Thursday, May 7, 2009

My First Quilt



I have done it!

I have SO many projects that are partially done that I am just thrilled that I managed to do this one from start to finish within a week! Isabel's encouragement (and her claiming ownership) really helped.

the quilting does take considerable practice, but I am pretty satisfied with my progress and very happy with my machine: JukiTL90E - the quilter's sewing machine, which my husband bought for me because of it's "cottage industrial" claim. A great machine all-around.

I love the finished "quilted" look of the project. I know, it IS a quilt, but the quilting just makes it look so much tidier and like a true quilt. I have done "stitch in the ditch" before (sewing carefully down the seams) but this method (the name eludes me right now) makes it look so much more, well, professional.

I found a great deal of help from tutorials on the web, especially Oh, Fransson!: http://www.ohfransson.com/ (Great name, but the way.)

Basically, if you follow the tips, quilting is much easier than previously thought, but, you will cause yourself a lot of trouble if you don't have the tips -- the magic, if you will. It is well-worth the time to read through a good quilting blog, until you feel quite inspired or can't take the anticipation any longer.

Well, not bad if I do say so myself.

The fabrics are Recess from the American Jane line from Moda (the colorful squares), Mary trellis from the Bell Bottoms line by Jennifer Paganelli (the back of the quilt), a very nice Egyptian cotton for the background framing of the squares, and Coriander from Amy Butler's Lotus line.