i finally finished my first quilt - finally! i made it mackenzie sized and then plan to hang it in her room when she get's bigger. i decided not to follow a pattern and just winged it. as you can see above, what i did is pretty self explanatory considering it's a rectangle made of squares sewn together :)i fell in love with the amy butler fabric i scooped for a great price on ebay. so far, all my purchases on ebay for fabric have been good ones with great people and service (unlike the horrible fabricland).
this quilt was truly a learning experience and a labor of love. i enjoyed the whole process and will definitely be making another one. i hand stitched the whole quilt together and only used the machine when i attached the bias tape (this part was trickier than i thought). i found the process of hand sewing the quilt very relaxing and rewarding - both of which surprised me. not so sure why, but it did. i decided not to do any hand/machine quilting on the actual quilt (i was too nervous to and have been practicing on coasters instead) and chose to tie it with the knot method instead. i didn't want the knots visible so i tied them on the back side of the quilt and cut the ends quite short.
the one thing i was really happy with was my decision to purchase my material pre-cut. i would never have been able to cut all those damn squares the same size, even with a rotary cutter. i am a the world's worst fabric cutter. my squares would have just gotten smaller and smaller, that's how bad i am. i really need to practice it, but i seriously doubt it's going to happen any time soon - especially if i can buy them pre-cut!
you can read a bit more about my thoughts on the quilting process here. i got a chance to speak to a wonderful lady on hornby island at a farmer's market when i was on vacation. they have quite a large quilting group there, and she was so helpful and informative and chatted with me for quite some time about techniques and advice. i wish i could find something like that where i live. if any of you know of any sewing/quilting groups in victoria, bc (canada) please let me know. i would love to get in touch with them. i am a visual learner and find it easiest to learn while talking and watching others, but mostly, i admit it, i just love talking to anyone older than toddlers years and if you throw in sewing as a topic i am over the moon with glee.are any of you working on your first quilt? what were your experiences like? any tips to share?