I bought the Adventureland quilt pattern this month from Suzy Quilts to sew up for a friend who has a new little baby boy. His dad is a pilot and I thought the windmill look of the design was similar to an airplane propeller. I LOVE the way it turned out. Read on for my review and thoughts on the pattern overall.
Adventureland Quilt Pattern Thoughts
First of all I love the simple design of the quilt. I was drawn to it because it looked fairly easy to put together and I needed something simple that would sew up fast. I like that you can sew this up with a jelly roll as well even though I ultimately used yardage
Instead of cutting each strip to the right length I just used width of fabric strips to sew up each quarter panel. I was pleasantly surprised to see that if you use width of fabric strips, after you trim the sewn section to the right size, you end up with almost the exact amount you need to sew up a whole additional quilt top depending on how much you trim off the top straight edge. When I get the 2nd quilt top put together I will upload a picture of it as well.
This also means you only have to sew 2 strip sets to have enough sew a whole quilt top. Just remember your strip order will be reversed for two of the panels. Hmm... I might try this.
Choosing the Layout
The most difficult part of making this quilt was choosing the layout. It is hard to envision the final design when you only have a stack of fabric to look at. For a preview I just took a snap shot of a set of strips, cropped the image and then used Instagram Stories to set up a layout.
You go to Instagram and go to add a new Story. There you can choose your background color and add photos as stickers. I added the same picture 4 times and moved them around until they looked like a windmill. Then instead of posting the Story I just saved it to my phone photos. Seeing it on a smaller screen helped me to better visualize.
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I was happy to see that there was not a lot of wasted yardage as I sewed up the quilt. The background and binding fabric requirements were perfect! I did end up piecing the background fabric because I was using my stash and was just a little shy of the correct yardage. But I found that you can't really tell where the seams are now that it is all quilted up.
Assembling the Adventureland Quilt Sandwich
For the backing fabric I ordered a sheet set that has little black vintage planes on it. I used the flat sheet and my kids with use the bottom sheet, since they don't like top sheets its a win win.
I also got a chance to use my new spray bottle my sister gave me for Christmas. It is amazing and has a kind of extended spray time as you pump the handle, similar to an aerosol feel. I've seen these at quilt shops and have always wondered about them. I love it!
For the batting I chose some basic Warm and White cotton batting that I quickly grabbed from Walmart.
I've been using this Odif 505 Temporary Adhesive Spray to baste my quilts lately and I love how it has worked. For this quilt, because it was small, I chose to just try quilting it without pinning as well and it worked great.
Free Motion Quilting the Adventureland Quilt
To quilt this Adventureland Quilt, I used my free motion quilting foot and just made a pattern of little alternating arches. I was looking for a cloud like look but I just ended up with what looks like reptile scales. Oh well, maybe I should have spaced the lines out a little more.
Here is an up close look at the quilting. It is definitely not super even but I don't free motion quilt enough to be very precise at it. I think it looks great even if it's a little uneven. I did take scraps of fabric and batting to make a little practice quilt to work on before moving to the real thing.
Whenever I quilt a Quilt I always bring my sewing machine out to the kitchen table to give me more room for the quilt to be supported as I sew. This is really helpful. Free motion quilting is really dependent on how easy the quilt is to move around. If there is any pull or restriction to the quilt sandwich it is really difficult to get any even stitching. There is no way I could sew this on my little side sewing table in my bedroom.
I also like to use a pair of latex gloves to help me grip the fabric a little easier as I move it around. We always have some on hand for cleaning anyway. It makes a big difference in how hard your arms have to work to push the quilt as you stitch. I don't have a stitch regulator so I like try to keep my stitch speed the same as I sew and that helps.
I wish I had taken the time to wash the quilt and get a picture before I delivered it because pulling a quilt out of the dryer and seeing all the crinkle is the best part. I'll just have to make another one.
For the binding a just chose a light tan.
Overall I love how this Adventureland quilt turned out! It's a great well thought out pattern and I'll definitely use it again! Have you made one?
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