Done!

I am officially done with my first quilt! I finished last night and am extremely happy with my finished product. It is far from award winning quality, corners don't match up exactly and I'm sure a few other things are poor but I love my quilt!


I started the process last August when I started cutting out squares with a square cardboard template, yes, cardboard. I simply used an old cereal box. Those of you who have quilted realize this is the wrong technique but it worked well enough. Then I started cutting the pieces out with a scissors, once again not the best method but I didn't have a rotary cutter or cutting board yet so I used what I had. 


In September I purchased my sewing machine so that I could start putting my pieces together as I had already determined that hand quilting the pieces together would be way too much work. My pieces went together fairly easily and then my machine malfunctioned, well I thought it did but this set me back about a month because I wasn't able to connect with my neighbor lady to diagnose the problem. The day after Thanksgiving she helped me out so that I was able to put the board around the blocks. 


Finally, in February I got together with W (my neighbor) and she helped me put on the batting and backing after which point I started the hand quilting. I don't know if I will ever hand quilt again but I am glad I did this time despite the immense amount of time required. My stars look pretty wonderful and I'm glad that in some ways I put my quilt together in a very historical method all the way from cardboard template, to scissors and then hand quilting. 


About two weeks ago W once again helped me out by teaching me how to put the binding on and yesterday she walked me through the final step of the binding. Hand stitching the binding last night took much longer than I thought it would but it wasn't nearly as time consuming as my stars. So after many hours at least 70 maybe more I am done, enjoy!

Being Away

I have been away for awhile now as you've noticed. The first week of June was incredibly busy as I was working, teaching Vacation Bible School and came down with a bad cold and major sun burn so then I was nursing myself back to health as well. Since then work has been busy and today I finally sit down to sew and as I go to turn my project right side out I realize that I sewed it incorrectly! Yes, I was upset by this and decided that it was time for me to put the sewing aside for the day because obviously I was too distracted as I was working to really be productive.


However, I have been productive on my quilting and after tonight I should have all my small starts finished so that I can meet up with my neighbor lady and do the trim and I will finally be DONE! Yes, finally done after a 6 month project that has taught me a lot about quilting. 
1) I will not hand quilt my next quilt and I may never hand quilt again unless it's a place mat then I may consider it...
2) 6 months is too long to drag out a project
2) Sewing baby items is more my style because I see immediate results


So stay tuned for finished pictures and remember anything on the blog can be purchased! 

My First Link Party

I had a wonderful discovery come through my Tweet Deck today regarding an Etsy Linky Party and man was I excited. It has been slow going, mostly on my part, for my new Etsy sight so getting a chance to link up with fellow Etsy shops is super exciting for me! Here it is folks, my Etsy shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/AMonogrammedLife Thank you Cacehy Mama's for Tweeting today so that I could join your party! 


The other wonderful networking that I was introduced to today was Social Selling Black Hills. You can view us on Facebook at this link.


On a quilting note, I have 4 stars done on my quilt. They're taking about an hour each so the process is long but I am enjoying my relaxing time and seeing the work coming together is wonderful. 

Hand Quilting

I completed my first quilt top in early December and there it sat. My wonderful neighbor lady helped me get it ready for quilting in early February and now that March is here I am finally getting around to quilting it. This process would be easier if I was not insistent on hand quilting but I also believe that I would not be learning nearly as much from this process if I was having someone machine quilt for me. So I will share my progress albeit it is slow. I have two stars done and 28 more to finish so stay tuned in the coming weeks to see where I am at in the process!

Disappearing 9 Patch

As I work on hand stitching my first quilt, yes hand stitching, I am also working on a second quilt, a Disappearing 9 Patch. This is definitely a hard design to attempt as a second quilt but I'm not wanting to take the easy path and learning a lot as I move forward with my endeavor. I have 15, 9 patches done right now and once I have 30 I will start the next phase. Hopefully I will be dedicated in the next 10 days to work on my next patches. I spring snow storm, despite our currents temps in the 70's, would be greatly appreciated so that I am "stuck" in the house sewing!

Jeans

I am thrilled with my new catch: these Jeans! I couldn't have ask for a better supply at a better price, Free! One definitely cannot help but rave about Craigslist when it gives you this as a prize of sorts. Not only was I able to help someone else clean out stuff from their place but I am excited to re-purpose these items into a beautiful jean rag quilt. Stay tuned for updates which will keep me moving on this newest quilt.