My First Quilt – WIP

Iz needs a blanket, as next week she will be napping at school once a week. I thought it would be fun if we picked out fabric and made a quilt, so we took a trip to Valley Fabrics. I love walking into the shop. Tons of color, tons of patterns and the people are always so nice. And – where to start? First things first, Iz was escorted to the bucket-o-toys. I knew she wouldn’t be into picking fabric, at least not for very long. I pulled out my little inspiration – a cloth swim diaper (sorry – no picture), aqua with pink and red and yellow flowers – and away we went. I love working with creative people who know their store and their product. There was really no browsing (ok – because I knew there was a time limit if Iz and I were out shopping together…), and this is what I came home with. 1/2 yard of each. It’s enough to make TWO 45ish by 54ish quilts. I was so excited, I came home and threw them in the wash right away (why is it that some people don’t wash before they sew? is it easier to handle? I am so worried about shrinkage, plus the sizing in the fabric is no good for my allergies – or my body for that matter – yuck…anyway….). As soon as it came out of the wash, up they went to get ironed dry.

I love my handy dandy rotary cutter and self healing mat. They are so wonderful. I could not imagine cutting 150 or so 7″ squares with scissors. Cutting is not my favorite thing (although Iz loves using her ladybug scissors – and is quite good at it too!). I think that if I couldn’t have cut these out quickly with my rotary cutter, the fabric you see above, would have turned into skirts (not a bad thing!). Surprisingly, Iz sat quietly on the floor of my studio while I cut these out. I couldn’t believe that this was happening. Maybe because she knows all of this is for her (well half – the other is for a future cousin)? Thinking back to it, she was so content. Is this a step towards more independence for both of us?

I was so excited, I didn’t take a photo of all the cut squares. They sure did look nice though.

I wanted a really random layout. One quilt needs to be done by next Monday (Iz will need it Tuesday morning), so I have been really excited to get started and finish! Rob (my wonderful creative husband), wanted to help out. We’ve been trying to spend our evenings working together and not in front of the television, but rather reading books, working on our projects, helping each other. It’s much nicer than turning into a vegetable at night. He suggested mixing up the swatches before laying out the quilts. It’s what he does when he does his tiling. So, away we went. It made it really easy to lay out each quilt. 7 squares by 8 rows. Once we finished I only rearranged 1 or 2 (can’t help it, too much training…). Then, how to mark them? I didn’t have a place big enough to keep them out in their order, no flannel sheet or sticky board to keep them in order. So I tagged each row. 1a, 1b, 1c and so on. Pinned in the upper left corner. EASY! So easy to take each pile and sew a row. Then sew the rows together. This is what one of them looks like:

I love how the back looks. Maybe an idea for another type of quilt? Have to research that…

Anyway – each top took me about an hour to piece together. Not bad. I was a little worried that they would take me longer, and I only have a week to finish. Iz really likes them. “Is that mine mama? Can I make a quilt too?” There is something wonderfully satisfying about making things for your children.

I love the size of the quilt and I don’t think I’m going to add a border. I think I’ll bind it (I’m leaning towards a green binding of some sort) and I think the back of the quilt will be some sort of orange. Although, I am a bit worried about the dirt factor – maybe something darker? I’m off to Valley Fabrics again tomorrow to find the backing, get the batting and find the fabric for the binding. I’m planning on machine quilting this, and can anybody tell me – Do I need a special foot for my sewing machine? or can I use the standard one? I was also thinking about rounding the corners, instead of leaving them square. I am planning on a bias binding. Any advice?

ps – This is my first quilt. I have dreamed of making quilts since I think about the 4th grade. A friends mother tried to get me started, but instead of cutting squares, she had me cut tons of triangles. She lost me there. Then, in high school, I had a self portrait project (I wish I could find it). I painted a lifesize me on fabric, then cut it up into squares and mixed it with other squares of fabric. Kind of a quilt, but I didn’t consider it a quilt then.