My First Quilt

My first quilt was created out of necessity. I have two dogs and a cat, and between the three of them, they shed a LOT of hair. I wanted a throw of some kind to go over my couch, so I could just pull it off and shake it out, or toss it in the wash. I searched and searched, but couldn't find a blanket or throw that was "just right." They were all the wrong color, or the wrong size, or I just didn't like the pattern, etc. Then one day it dawned on me... I can sew! I even had a sewing machine! I hadn't done a lot of advanced sewing at that point, and had never attempted a quilt, but I thought this was something I could learn to do.

How I got started

I remembered seeing a store in my home town (Saline, MI) called "The Quilting Season" so I drove there to check it out. I was lucky to have picked a day when they were open later in the evening, but weren't too busy. A VERY helpful woman listened to my story and said she could help me get started. She helped me select a simple, beginner-friendly pattern, the Split Rail Fence. She helped me select some fabrics, and showed me how to use a rotary cutter and mat. With my new tools and pile of fabrics in-hand, she sent me off with my first homework assignment: cut all these fabrics into strips, and sew the strips together! I came back the next week with all my strips sewn together as she instructed. She seemed surprised, but guided me on to the next step of cutting the sewn strips into small squares, such as the one shown here.

Next the small squares would be arranged and stitched into blocks of four squares each, as shown here.

and finally the blocks are stitched together to form the quilt top.

Each week she gave me instructions on the next step, and I went home to perform the steps, then came back for my next "lesson" the following week. From cutting to piecing the quilt top, to sandwiching the quilt layers and quilting them together, to the final step of binding the quilt, she guided me through the entire process, and got me started on my new passion! I wanted to try out several different quilting methods, including "tie quilting" for the main body of the quilt, and machine quilting in the dark purple border strip as shown here...

... and I even did some hand-quilting, in the green strip as shown here. The feather pattern hand-quilting in this little border strip took longer than the entire rest of the quilt - that is including cutting, piecing, quilting and finishing! However, it is also my favorite part of this quilt. I guess you get out what you put in!

The finished product

When I finally finished it, after having put so much work into the quilt, I found it hard to just lay it on the couch for the animals to lay on! Even though my original intention was for a throw on my couch, I ended up hanging the finished product on my wall for several months. Eventually I got over this silliness, and the quilt now lives on the couch where it belongs! The matching throw pillows you see here were made from scraps of fabric left over from the quilt.

As you can see the pets love sitting on it!

The Quilting Season
	Because the Quilting Season was such a big part of getting me started on my new addiction, I always recommend them to anyone in the area who is interested in quilting. If you're in the area you should definitely stop by! Check out their website for store hours, location, and a schedule of upcoming classes and events.