I have been making patchwork Minky blankets for my Etsy shop nearly since the beginnings of La Rue de Fleurs in 2012. Simple patchwork with fun, playful prints and color palettes defines the collection. Each blanket has a particular theme or story it is communicating through the fabric choices. Sometimes those themes are very apparent, such as the woodland or oceanic themed blankets, and other times the themes can be more subtle, such as is the case with the current minky blanket I am making as the subject of this video series I am currently recording and releasing on the La Rue de Fleurs’ YouTube channel.
In the Minky Blanket Mini Class, I will be sharing step-by-step how to create your own patchwork Minky blanket. Including nearly a decades worth of tips and best practices, you are sure to have success whether it is your first time sewing, quilting, or working with Minky fabric. Throughout each lesson, I will share my knowledge from selecting fabrics to a finished quilt with clear instruction and lots of footage so you can basically work right along with me in the studio.
In Lesson 1, we will work through the basic materials and tools needed to get started sewing a Minky blanket. Some of the materials are project-focused, but most are very general supplies you would need for any quilting project. I also lead you through how I choose fabrics and prints to tell the story or carry the theme of the blanket. We will walk through two examples with both a masculine, more mature, and feminine, more juvenile version. I love talking about fabrics and the reasoning behind their choice, as well as showing plenty of examples, so this video ended up being more lengthy, but if you are looking for guidance on building the theme of your projects through the fabric, you should be good and covered!
Lesson 2 discusses the basic steps to preparing the fabrics for creating the patchwork. I walk you through how to get a crisp cut and the most from your assorted materials. If you are new to patchwork, this lesson covers standard ways to prepare for any project as well as the specific project at hand.
Laying out fabric for optimal placement is covered in Lesson 3. I will get down on the design floor with you and show you my thought process for placing fabrics in a loose formula that helps guide your eye pleasingly around the quilt top. If you struggle to place fabrics or have never worked with a large selection of prints, I am going to walk you through what I have found to be best practices for an interesting layout.
In Lesson 4, we will finally be working on turning all of the pieces of fabric into the blanket top. Wahoo! In this video, I will show you how I line up all of the fabric squares and transport them from the floor to the finished rows and the completed patchwork top. I will walk you through how and when I pin for maximum effectiveness in getting the sharpest alignment of pieces without creating extra work for yourself.
Lesson 5 finds us back on the design floor for all of the tips and tricks of preparing and attaching the Minky backing to the completed patchwork top. In this video lesson, I will walk you through my best practices for eliminating puckering of the Minky backing when you are both preparing it and working with it in the machine.
Lesson 6 is the final video in the series. This lesson will show you how to trim the Minky backing and create the fold-over mitered binding to complete the blanket. If you have never bound a quilt, this video will show you in detail how to achieve a successful fold-over mitered binding that will give your project a very professional-looking finish. Grab those wonder clips because we are going to use a whole box! (If you don’t know what a wonder clip is, don’t worry, I will tell you all about them and why they are so wonderful.)
Thank you so much for joining me to make a Patchwork Minky Blanket. I sincerely hope you found the video mini class fun, informative and inspiring. If you create a patchwork blanket of your own following the lessons, please leave a link below, or share on social media by tagging @laruedefleurs so I can marvel at your awesome work!
Stay creative, friends! Janice
Inspiration and resources are linked where applicable. All written work and photographs are original content and are copyright protected; kindly give due credit by linking back to my website or source website if you use or share.
(©2021, Janice Bailor // laruedefleurs.com)
Pingback: How To Build Your Best Fabric Bundle - laruedefleurs.com