October 1st!!!! October is always my favorite month of the year. It is a beautiful month in Michigan. What better way to ring in my favorite month than with a little quilt…Speck!! Speck is a new design from the collection called Little Bites by Carrie Nelson for Miss Rosie’s Quilt Co available here. Speck is also this month’s quilt for the sew-a-long, Another Year of Schnibbles. Little Bites use 2 1/2″ precut squares. Since I have been on a little quilt kick, I decided to make a mini version of Speck.
I used leftover pieces of Old Glory Gatherings from Primitive Gatherings from my Old Glory Itty Bitty here. Then I added some reproduction fabric from my stash. It is always a great feeling to use up fabric on hand. My little version of Speck is around 14″x18″ before the binding.
I love how it turned out. You know I love anything patriotic, so this is right up my alley!
I almost left it without borders because I liked it so well. The pattern was super easy to follow. It went together very easily by following the pressing instructions given by Carrie. One thing I want to add…I sized all my fabric with Magic Spray Sizing, including the 2 1/2″ pieces before I cut them. I always spray size fabric before I cut it. I know Carrie usually likes to starch or size her fabrics too, so I emailed her and asked her if she did when piecing with the 2 1/2 charms as well and she said “yes.” That is the wonderful thing with Carrie’s patterns using precuts, she always factors in any shrinkage you will get from pre-sizing/starching fabric. Here is my little trick when using sizing… I like to spray all my precuts or fabric generously. I will let them dry down a bit and then iron them. The fabric irons so much faster if you let it dry a little first. 🙂 I like the body the sizing adds to the fabric. Makes it super easy to handle for cutting. Also my piecing is so much more accurate with pre-sized fabric.
Make sure you stop by Sinta’s blog or Sherri’s blog later today to see this month’s parade of Speck quilts.
