My First Quilt
Last week at a craft night with friends, someone asked me what my favorite craft medium is. Obviously I love crafting and all things DIY, but I’d honestly never thought about what my favorite medium is! I told her maybe woodworking or sewing. They’re both forms of sculpture for me— I can take something flat and giving it a new shape and new life with a little vision, time, and work. But after saying this, I felt the need to clarify something about the sewing thing.
Not quilts. I love sewing, just not quilts.
Give me a few months, and just like a difficult child birthing experience, I’ll most likely forget my back pain and woes and be ready to give it another go. (Though if quilting is anything like birthing babies, I’ll need a few years between each one!) But as of now, I’m very proud to have finished my first quilt, though I cut a few corners along the way and definitely compromised on my original vision. This was certainly an instance of “Done is better than perfect.”
The top of the quilt is a simple rectangular block construction. At first I wanted to keep things super easy and figured I would just hand tie the quilt, but I really love how quilts get crinkly when machine stitching the layers together. So I watched this very helpful YouTube tutorial and bought myself a free-motion quilting foot for my sewing machine. I designed an elaborate geometric pattern that I had planned to draw on the top of my quilt and then go over with machine stitching. But by the time I had basted together the layers, I had sunk many hours and late nights into the project and thought it might be better than I just finish it up, instead of dragging it out while tediously stitching a complex pattern onto a heavy quilt without the assistance of an extension table on my sewing machine. Not a prospect I relished much, considering the work load I had waiting for A Beautiful Mess projects.
So I decided. Done is better than perfect. I made binding for the quilt and machine stitched it in place, instead of blind stitching it— another compromise. Oh well! I don’t think anyone beside me would have noticed that detail anyway.
Happily, Lucy loves getting tucked in under her new quilt in her new bed. She gets a little distressed if I don’t cover her with it before leaving the room. And my heart melts. I suppose it’s perfect for her, and I hope that she will always treasure it, knowing that I made it just for her!
It’s fun to do these little projects to make my firstborn feel special, knowing that a new kiddo will soon be sleeping in her old room and old bed, and she’ll most likely have some trouble adjusting.
Have you ever had trouble finishing projects that you end up not enjoying as much as you thought you would? My issue is that I always add more details and tend to make each project more complicated than I have time for. Gotta keep at least one foot on the ground, right?
I started my first quilt a few months ago (this one: http://seekatesew.com/modern-ombre-bw-triangle-quilt-tutorial-pattern/), for my boss who was 8 months pregnant. The baby’s now a month old and the quilt is languishing in a drawer… I’ve created a mental block about binding it.
This is fantastic! I started a quilt for Miles not too long after we found out that we were expecting. I decided to hand quilt it and now that he’s 4 months old I’m still working on it. Haha. I’ll be happy if it’s finished by his first birthday.
Very sweet. I started quilting in September and am finishing up my fourth quilt now (would have finished them all faster but fabric is pricey). Your quilt for Lucy is so beautiful. Nicely done. I like the backing fabric you used in contrast to the monochromatic top. I have up 3 blog posts of my first three quilts I finished if you are interested in seeing them (the third quilt is only the third entry down from my latest entries). They are becoming an addiction for me and a stress reliever. Keep up the great work! I would rather quilt than sew clothes honestly. I have fun piecing things together and doing free motion quilting and all that. I love now that all our bedding in the house are quilts and now I am making quilts for my brothers and their wives. Yey!
Ah despite your few hurdles, the finished result is wonderful!! And a piece of treasure steeped in nostalgia and sentimentality, your daughter is sure to hold onto forever : )
Gemma
http://www.fadedwindmills.com
I’m working on my first quilt right now too, for my almost 3 year old daughter, and have wanted to just hand it over to my MIL to finish so. many. times. Just the cutting and measuring is enough to make you want to quit! Yours turned out beautiful, thanks for the motivation!
It’s so beautiful. I love the fabric that you picked.
Laura
http://laurahager.blogspot.com
Where is the fabric from? I love this combination!
Laura
I got all of the fabric from JoAnn’s, and I believe the designer for both was Cloud 9.
I so much love your projects! I have so much trouble finishing projects! it’s not that I don’t want to, just they take more time than I usually have! From now it’ll be my moto ‘Done is better than Perfect”. It’s sooo soothing. Thanks for sharing!
what a cute little room! Just saw your post on A Beautiful Mess and it’s such a brilliant idea!
this is so lovely! i’d definitely love to make quilts for my children when i have some, but don’t know if i’d have the patience for it, haha! xx
Quilting looks like a lot of fun to me! I have a Brother sewing & embroidery machine that I’ve been dying to get to know better. I’d really like to view a few tutorials, buy some fabric, and make myself a quilt! I really love the job you did on yours, it’s so beautiful. I’m actually sooo bad at finishing projects, let alone starting them- but this looks amazing and I’d love to try it!
Great quilt. I love the design.