Sunday, January 4, 2009

How do you spell addicted?

Q-U-I-L-T! Yep, that's right! I stayed up until about midnight last night so I could finish the first block. Those of you who know me in RL (real life) or who have been reading my blogs for a while are not surprised, I'm sure. Before reading any further, be forewarned.........this is a very photo-heavy post. In fact, it might be obnoxiously full of photos kind of like the 50 photos you take of your firstborn sitting on a blanket not even moving. There is a good reason (in my opinion, and it is, after all, MY BLOG) that I added so many photos. I wanted to show you the step by step process on part of one block so you could see how actually easy it is. It's possible that some of you may have thought about making a quilt and felt it was too hard or intimidating. So that's why I'm doing this post. I promise future quilt-related posts won't have so many photos, just finished block photos. Keep in mind that if you've ever wanted to quilt, you can start (and stop) with just one block. The block I just made would look great finished off with some border fabrics and framed, just by itself. So...........think outside the box and don't be scared. If you've ever wanted to make a quilt, why not in 2009?



This photo shows my 6-inch quilt ruler. The quilt directions said to make diagonal lines on the back of my small squares using a pencil. So I used this small ruler to do that. Very simple.




Then the little block with the line is placed on top of the larger block, right sides together as shown here.




Then you simply sew right on the traced line. I am doing this by hand; you could also do it by machine.




Then you trim away the extra fabric as shown here.




Next, you flip your little triangle over and press the seam. Pretty cool, huh?




Repeat on the opposite corner as shown here.




Now one of the nine blocks needed for my larger block is done!




Here are the nine blocks for my first quilt block before I sewed them together. You can see that I made 4 blocks like the one I described above. I used the exact same steps to do the other 5 blocks, just with different fabric combinations.




And here is the first finished block. To see what the whole quilt pattern is click here. I've already printed off the directions for Block 2. Hopefully I'll be able to squeeze in some time today to start it. Now aren't you motivated to go try this for yourself? Maybe? If you are, check out the site I linked to........Block Central. It's got so many great projects and really great step-by-step directions. If the directions weren't so good, I'm sure that I couldn't have tackled this on my own.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you use a sewing machine for getting it all together? I was just about to buy a machine on Amazon but it was a real hit or miss type of purchace and I thought I would head over here to see if I could spot what make you use and aske whether it is worth buying that type myself or if you would buy a different one if you could make the purchase again. I have never used a machine but I really want to be able to just make stuff!!!
Thanks

Anonymous said...

I didn't use a machine at all. I'm trying to do this completely by hand. My sewing machine, which I've had for about 15 years or more, is a BabyLock brand. I have been happy with it and sewn TONS with it. A great resource for researching sewing machines is the website www.patternreview.com. There should be a link there where people have reviewed many makes and models. Hope that helps!

tracey (aka rainbowmummy) said...

I refer you to the comment I made here...

https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=3345881995495699750&postID=1309307086221351026

:0)

Anonymous said...

haha I forgot about you saying that!! So true!!

jk said...

I can't wait to see your quilt as it develops! My mom made the most gorgeous quilts for my kids for Christmas and I know how much time and effort went into them and she used a machine. I can't imagine how much time you'll be putting in to do this by hand!!

Anonymous said...

Thanks Laura - now, when I have a free hour in, ooh, about 6 weeks when we get to half term I will know where to look!

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