Thursday, August 11, 2011

Quilt--finished!

Hello! Well, yesterday I finished the quilt. I have to say I really enjoyed hand-sewing the back of the binding. I listened to a book on cd while working on it and I found it quite relaxing...minus the neck stiffness afterwards. Ooops!

I have to embarrassingly admit that I actually started making a different quilt top for our bed months ago, but when it was all finished I didn't really like it that much. It wasn't making my heart go pitter-patter...haha! I still have the top, but I don't know what I'm going to do with it now. Another project for another day I suppose. What inspired me to make this completed quilt was some fabric I saw on Etsy called Sweet Nothings. I bought a baby blanket for my niece and when I saw the blanket, it was love at first sight! I just had to make something using the fabric. So...I ordered about 5-6 yards of fabric and got started.

I love how intricate and creative some quilts are, but that's just not where I am at with quilting right now, so I decided to just cut plain ole 8x8 inch squares. Without the binding, the quilt is 91 x91 inches. It wasn't my plan to create a square quilt, but I guess when we make the bed we won't have to wonder what's up and what's down. Haha! The quilt is bigger than needed for a queen size, but I like having extra blanket (since I can be a blanket hog). It's perfect for us!


I love all of the colors on the quilt. I'd have to say these have been my favorite colors in the past year or so. Another simple thing about this quilt is that there was no actual "quilting" involved. I just did tying. Simple! Someday I would love to learn how to make those intricate quilt designs, but like I said earlier, that's just not where I'm at right now. Someday...

Quilting isn't my favorite hobby, I have to say. It's not like knitting where I feel relaxed and ok with mistakes when they come up. The sewing machine was yelled at a couple of times and I wasn't too happy to become aquainted with the seam ripper, but I suppose that's all part of the game, right? But I do have to say I enjoyed the process.



When I was working on laying out all of the layers, I told Quent, "I'm 3 weeks from my due date and here I am on the floor laying out a quilt." I bet this process would be a lot easier without a belly. Haha!



I'm still not very good at taking pictures in the house on cloudy days, but here's a picture of the quilt on our bed. One day (maybe) I'll make some pillow shams...or I'll just buy some decorative pillows. Or make some pillows. Hmmm... I could even knit some!! I'm working toward making the colors of our room turquoise, brown, cream, and orange. It's slowly getting there.

Some resources that were very helpful to me in making this quilt were some YouTube videos (I love YouTube!):

How to Join Strips for Borders and Bindings

How to make and attach quilt binding

Binding Your Quilt - Quilting Tips & Tricks

And of course, phone help from my friend and step-mom, Kelly! Thanks Kelly!

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2 comments:

Jessica said...

Oh I LOVE this! I love that material as well. I really love her quilt you got her and have thought how it would be nice to have a big one like it! Maybe some day.

Kate & Jeremy said...

Beautiful quilt! Learning to quilt is on my to-do list for the next year so I'll be referencing those you-tube videos too! I wonder if Baby Smith is here yet now that you are a day past the due date...