my first quilt

I had been pondering the idea for years, but never took the time to actually start one. In actuality, I lacked the time and the confidence.

But this summer I decided I would stop making excuses and attempted my first quilt. I had no idea where to begin, so I just went to Jo-Ann's and purchased one of their kits. I thought the colors were feminine and bright and knew they would work for my sweetie's sister-in-law, who was having a baby girl at the end of August.

Once I brought it home, I realized that I hadn't made the best choice. Some of the fabric was satin, so it didn't cut well, and it was fraying everywhere. The original pattern didn't include any actual "quilting"; instead it came with backing fabric to attach to the top...no batting, no binding, no quilting involved. But I ended up adding my own batting and binding and quilted it to make it more authentic.

It didn't turn out too shabby for my first time, but it took what seemed like forever to finish. Part of that was because I insisted on doing it all by hand. I hadn't played with my grandmother's sewing machine in years, so I was convinced that hand quilting was the safer option.

While it was rather simple in design, I was still proud of the finished result. Sadly I forgot to take a picture of the final version before giving it away as a gift; however, I did snap a shot of the quilt top.