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.

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.

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.