I did it! I finished!
Yesterday I finished sewing on the binding to my first quilt, threw it in the washer, and today have my very first 100% complete quilt!
I cannot express how proud of myself I am :)
So, from the beginning. I loved the Hello Luscious line (Moda, Basic Grey) since I first saw it, but had no idea what to do with it. I didn't know how to make a quilt. I googled "Hello Luscious quilt" and one of the first results was
"Mommy by day, crafter by night" blog. Apparently, she had a Zig Zag quilt-a-long in July.
I'm usually not late, but decided to join in anyways.
The whole tutorial she gave was so helpful, even if she used layer cakes, and I only used a charm pack.
You can find all the steps
here.
I bought some acrylic filling and plain white backing. Since it was my first, I didn't want to try anything fancy. This time.
I really wish I could have found the exact same color for the back, but I guess it's OK, and after all, the beauty in homemade quilts. (The white I used was Bella Solid white)
Quilting was, well... tricky. I had to move my machine over to our kitchen table so I could have more room. The twisting and turning each corner was a bit scary, because I had rolled up each side, and with each turn the rest of the quilt loosened up a bit, and pins started to fall out. Now I know why safety pins are recommended. Towards the end I got the hang of it, but I think it will be a while until I make a bigger quilt.
Binding, the part I was most afraid of, was actually the easiest. I cut out 3" strips, and used
Heather Baileys tutorial on binding.
I bought some extra fabric from the Hello Luscious line for the binding. That was hard choosing!
Connecting the ends was a bit tricky, but I got it right. Almost. I was a tad off and had a bit of extra fabric. No problem though, it was easily fixable and unnoticeable.
Sewing on the other side of the binding by hand was far less scary as I thought it would be.
We watched a movie and I finished it up during that time.
I always thought I'd like the free-motion stitches, but maybe because I just couldn't get it, I really do think I like the simple stitches, straight lined.
I like looking at the more complicated, hexagon, star, pinwheel etc. quilts, but I think I'd enjoy making the simpler ones. (You can follow my
quilt love on pinterest!) Zig-Zag, triangles, flying geese, those are on my very soon to-do list. I already have more fabric coming my way and cannot wait to start sewing a quilt again!