Crafter: My "Spread the Love" shaggy quilt

I made this shaggy quilt for my son and daughter in law.
Their wedding invitation was a bottle of jam and on the label it said, 'Spread the Love.' My quilt was to spread my love with them  in creating something that they could use in their new home.Their guest bedroom is decorated in purples and white and is decorated with relics of their very special wedding.

I used the fabric that they used on top of the bottle to form part of the quilt.

I will take you through the process of making a shaggy quilt.

Firstly you design the quilt drawing a plan on square paper and making sure that you have enough fabric to cut the squares out of.

Be sure to make a 'key' so that you know what each of your pictures mean.Take into account that the quilt is going to 'shrink' once you stitch the pieces together. Insure that your quilt is the correct size or you will be very disappointed. I made this one big enough for a double bed, including an overhang. Rather too big than too small.

You need your selected 100% cotton fabric, good quality batting and whatever fabric you need for the backing: I used a good quality unbleached calico. None of your fabric needs to be washed before making your quilt.Do not use anything but cotton or else you will be disappointed and your hard work will be spoilt. Shwe Shwe does work. Cut all the fabric first and make sure that you have enough squares to match your design.I cut  1 350 squares to construct this quilt!

Now stitch the three layers together, going from corner to corner and forming an X across each square. Sew all of the squares like this first. Count that you have prepared enough squares. 

I laid the finished pieces out on the lounge floor, pinned them together and numbered the rows. Do this to check whether you have all the pieces you need.

Next you pin your squares together and be sure to NUMBER each row, THIS IS A MUST! Sew your strips together.

Now join three rows of strips at a time together, but you need to have the seams in a particular pattern. If you would like to make a quilt you can contact me and I will explain this very carefully.Be sure that your numbered rows are correct and check that the pattern is correct and fix any errors you may have made.

Your quilt looks a bit tatty but don't stress, it's going to be fabulous!You now sew all the strips of three rows together. 
Just be warned, this part is hard as the quilt will become heavier and a little tricky to keep straight. Just take your time and work carefully.

Once all the pieces are joined into one complete piece you need to start cutting around the edges. This takes LONGGGGGG and must be done with a very sharp pair of scissors. You must NOT cut into the seams. Approximately 20 cuts per edge are required. I keep a 'time log' for this part... I cut for 14 hours in total! 

There will be threads all over the place so put something over your clothes and the floor around you.

When every edge is cut place your quilt in the washing machine. There will be threads galore in your machine. Be sure to clean out your filter. Shake quilt and get as many loose threads out as possible. There will be LOADS of threads to sweep up. Hang quilt up to dry. Once dry shake quilt out .... more threads all over the place. Wash again and repeat procedure. Wash a third time, adding a softener. Shake out, hang up, shake again. Trim off all cotton threads that may be sticking up. Brush as many loose threads away as possible. Now you are ready to enjoy the quilt on your bed.By this stage it should be soft. The more you wash it the softer it will become and the more the edges will curl: thus a shaggy edge and look.

Well here is the final work of love! The true colours do not really show up well in the photographs.I can't wait to see it on the bed where it is meant to be.