Novice Quilter

So obviously one of my bigger accomplishments of 2014 was finishing my first quilt.

I saw the pattern on Craftsy one dreary day, and decided I needed a little color in my life. The colors were chosen for me, as they came in a precut roll. Buying precut saved me a few good hours.

Quilting is a little addicting. I'm hoping to make another blanket for Everett's big boy bed (when he's ready). The workers at Spokane's premier quilting shop made me feel like my sewing machine was a little inferior for the task, so I did not try anything too fancy in the actual quilting phase. I simply did standard squares "in the ditch" of the existing fabric patterns.

To start, I "basted" the fabric together by layering everything on the floor. Using basting pins from Joann's, I pinned all the pieces together, then went for it on the machine. Some people pay for these final steps to be done by a professional, but I was on a budget and wanted to call this whole project my own.

I definitely felt like my sewing machine's ability was stretched in this step. I had to do a lot of pushing to get that heavy fabric to move, even with a brand new walking presser foot (a foot that supposedly "walks" the top layer of fabric, while the "feet" built into the machine move the bottom layer of fabric).

The final step is binding the quilt, which I did with the help of this gal and this gal. I guess you can say I combined their methods and did whatever seemed least confusing to me.

Is my quilt perfect? No. Does it bring our family great joy? YES.