My First Quilt - a 16 Block Quilt

Quilt making is something that my Ma has always done and to be honest the urge has never grabbed me, well that was until last summer when some vintage fabrics that's been lying around for quite some time started calling out for a little TLC.

 

 

 

 

 

Without a quilt book in sight I ventured over to Pinterest for a little inspiration. How lucky are we to be spoilt with so much inspiration with just a click of a button?! Within minutes I saw this 16 block quilt and knew instantly that I wanted to have a go making something similar.  

 

 

 

 

This tutorial came in really handy for learning how to cut the fabrics to save a little time. I didn't follow the full instructions for my quilt as I wanted something a little different, but for cutting the fabrics it came in very handy. I knew I wanted my finished squares to be in the region of 8.5 inches or thereabout so I just worked the rest out from there. Therefore allowing a quarter inch seam allowance on each side of the block for each 16 blocks.

 

 

I figured that it would be a good idea for my first quilt to be small as I didn't know how I was going to manage quilting a massive quilt for the first time, so I aimed for a finished size of around 40 x 50 inches and boy am I pleased I did!

 

 

 

 

I found the cutting quite therapeutic, especially seeing I did some of it sitting outside in the gorgeous sunshine we were blessed with last summer. This is definitely my idea of how one should go about ones quilting business. 

 

 

 

 

It was only during the month of August that I started joining the squares together to form a 16 block squares and found it a very enjoyable process. I definitely think having a 1/4 inch machine foot really helps to keep things nice and tidy and I wouldn't ever be without one again.

 

 

 

 

 

It felt so lovely to pick up these squares again in January after so many months and despite my nerves about doing the sashing, it actually turned out to be a pretty straight forward process in the end. On the other hand putting the quilt together was a little more tricky , but nothing that a good few safety pins couldn't sort out.

 

 

 

  

I found that keeping the iron handy really helped. It really is a great deal easier if everything is crisp and flat without any pesky creases glaring up at you

  

 

 

 

then came the quilting and if I am perfectly honest this is the bit that scared the socks off me, but it all turned out OK in the end (and it seems I still have my socks on, yay!). No it is not perfect and yes I did chose a very simple design, well to be honest I just did what I thought I could manage, so whether it is actually a design or not, who knows! I just did a simple diagonal cross through each of the squares, which seem to work well.

  

 

 

The binding is another aspect that kinda gave me the ibbies. I started off by just cutting the backing fabric a little bigger (around an inch), so I could just fold it over to the front, but with a slip of the scissors and a cuss of the mouth, we swiftly moved on to plan B. In my case this often involves YouTube and it seems that this and this link here saved my bacon. I really surprised myself with how much I actually enjoyed hand stitching the binding in place, who would have thought?!
 

 

 

Once the binding was on, it was popped in the washing machine and I must say it does come out looking a great deal better than it went in, so I will follow this advice in the future again.

 

 

 

I love all the colours and I especially how the grey frames the colours
 

So this is my Spring Quilt and for me

 



 

the colours most certainly have a feel of Spring about them and it sure makes me feel super cheery

 

For the back of the quilt I used an old duvet cover and I especially love how some of the colours of the retro prints are incorporated here

 

 

I also love how this yellow stripe sings!!

 

As a reference book The Quilters Bible has come in really handy throughout this process and I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested to start their first quilt or just wanting some information on quilting. It pretty much covers everything you need to know and more. I am sure I will refer to it time and time again as I venture a little deeper into the mysterious woods of quilting

For now it is sitting on little Es's bed, but I have just today been told to remove it as she still wants her nursery quilt there until I have finished her quilt. I was told 'but these are not the fabrics I chose and this really does not look like the quilt I ordered', so hey that's me told! Needless to say I have yet to start on her quilt, now where did I put that magic wand??

 

 

Fortunately it does seem that the quilting bug has bitten and the plan for the next is in full swing (albeit under a little bit of pressure from a four year old!). It seems like it might be a good thing after all that I am actually loving this quilting lark! Also joining in today with Chrissie for her 'Stitching Sundays'.

 

Wishing you all a very lovely week.

 

Warm Wishes

Hannapat

xoxo