Bloggers' Quilt Festival

Triumph over the flood!

Here is my entry in the Bloggers' Quilt Festival!  I just found out about this festival a few days ago, and it was perfect timing, since I was almost finished this quilt.  The perfect motivation to get it done.

I started this quilt in February, and it is my first large quilt.  I have made some mini quilts, and I have been wanting to make one for my queen size bed.  I fell in love with Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks Voile fabrics and ordered a bunch last summer, and I was inspired by a quilt by Film in the Fridge, entitled Postcards from the Park.  And then our Little Guy was born in September and I was quite busy with him and the Little Monkey too, Christmas happened, and then I got to start my quilt!

I was making good progress, laying out the blocks, and that night our basement flooded.  Big mess, long story short, although everything is cleaned up, we are living in half our house still.  I didn't want the flood to get in the way of making this quilt, and I have triumphed! Our house situation is still crazy, but I made my quilt! My First Quilt!!!

I used my favourite colours of the Little Folks fabrics, and it ended up being quite mustardy over all, which is funny for someone who does not like mustard (the food anyway).  I used a white with it to show off the colours.  I went with the wonky design because I love the look, and also I wouldn't have to worry about matching seams and straight lines.  I used Warm and White batting and quilted in lines that are mostly straight, but that was part of the plan too.  It's not bunchy, it turned out well, and I'm super happy with it!

I learned so much by making this. It took making 156 or so blocks to then realize there was an easier way to do them.  I learned the wonderfulness of the walking foot!  I read even more quilting blogs.  I tried machine sewing the binding, and I will definitely try that again! I learned that I love quilting!  My favourite part was laying out the blocks, and also the feeling that it is completed, I can use it, and I can now move on to another quilt!

I can also tell you that I am sure I did a hundred things wrong, and I won't tell you what they are, because I am sure that some of them are quilting sins! 

So in conclusion, quilting is awesome, I love it, I hope to participate in more bloggy goodness!
Thanks for looking!

ps - I don't know how to get this thing here to work, but check out the Bloggers' Quilt Festival here!

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First Quilt, Almost Done!

I am so excited to be almost done my first quilt!!!  I have made some mini quilts - wall hangings - but this is my first full-size quilt, and I decided to just go ahead and make a queen size quilt for our bed!  I am going to machine quilt it, but I am not quite sure exactly how to do it.  I mean, I know HOW, but free-motion, or straight lines...  I am going to do it this weekend, because I want to use it!  I'll post a finished picture after it's done!

Very Random Patchwork

I decided to dive right in and do some random patchwork.  This is new to me - the random part.  Also new is two children napping AT THE SAME TIME!!!  I grabbed some of my favourite fabrics ( a lot of Anna Maria Horner, you may notice, although no one is reading this, so nevermind) and started cutting.  I had no idea how long they would sleep, so I had to work fast - no time to think!  Just cut and sew!  After a very short period of time, I had this shape.

Snap a picture.  Notice the dinosaur checking things out.  Move to a brighter location for better light for a picture.  Spend some time getting some silly shots of the dinosaur with the patchwork. (Don't all bloggers do this?) Seriously, you'd think I had all the time in the world.  I could have been doing anything, but I was positioning a dinosaur and chuckling to myself.  It doesn't take much to amuse me people.  I am a fan of the ridiculous!

Then I cut a nice little curvy shape and now I am sewing some white quilting cotton to fit the curves while I wait to hear little footsteps or a cry... More pics later!