right now

right now

Apr 1, 2011

Quilt is done!

My 1st full size quilt!

I finished yesterday morning but it was all day before I got around to washing it and getting it on the bed, but here it is:

 

I still think it turned out looking very "teenage girl", but I do like it!  It was done totally from stash fabric and I had just enough scrap left over for a couple of pillows.

Major hurdles and lessons learned from this project:

(some of you no doubt already have this stuff down!)

When ironing miles of binding, wrap it around a ruler to keep things neat!


As you are sewing the binding, wear it like a bracelet and just take off as much as you need, again, keeps things neat and untangled.


Below is a huge accomplishment for me, the binding process!  I finally got it down this time, and it is no longer the scary part :)


Below... the last few stitches upon completion!  My other bindings and mitered corners are so bad I will never show you :)


To sum up, I'm finding I'm pretty decent at all the piecing, the binding's okay, but my machine quilting is horrific!  Looks like Amy Winehouse got ahold of it and tried her best to make straight lines, HA!  I think that eventually when I make the "end all - be all" favorite quilt for myself I will pay the money to take it to a long-arm quilter.  This one, although the lines are all over the place will be loved however.  Mama Pea said the first big quilt is an accomplishment and so I think it will hold some sentimentality for me and will eventually become the dog eared canoe quilt - you know the kind, gets thrown in the canoe for a picnic, laid upon for 4th of July fireworks, etc... wonky stitching and all :)

One last thing... the bread is getting better slowly, hopefully I'll get it down soon so I can at least know one recipe without looking it up and getting consistent results.


My weekly "Living Small" redux will be late this week with good reason, hubby is going to build me a headboard to go with my new mid-century look bedroom, all done either from thrift stores or DIY.  Now he just needs time, a very precious commodity these days.  Luckily, after working 9 days straight of 14 hrs a day, he is home today - so tonight will be pizza night - his dough has been doing it's thing since this morning so it should be good and bubbly thin in a few hours, mmmmm.....

Speaking of bread... if you haven't seen Thomas' latest creation, get over there right now - it's almost unbelievable, except for the fact that we are talking about Thomas, bread baker extraordinaire!  Simply amazing...






19 comments:

  1. CONGRATULATIONS on the completion of your first full-sized quilt!! Way to go, Girl! (And I don't see the "teenage girl thingie" about the quilt at all.) I think those two little matching pillows you made with the scraps make the picture look like something out of House Beautiful. Okay, what's next?

    Wow, that bread of Thomas'looks SOOOO good! And to think it's a no-knead recipe. Wow again. Gotta give that a go. Your hubby better be watching out or you are going to take over as the master bread baker in your house. Your loaves are looking mighty fine.

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  2. Congratulations Erin....the quilt looks great!! You are going to be the Quilt Queen soon!

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  3. Wow! Impressive! You're sure this isn't a joke?
    Congratulations! And even pillows- you're amazing.
    Judy

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  4. Erin--it turned out great! You sell yourself short-you should be very proud of that quilt. I'm sure you'll get a lot of use out of it!

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  5. Erin, your quilt turned out fantastic! You should really be proud of yourself for accomplishing it. I think it looks great! Your bread looks delicious, too. :-)

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  6. I love the quilt. I agree with Mama Pea, I do not see teenage girl either. I love the colors. It is very warm toned and so nice for this time of year.

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  7. Mama Pea, ohmigosh I can't believe it! You must mean "Tree Fort Beautiful" LOL...since that's the size of the house :)

    Judy, haha I didn't even think about that being today!

    To all, thanks! Maybe it's just me that would have liked it as a teenager! Still, it's a bit bright for the decor in my house, BUT I do like it and it's very spring-like, all the more reason to make another though, right?!

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  8. Your quilt is beautiful. I love the colors, so relaxing. Congrats on your accomplishment, that's definitly something to be proud of. Pizza sounds so good right now, the homemade kind anyway...

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  9. Love your quilt! Congrats on that huge accomplishment. My daughter loves it too cause her favorite color is orange but your quilt doesn't have too much of it in it, just enough.
    I would think trying to sew quilting on a full size quilt with a regular sewing machine wouldn't be easy. You really need those quilting long arm machines to do a great job so you should be very proud no matter how you lines go.

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  10. Awww, I'm glad your daughter likes it, she helped prove my point LOL! I thought doing a straight grid pattern would be easy... joke's on me! There is definitely a call for those pro long arm quilters out there!

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  11. I go away for what, a day and you rip off two posts!?

    Girlie, the quilt is amazing! You did such a great job no one would ever guess it's your first! Ever. And I would never laugh at your miters, at least you did them! I have a friend who refuses and simply sews 4 binding strips to the edges. Flaps at the corners anyone??

    Spectacular!

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  12. I say thumbs up to the first quilt. I still haven't finished my first and I think you're right - that first one is special to you forever, no matter how crooked the stitching is. :) I'm impressed that its all from stash fabric. That's the way to do it!!

    I think your bread looks great...and so does the pizza!!

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  13. APG, I'll admit that the thought of a straight binding crossed my mind, but only for a quick second, I knew you and Mama Pea would be all over me, y'all keep me honest LOL! But we won't talk about the fact that I machine stitched the back of the binding, too.... :)

    Mama Tea, I know it's time to use up the stash when hubby starts giving me funny looks about the stacks of fabric he has to get past to find his clothes LOL!

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  14. You're darn right . . . no straight bindings allowed. APG and I would have been in a vehicle in a flash to come whop you upside the head had you tried that. I wish postage these days wasn't so #%^$&*!@ expansive 'cause I love to hand sew the back of bindings on. You could send all yours to me and I'd gladly do them!

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  15. Mama Pea, LOL, I hope I can get to that point where I won't mind the long time it takes to hand sew, I'm thinking the next deployment, I have my nights to myself then and plenty of time! Sounds like Chicken Mama might need another cake or two this weekend, give her a hug from us.

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  16. Obviously you knew I meant to say "expensive" rather than "expansive." Although I guess you could say postage is "expansive," too!

    From one mama to another, thank you so much for being there for Chicken Mama. I may decide to make her sleep here this weekend and ply her with liquor rather than sweets.

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  17. Your quilt is beautiful! At this rate, you'll soon be a quilting expert! This may seem like a dumb question, but is there some trick to machine quilting without getting the sides of the quilt all bunched up? I'm trying to picture quilting the middle of the quilt, trying to jam half of the thing under the machine arm.... Obviously I'm missing something!! And the food looks divine too. What sauce do you use for your white pizza? Yummmm.

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  18. Erin, that quilt is soooooo freaking amazing! I really like the colors and patterns a lot. I seriously wish we were neighbors. We would have so much fun.

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  19. Jo, expert, ha! But at least I'm having fun, right? :) As far as the machine quilting, I just roll up the stuff that's on the right side of the foot, I've even tried clips and stuff for it, but there's no good way really when dealing with a quilt that big and a regular home machine but to grin and bear it! The must is a walking foot, though - then at least you don't have to force the fabric under the foot, those really are amazing! We just use an alfredo sauce for the white pizza unless I'm feeling particularly creative by making my own.

    Thomas, can you imagine? A true community we'd be, I often think of how great all us like-minded bloggers would be in our own little commune, pooling our strengths and helping others... sign me up for your bread class!

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