The story of a Quilt----

Hello my friends. I apologize for not blogging lately. A lot has been going on.... which I know means I should be blogging a lot, but I am not. Sorry.... Perhaps I will blog more with the coming new year. I'll work on that. Okay, for now... a quilt. I decided to make a post about the story of a quilt. Not too many people realize the work and time that goes into a quilt. I finished several quilts this year, and started many more. I am hoping to finish up one more this year.... and I already have a long list of quilts to do next year. Its one of my favorite things to do--- so I don't mind! 

Well, let's get to the pictures. May I present to you... The story of a quilt. 

Quilts are amazing to me. What starts out as giant pieces of fabric turn into amazing, warm, cozy, love filled blankets that last lifetimes. This quilt was nautical themed. I started working on this quilt in September at the river house in Cordele. This fabric was the jumping off point. All the other fabrics I bough I matched up to this one. This quilt is for my second nephew. This quilt will blend well with the quilt I made Llewellyn almost 3 years ago. 

I stumbled upon these fabrics and began by cutting the fabric down to 5x5 squares. 

I love how they blend so well!



From there, I sewed them together in groups of 3's. Then those three lines I sewed together to make one big square of 9.



Magic!
Just like that you see a quilt coming a long!


I had many plans with this quilt. One idea was to do a disappearing nine patch, but I finally decided to just go with the 9square block. I am so happy I did. I am thrilled with the end quilt!



At this point I thought I would be done, but decided it needed some length.


And then I thought I was done.... but no. somehow miscounted and had to go back and cut out 9 more 5 inch squares. Wups!

SO! Finally we have the start of the quilt top. According to my phone this picture was taken October 24. So a month and a half in. Not too shabby!



From here I added borders. I decided on a top border of fun pirates and the side chevron. I am pleased with the way it turned out.



Mowgli liked it too. Below is laying out the quilt top with the batting and the backing.
For the backing I used a blue sheet. Sheets are my FAVORITE thing to back with. It just makes sense and is so cost effective. Also... if you hit up Goodwill you are talking a HUGE amount of fabric for pennies. *of course make sure your sheet is free from stains and smells!


Next up is the basting. This is when you pin it all together. Thanks to Sara's Granny we know all about these awesome curved pins and the Kwik Klip. Go on Amazon and buy it right now. You won't regret that 9$ purchase.



The Klip helps you close all those 100's of pins without poking your finger.



So. The quilt is all pinned and rolled up and ready to be quilted! November 13 is when I took these pictures. So--- two months in. Pretty good!


Finally---- we are actually to the quilting. I use this 10 year old Singer to quilt my straight lines. It works like a champ. There are a bazillion better machines--- but this guy will do. Quilting is very tedious. It is not my favorite part. This quilt I did a lot of quilting on it... turns out--- I am so glad I did. The back looks awesome. ((Of course--- no photo of that))



The last step to quilting... the binding. I have some pretty sweet clips (again, thanks Granny) that hold my binding onto the quilt while I stitch it down. This is the final step, and I did this yesterday.



After that's complete... You have a quilt!



Finally! Two months later. Quilts are truly a labor of love. I really love this quilt, and as I was telling Ryan yesterday, I am so impressed with how far I have come. Each quilt is better than the last. My stitches are better, my seams more in line, my quilting more intensive. I am so grateful for this skill.



And by the way... Stripes on binding... My new favorite. I'll be doing this forever.



Well there you have it! My latest quilt. Can't wait to pass it on to the newest Snider coming soon!!

Hopefully I will have another quilt finished next week!! And post it here as well.

xoxo
D