First Quilt Ever from HGK Handmade

A first ever quilt finish feature today from Audrey of HGK Handmade.  As she proclaimed "the longest WIP ever!" :) I know we all have those, lol!  I love that she set out to make her first quilt, it didn't go as planned but she persevered until she finished.  Quilts are all about who made them and who they are made for.  Love this sweet finish!! Also check out Audrey's bead shop, she's got some really great pieces. 

3 years ago *gulp* this project started. It was going to be my first ever patchwork quilt and of course I didn't start with something small, but went for a blanket instead. And of course I didn't follow any pattern but made up my own. (if you would like to see the whole lengthy process, click here)

The last time I posted about it was almost 1 1/2 years ago: I realised I had miscalculated something and now my precious quilt had turned out very long and very narrow. I asked for help with fixing this, but even though I did get some tips the whole thing ended up gathering dust in a corner.

Until recently. All of a sudden I decided that I was going to finish it, even if it was 'wrong'. Because I loved it as I was working on it, because I had already promised it to Big Brother, and also simply because of all the time I put into it. I just decided this was NOT ending up an UFO.

So here it is. There is a lot that's not perfect about it: apart from the obvious size miscalculation, I also made the mistake of sticking it in the dryer after it was done, and despite the fact that I had washed and machine dried all the fabrics and the batting, it still shrank. The batting is 100% cotton so I suppose that is why. I'll never machine dry it again and hope it will stretch back into shape a bit over time.

But I love it. It's a really really boyish quilt and the pattern (or lack thereof) turned out exactly as I hoped.
And more importantly: Big Brother loves it. He sleeps with it every night, even though summer has finally hit us. And when both Brothers crawl into bed with us on weekend mornings, he brings it with him and cuddles up under it. 


* I hope you will use it for very many years to come, my sweet big little boy *

patchwork blanket 2013 may 1, a photo by HGK handmade on Flickr.

patchwork blanket 2013 may 1, a photo by HGK handmade on Flickr.

patchwork blanket 2013 may 1, a photo by HGK handmade on Flickr.

patchwork blanket 2013 may 1, a photo by HGK handmade on Flickr.

Christine from Describe Happy...first quilt!

Christine from Describe Happy made an amazing first quilt! No simple blocks, or strip quilt for this girl, she just dove right in to the quilting world. Love this quilt, love the colors, good work Christine!

I have gotten so used to looking things up on my blog now that I nearly have two years of content.  I love how easy it is to find old projects, see progress on things, and find archived Katie photos.  So, when I went to look for my pink and orange girly quilt and didn't find it I was puzzled.

I think it was a timing issue.  I started this blog in February 2009 and finished the quilt in March 2009 -- so I can see how it was maybe left off.

Why am I on this tangent?  I am planning a new quilting project and was looking back on my previous projects for inspiration.  That's when it hit me that I hadn't properly shown you this quilt yet. 

Let's fix this... introducing "Looking for Guinevere." 

The name is inspiration from my dog Katie who's original name was to be Guinevere.  You see the breeder gave all their pups royal names -- funny right?  And making this quilt was like the adventure we took for Katie to join our family... bits of this, a little bit random and lucky, not quite perfect, but we couldn't be happier to have her with us!  And the same goes for this quilt!

Here are a few of the blocks in progress.  So fun to see them come to life in the colors and fabrics I picked out.

I remember when I was working on this quilt.  It was cold.  And I enjoyed just dedicating myself to running into my command center (office) every night and working on this until my eyelids were too droopy to stay open. 

I just couldn't get enough.  So, when I saw the top sewn together for the first time I knew I was in love.  This is my first quilt.  My first large fabric piece.  The spark that ignited the intense love of all things soft and fabric!

At the time the largest space I had to work on was a small card table that I set up in my office.  I'm not sure I remember what was under the quilt at the time to cause that bulge, but I am guessing it was heaps of fabric, scissors, and books.

I originally did a quilting pattern only on the outer two most rows.  At the time it was all I could fit in before an art show that I entered this piece into.

Now, nearly 1.5 years later I have this hanging on my wall in my first house... and I realize just how much I love it!

Here are some fresh outdoor pictures taken in the cold November air. 

And there it is.  My first fabric love.

I have since started a queen-king size quilt for our bed and am ready to pick that project up again.  I am also working on a lap size quilt this week for a special person in my life who could stand to be a little bit warmer... a little bit more cuddled.

Quilting certainly sparked and re-sparked my love affair with fabrics and the comforting hum of the sewing machine!

The Social {lite}'s 1st quilt!

Okay I'm just gonna say it...there are far too many of you out there that have really great quilts that are your first quilts ever!  What?  Not fair.  Today we're featuring Cindy from The Social {lite}'s very first quilt.  AND she hand quilted it.  I haven't even attempted this.  When I told Heather the other day that I want to hand quilt one she let me know in no uncertain terms that she was not interested in that...at all!  Anyway, check out Cindy's blog for a fun read on what she calls "learn(ing) the ropes of local society life with food stains on my shirt and a "Mom's Taxi" sign on my car."

i've finished my first ever, have never done one of these before, holy crap i can't believe i finished it quilt.

for those of you into this sort of thing, i didn't use any particular pattern for the quilt top (though i did use oh fransson's paintbox quilt as inspiration for the design). all of the fabrics were scraps i had laying around, except for the back and the binding (and i have no idea who the fabrics were made by, sorry!).

i followed the circle patterns on the backing fabric as my quilt pattern (just made sense, ya know?) and since i was hand quilting the entire thing, it took freakin' forever.

six months, give or take.

 

but totally worth it, don't ya think?

and i chose to use this rainbow palette because it's gender neutral (for babies, anyway) so that my daughter  can pass it down to her children someday.

i just love it. and truth be told, i'm so damn glad it's done.

next up? i'm trying my hand at hand tying quilts. i'm using my husband's grandmother(who passed away last september)'s old clothes and housecoats to make memory quilts for all of her great-grandchildren.

 

Thanks again Cindy...really I'm so impressed!  Also we wanted to mention for those of you who haven't heard of it, Katie from Swim, Bike, Quilt and Aunt Spicy have teamed up with a really great holiday idea.  The goal is to donate 100 quilts for Christmas.  Check out their blogs for details and look through all your unfinished projects or homeless quilts and consider donating them!