My First Patchwork Quilt

Don't look at it too closely!  It's my first attempt at anything like this and only my 2nd ever sewing project...so be gentle with me.  It's a bit wibbly wobbly and not the straightest looking of quilts.....but its handmade with love which excuses me from all flaws and mistakes made....teehee

Do you remember a few months ago I showed you my first ever sewing project?  It was a Halloween costume for my sister that I made a couple of years ago, a Dorothy Gale dress with a pair of sparkly ruby slipper.  Well, that was my first attempt at sewing anything.  And I honestly mean that.  I didn't even know how to turn on a sewing machine or thread it....but I still managed to make my sisters dress by learning as I went.....thank goodness for YouTube!  So since I was able to do that, I thought to myself, "Why not try something that experienced, well established sewers do, something that has taken them many hours of sewing and years to master as my second project" and that was, make a patchwork quilt!

What was I thinking, lol??  Who did I think I was....Martha Stewart?  So my sister seeing that I took to sewing and could sorta, kinda do it (even though up until that point of making her Halloween costume I'd never so much as sewn a tea towel before) made a request that I make her a patchwork quilt for her 21st Birthday!!!  And what did numpty here say (obviously full of great confidence in her non-existent sewing abilities!), "Yes of course wee sister, I can do that no problem".  So I bought the fabric, watched loads of tutorials on YouTube from incredibly experienced sewers like The Missouri Star Quilt Company, Whitney Sews and Gourmet Quilter to name but a few.  And after watching these wonderfully talented ladies do tutorials on how to make quilts, I was confident that I could make T a quilt for her 21st Birthday.

But then life took over, T's 21st birthday came and went, Family life was hectic, my Brother got married and I did all his stationery and wedding "Stuff", we did up my craft room which took me over a year to do (and its still not completely done).....yadda yadda yadda.  And my little sewing machine sat un-touched.........for 2 and a half years!!!!  YES......you read that correctly!  T is now 23 years & 8 months old and is only now getting her quilt, teehee.  Don't worry, I did get her other Christmas presents.....as this is not the most amazing looking quilt ever made, teehee.

Don't judge me!  I know, I'm a terrible sister!  But you know how it is, life takes over.....you've only ever made one other sewing project in your life etc,.......and a quilt was a bit daunting.  I'll say it again.....WHAT WAS I THINKING??  But, finally I made it!  YIPPEE!!!!  It took me forever, but I made it.  I'm not quite sure it was really worth the extremely long wait mind you, lol.  I should have started with a simplier design and tried a rag quilt first, but oh no, I had to make a patchwork quilt.  My craft space is tiny, my sewing machine is very small, my walking foot wouldn't walk (I think I bought the wrong foot for my machine!), I didn't pin enough, iron at all, use adhesive spray and despite all that, I managed to make a double bed sized quilt (its a bit smaller than a double) with absolutely no sewing experience at all.  Obviously with said skill levels being, well zero, the quilt inevitably has flaws.  In fact it probably has more flaws than redeeming features.  Therefore, it was destined to look like ....... well ................. this.........  Please be gentle with me.......This is only my 2nd ever sewing project.

I didn't take any photo's of the back, sorry.  But its just plain old red fabric.   I even quilted the thing too.....boy was that a hilarious experience that had me in tears of frustration!!  Just a "stitch in the ditch" quilting technique which was harder than I thought.....how many times can I reiterate that this was only my 2nd ever sewing project??  I sewed all the squares together, then sewed them into rows until it was one big piece, did white with red polka dot boarder, then the wadding and backing.  Quilted the whole sandwich of materials together and then lastly did the red binding around the edges.

And here is my wee sister, T on Christmas morning all wrapped up in her Christmas present, making a silly face as always.....well she is my sister after all.  And she even said that the quilt was her favourite Christmas present, after apologising to everyone else and saying she still loved their presents of course, lol.  Mind you I did have to warn her that if she saw any straggler bits of thread, not the pull them but cut them off as one good tug on a stray thread and the whole thing might end up in little squares again.

OK, so it's not the most offensive looking quilt ever.  I like to call it the "Monet Quilt"........looks nice from afar but go and look at it up close and personal and its just a jumbled mess of colour, teehee.  It's a bit lumpy and misshaped, the binding is atrocious and the back of it....well don't even ask me about the sewing on the back.  Notice there is no photographic evidence of the back of it?  Yeah, there's a reason for that....it looks awful, lol.  But you know what, its handmade with more sisterly love than you could ever imagine.  It's certainly unique that's for sure.  And it was made for my wee sister from the heart.  And considering it was my 2nd ever sewing project (ahem, did I mention that already?), I am pretty damn pleased with myself.  Mind you, I think I need to master the simple sewing projects now like table runners and placemats, before tackling another one of these bad boys, teehee.  Mind you, knowing me I will most likely take on some other ridiculously complicated project all because I've seen a YouTube video and I think to myself "I can do that".

That's it from me for now folks.  I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas.  We had a smaller than usual Christmas this year......only 18 for dinner!!  Yes ONLY 18!!  And a 27lb Turkey.....nommy noms.  That is a small year for us, lol.  I have a very big family needless to say.

Toodles Noodles........Loops xx

Merry Christmas!

Hey folks.  I just want to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and happy, healthy and fun 2015.  I know I haven't been about much this year but I will do my very best to be a better blogger next year, I promise.  And as a Thank You for all your support and sticking with me, in the New Year I am planning on doing a Giveaway.....or two.   You know me, I never like to give away crafty goodness to just one person.  So there will be a few goodies up for grabs after Christmas.

Anywho, I hope you all have a safe and fabulous Christmas.  See you in 2015!!

And just like I shared last year........here's a photo of the perfect furry Christmas Present, teehee.  So cute!  And just before you freak out......I did not receive my cat, wrapped in a box, lol.  This was an order that arrived to my home and no sooner had I the box opened, Nimbus was in there like swimwear, jumping into the box before I could even get the order out of the box.  Such a wee weirdo!