The first stages of the quilt

OK, just wanted to start a kind of step by step plan for making a quilt. This is step one of the newest quilt I have been working on. As you can see to the right, I am showing the fabrics I have chosen. I thought that all three of these fabrics would go together, but now I am not sure of the butterfly print on the left. It does not go with the pattern I have chosen. Below is a close up of the main fabric.



OK, so once you have the fabrics, you have to plan and cut. There are a lot of possible patterns to be found on the internet. GO explore and find an easy one you like (especially when you are first starting out). Go for squares. All other shapes are HARD to manage. Definitely start with squares. And they look neat no matter how you put them together.

Then start cutting. I am using big squares and little squares on this one. For the small squares, I sewed strips together and then will cut them into strips the other direction in order to make the sewing part easier.

You can see below how it looks when I cut the strips apart and then start peicing them together into a checkerboard pattern. When I was young, I would take graphing paper and color in the lines with every other block colored in with alternating colors, just like a quilt. And now I love sewing these checkerboards together.


OK, so as I start, I alternate the cutting and the sewing, just to keep it interesting. I get to bored just doing all the cutting then all the sewing. Also, if I am watching TV, I can cut during the show and go to the other room to sew during the commercial.

You can see below how I am starting to peice this quilt together. It is a modified Irish Chain design. I am using the smaller squares for one part part and the larger squares for the other. THen these squares will make a larger pattern of chaining.


I hope you will see as I go and make additional posts what it is like to take these peices and connect them until you all of the suddan have this large whole that makes sense.


I so love doing this and the process of putting things together.

OK, now, this is a retro quilt with a different sort of pattern and cats on it. I need ideas for who should recieve this as a Christmas present, because the best part of finishing a quilt is seeing someone curl up under it. I have had the joy of seeing both my mother and my mother in law open a quilt from me, take it out, and then immediately wrap up in it. That is the best.


OK, more to come, keep watching!!