Beginning Mom's Quilt

My mom and I went to the fabric store together last time I was home in Chicago. Unfortunately, she doesn't see it as a grown-up Disney World like I do. I decided to start a quilt for her, since it's always much more fun to share what you make with others. We settled on a blue and purple theme and grabbed a bunch of fat quarters. After at least a half an hour of hemming and hawing over which fabric to use, we picked 12 for a lap sized quilt.

Originally I was going to use the Mango Tango pattern found here. It seemed easy enough- a combination of 9 patches, like my first quilt, and larger blocks.

First I took the fat quarters and cut them down into 4 blocks a piece, each 9x9. After laying out the 48 blocks, I realised that I liked the look as is and could use the scraps to make a border, rather than additional blocks for the body of the quilt.

It didn't take long at all to sew the blocks together. I found that if I lined up the blocks from the middle, it would make for more even corners. I'm sure that this is not the "official" way of doing things, but until I am better at cutting precisely, it'll do just fine.

Here's where I am now, next it's on to the borders!

And so the addiction begins...

This was my first attempt at a quilt! I chose a jelly roll from Joann Fabrics and winged it. I thought it'd be easy to cut the roll into squares for a nine patch. In hindsight, I probably should have started with either completely precut pieces or at least larger squares. I have some work to do in terms of learning to line things up...

All in all, the quilt turned out well. I had some wonderful advice from a lady working at Joann regarding borders and backing. I'm sure I would have been lost without her! I was all set to use several different patterns for the border, but she showed me how much better the quilt would look with a solid color to offset the middle part of the quilt. This brings me back to the community of quilters I've joined! It's so great! This quilt turned out to be a little smaller than lap sized. Right now it lives on the back of my futon as decoration. It amazes me just how much space quilting requires. It's a good thing I have a large floor!

Lesson 1: Quilting requires an amazing amount of patience. If you're not in the mood to quilt- don't force it! You'll end up making silly mistakes and ultimately make yourself frustrated.

Hello World!

Welcome to my blog, Quilting Liberally! Like many people, I have a pretty stressful day job. As a legislative analyst I spend my days reading tax policy and taking in as much news as possible. Needless to say, a life in politics does not lend itself to tranquility. So in my evenings and weekends I've been searching for a hobby that can introduce a bit of balance into my life.

I began quilting haphazardly, but have found it to be a wonderful outlet. Unfortunately, it seems as though it is a dying art. Not too many people in their 20s and 30s have taken up this remarkable pastime. I consider myself exceedingly lucky to have stumbled upon a small network of artists and friends, women who are passionate about quilting and helping others learn their craft.

I hope that these posts will show that it is not impossible to learn to quilt, even if you're starting up on your own. Quilting can be fun and modern. It certainly teaches patience. And besides, haven't you been waiting on pins and needles to use your high school geometry? (I swear, that's the only time I'll make that pun.)

Thanks for checking out my blog. I hope you'll come back soon!