it's done! i finished my first quilt.

i finally finished it!! this process has been going on since last summer when i was co-oping in huntsville. due to an incredibly busy fall semester, i didn't pick it up until i came back up to north alabama to do my last co-op this january. i was determined to finish it before this semester ended and sure enough - i did! now that i am done i can't wait to start on my next one. i have so many ideas and i have been collecting some beautiful fabrics.

i've never had a really great sewing set up. last summer, i was working on a tiny little sewing table in a tiny little room. this semester, i have been using the above set up, using a barstool height table for ironing and sewing. it's a small table so i can only manage to do one thing at a time on it. i actually really love the height though, so i am standing the entire time i am working. usually, sitting at a desk will give me really annoying back/shoulder pains. i still get a little bit of a sore back while i am sewing and standing, but that's usually because i've been at it for hours. i just enjoy it significantly more than sitting, so i think my future permanent sewing set up will have a standing height table.

sewing on my grandma's old singer from the 60's. it's an industrial machine and i love it. it doesn't do anything other than a straight stitch but that's all i really need.

  

and here it is! all done. don't look super close or you'll see all my mistakes. this quilt is not a work of art and it won't be hung on the wall, it's going to be loved on and brought to picnics and cuddled with.

 

taking pictures of a twin sized quilt by yourself without a tripod or a helper was kinda hard. i'll work on this.

i used the machine binding tutorial from red pepper quilts (found here) and it was super helpful. the binding didn't turn out perfect - the back of the binding varies in width here and there - but i am happy with it. i'll get better with practice!

i used a thrifted white sheet as the backing fabric. i know some quilters will shy away from using vintage sheets for quilts because the needle will actually pierce a hole in the fabric instead of having the fabric shift and move around the needle. i decided to just go for it and see what happens since this is my first quilt and i'm open to making mistakes (and thus, learning from them). it is really soft and i'm happy i used the sheet instead of some rough hard fabric. also i'm poor and this was cheaper. college logic.

i think the grid quilting looks pretty cool on the back of the quilt. it kind of reminds me of a downtown street layout.

well that's it for my first quilt, buddies! can't wait to get started on my next one. i have so many ideas. :)

lovingly handmade

with my first quilt almost finished, i wanted to have some labels ready to sew onto it once i was done. i know they aren't necessary but i think they are really cute! instead of ordering some off of etsy with a design i'm not in love with, i decided to make my own. i bought some muslin from hobby lobby and used stamps to make my own design.

i got these stamps at michaels for only $1 and they are adorable. a giraffe, a zebra and an elephant wearing party hats? sold. the hot air balloon stamp and the letter stamps are from hobby lobby.

i can't decide if i want to add anything else to them. it'd be cool to add the year the quilt was finished, or my name in case these were ever given to family members or friends. we'll see! it took awhile to stamp every word but once i got in the zone, it was fine. i like the messy, full of mistakes look. it's my way of dealing with my inability to do things perfectly and that way i stay sane.

the next step is to cut them out and then i will use some of my embroidery thread to attach them to the bottom right hand corner of the quilt once it is finished. i'm excited - i can't wait to see what they look like on the quilt!

quilt update

i started my very first quilt last summer and it has taken me a lot longer than expected to get to work on it. i'm determined to finish it by the end of this semester that way i can get to work on my next quilt because i have so many (soooo many) more ideas. when i get bored at work, i draw up quilt designs. yeah, i'm obsessed.

picking up where i left off last summer...piecing together all of the blocks. i had finished the blocks then started to sew them together horizontally, but i hated the fabric i chose to surround the blocks. in january, in a huff, i ripped all of the seams and set out to find a new border fabric. all it took was a trip to joann's and i was hooked on this teal fern-like flower print. 

i am SO glad i ended up changing my mind because this teal print matches perfectly and i love love love it. teal + red + coral + neutral colors = i'm sold.

 

so far, it seems to be about a twin size quilt. i didn't set out to make a certain size, and really i've done this whole quilting thing in a very amateur way. i just wanted to make a sample quilt like my mom made over 20 years ago (and never finished - my quilt goal is to finish it for her). i didn't care about the final size of it. i didn't care that half of my points are not points at all. i'm anticipating that this quilt will be used for more utility than display, because i'm gonna cherish every inch of this dang thing. i love it and i'm so happy with how it's turned out. i've got my backing fabric, batting and the top is done, i'm just waiting on getting my walking foot mailed to me. and then it's on.

my mom started this quilt when my older sister katie was only a year old. it's been sitting in the back of her closet for over twenty years, unquilted. it'd be awesome if i could finish it for her!