonal line on both sides with a magic marker, GOING THE SAME WAY.

I know you all know how to cut 1/2 square triangles from a square and how to figure what size you need to begin with, but just in case... you add 7/8" to it... so if you want your finished square to be 8" you cut your square 8-7/8" then cut it diagonally. You will need 1 for each square. 1 of the pastel and 1 of the dark.

Next, the fun part... tear or cut your scrap fabrics into widths ranging from 3/4"-3". At random. The length doesn't matter at first. Full 44" strips are fine. In 1 paper bag put all the pastels, in another, all the darks, so keep them separated. I put one bag on my left and one on my right to keep them straight.

This next step is going to be the hardest to explain and understand, but I'll try.
On 1 side of your batting, lay a triangle of pastel, right side up. This is going to fit like a glove except it has an additional 1/4" raw edge laying over that marked center line. Pin it along the line that you can now not see. Do the same thing on the other opposite side, with the dark, right side up. Again, remove the pins and repin so that both fabrics are attached to the batting. This will insure that your dark fabric triangle is just opposite your pastel. In other words, you have both bias sides along that marked line, (that you can't see on either side because it's covered by 1/4"), so you're stitching both fabrics' raw edges together and to the batting. The edges are still raw. I would pin, then hold it up and look down so I could see both sides at the same time, and that on my left was a pastel and on my right was a dark.

Now, the fun part. You're only going to work on 1 side at a time. Reach in the pastel bag and grab a fabric. place it right sides together with the original triangle and stitch 1/4" seam. Flip and finger press. Leave an extra inch, but cut off the excess length, put it back in the bag and get another pastel strip. Again, right sides together, stitch, flip and finger press. Leave 1", and cut off excess and replace in bag. Do this all the way across the square until it is all covered. Then, flip that square over and work your way across the dark side the same way. When you are finished, it will be quilted. When you are done, square up your square to 8 1/2" or whatever size you wanted.

Any pattern you can make with triangles, you can do with this, but you need to draw off both sides on gridded paper and then number each and every square with both row and square number. Mark on each side. If this quilt is going to have 5 squares across, your first square would be marked Row 1, square 1 on one side and Row 1, square 5 on the other. These make really pretty baby quilts where you do one side pink and the other side blue.

For my star, I used strips of the same main fabric, so when finished, the whole side or the square was black. Anyway, that's why you need to have a plan drawn out. So you can see what you are doing.

Try it out. If it gets too confusing, well, you have some new pot holders!

Joanne

Joanne, Thank you so much for you detailed information. I think I understand and your quilt sounds very pretty. This sounds like something I can do. Thanks Again. Ann

you most certainly can