Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Update - the quilt

People, this quilting thing is hard. I don't know how everyone manages to make it look so easy. I managed to piece together most of it over the weekend, although I still have to get the border put together. Don't get me wrong - I am enjoying the process, but the best part is picking out your fabrics, and that's done right in the beginning.

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Rows sewed together, waiting to be made whole

I sewed together each row first, and I was feeling pretty confident. Then I began attempting to assemble the whole thing. I immediately hit a few snags. I am making the simplest quilt possible, and I still couldn't get everything to line up correctly (how in the world do people manage triangles or off kilter shapes?!). After sewing together the first two rows, and realizing they were a little off, I contemplated ripping it out and trying to get it perfect. But I am realistic - I am stubborn but not all that patient, and obsessive attention to detail would probably derail the project entirely.

So, I put on a good music mix for company, gritted my teeth, and got down to it. After several hours, one horrible iron burn (if there is any chance of burning myself, I always manage to do it) and lots of swearing, and I had a mostly pieced together quilt.

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Assembled quilt face!

There is still quite a bit to do - sew the border and attach it, make the bias binding, oh, and the actual quilting part. But I'm excited to have this much done.

For those of you considering quilting, I should warn you that it is mostly ironing. If you hate ironing, quilting (and sewing) might not be for you. I myself am adapting to the ironing, being a former iron hater. I frequently go out in clothes so wrinkled that (on numerous occasions) D will give me a pained look and offer/beg to iron my pants and/or shirt. For some reason, ironing during sewing isn't quite as onerous, but it's still something to bear in mind.

12 comments:

  1. Hi Rachel! Thanks for stopping by the City Sage! If you end up trying out that mushroom project I'd love to see the result!

    And can I just say how thoroughly impressed I am with this quilt...it must have taken so much time and concentration, but you make it look positively effortless! Really beautiful work.

    -Anne @ The City Sage

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  2. Your quilt looks like its coming together great! From the pictures it looks like it lines up perfectly!

    Thanks for stopping by my blog! The bread is still rising, but I peeked at it today and its looking yummy already! I can see how this would become an additiction - I LOVE bread already - and this is so easy :-)

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  3. Hi there, I've been reading for a while, got here via Emily's blog. My, your quilt is going to be beautiful! The colours and design are lovely - all the hard work will be worth it! Patricia

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  4. You are the funniest thing! I'm in awe of your sewing skills! This quilt looks quite tricky actually :) When I had first thought of quilting I thought it would be fairly simple and straight forward. It wasn't until reading a few books that I realized so much of it is the tedious stuff, like ironing, pinning and attaching the batting. Ugh! I'm so sorry about the iron burn, I'm right there with you about hating to iron!

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  5. this is absolutely phenomenal, Rach! the colors complement each other so perfectly and i'm sure pictures don't even do it justice. and as much as you claim that this is the "simplest" quilt, that's a ridiculous juxtaposition in my book. this looks super complicated and you did a fabulous job!

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  6. i am in total awe of your quilting prowess!! it looks absolutely darling so far; i can't wait to see the final product. xoxo

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  7. You are so right about everything. I HATE the ironing. And the most fun part is definitely choosing the fabrics and arranging them. Yours are all lined up really nicely!! Great job!!

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  8. You made me laugh because I too don't like ironing- This is one reason why I wear so much linen (it wrinkles)during the summer!
    Thanks for sharing the trying times of making a quilt. You picked out beautiful materials! I can't wait to see the final art piece!!

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  9. Beautiful Rachel!! The quilt is coming along gorgeously -- and I like the small squares you have at each intersection.

    I hate ironing too -- that's why Downey's wrinkle releaser is my best friend :)

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  10. I'll be interested to hear how the machine quilting goes. I've never done it, and I'm wondering if my machine is up to the task. So many of these machine quilters have these freakishly expensive machines--do they really need all that?! (Not that I wouldn't mind having a nicer sewing machine...)

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  11. Beautiful! I love your choice of fabric and it all goes together so well.

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  12. Linda...perfeita...parabéns!!

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