Quilt Festival!

This post is for the quilt festival that is happening on Amy's blog: Park City Girl. 

She has organized an online quilt festival where quilters from all over have blogged about a special quilt and linked back to her blog. Take some time to check it out. If you are coming here from the quilt festival ~ 

Welcome!

This is the quilt that I consider my most special. It is actually the very first quilt that I made. When I first moved up to the Adirondacks about 6 years ago, I decided that it was time to learn how to quilt. I had always been fascinated by quilts and living in a more rural area inspired me. I asked my mom for a sewing machine for Christmas and of course she came through. 

I immediately started sewing (I hadn't touched a machine since Home Ec in junior high (and that was way long ago).

I tried out a few things but had it in my mind to make a real quilt. A lovely,  scrappy, colorful,  beauty. 

Without a fabric stash how is one to make a scrappy quilt? My solution was bidding on 4" squares on ebay of course! I bid and bid and sewed and sewed! 

I used 2 contrasting 4" squares to make 2 of the diamond in a square blocks. After I made up many I decided I wanted some organization in the layout. I arranged them by diamond colors and sewed them into 9 patches. 

I was substitute teaching at the time and after I finished the top I showed it to a teacher who I knew quilted for some advice (like what do I do next!). She was a bit surprised when I told her this was my first quilt. She was also taken back by the weight. Apparently there is an easier, more efficient way to make these blocks and the way I made them uses a lot more thread!

She sent me to a proper quilt shop to pick out the backing material and then I had to decide how to finish it. I could have gotten someone to long arm quilt it for me but I wanted complete ownership over its making. Unsure of my experience with quilting the top I decided to tie it. I did sew the binding on and hand finished that. 

This quilt measures 68 x 82. The inside is warm & natural cotton batting.  It is exactly what I love about quilts ~ Color, simple shapes, a feast for the eyes, and warmth! 

This is my treasure, not in my etsy store, definitely not for sale!