Umbrella

Umbrella
Powerscourt, Ireland.

Sunday, October 30, 2011

Bloggers Quilt Festival

I-Spy Quilt (Disappearing 9 Patch)


This is the first quilt I ever made.  Actually, it's one of the first things I ever made.  I started sewing not quite a year ago.  My son, Max has pretty short legs, so I bought a sewing machine so I could hem his ridiculously long pants.  So last year around Thanksgiving, I started on this journey.  You see, I really didn't even know how to sew.



By January I thought I was ready to try a quilt.  It actually came out quite well.  It's ironic that such an old fashioned art, like quilting and sewing, could be taught through modern methods.  I watched clip after clip on youtube and read blog after blog on tutorials.  One of my favorite teachers was Jenny at MISSOURI STAR QUILT COMPANY.  Another was Care at OBSESSIVELY STITCHING.  I learned how to thread the machine, sew and then quilt.  There is so much information out there that it made sewing...and making this quilt easy!



I didn't even know enough to buy actual quilting materials.  The quilt back and red sashing is an old red sheet.  The small blue setting squares and boarder are another old chambray sheet.  You can see from this picture that the "batting" I used is actually an old leopard print blanket.  The I-Spy squares mostly came from an I-Spy swap.  That's another great tradition that has gone modern through the internet!  You buy 10 I-Spy fabrics, mail 10 4" squares of each to your host and....Voila!  You have 100 different I-Spy squares to choose from!


I used a TUTORIAL from Care at Obsessively Stitching for a Disappearing 9 Patch Quilt: I-Spy Version.  I used ANOTHER TUTORIAL from Jenny at Missouri Star for the quilt as you go method.  The combination of both of these made my first quilt quick and easy.  Cutting out took a about an hour one day...the subsequent cutting, sewing and putting together took about another 5 hours on another day.  Instead of binding, I just folded the back over and sewed it on. 

I have many more plans for I-Spy quilts just like this one!  I have cut out another boy and 2 girl and versions and just need to put them together.  I'm not sure that using the quilt as you go method is actually easier.  I've made 4 other quilts and I'm still trying to decide.which way works best.  I will say that the disappearing 9 patch method does give you the most bang for your buck!


So here is the finished product and a sleeping kiddo.  I hope you enjoyed my journey from novice to quilter.

Cheers~
Marti

9 comments:

  1. It is a sweet quilt and a sweeter story to go with it!

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  2. It's great to hear a story about someone new to quilting. It's great to see the quilt is being used by Max.

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  3. It truly is a fantastic quilt -- and so fun to hear a little about your journey into sewing! :o)

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  4. Welcome to quilting!!

    great job on the I Spy too!!

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  5. Awesome Job!! We love the quilt and your story is great!! Thanks for sharing it with us!!

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  6. fun quilt - i need to try the quilt as you go method, i'll have to go check out that tutorial. thanks for sharing! =)

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  7. Welcome to Quilting! You did a wonderful job! Every quilt deserves to be loved like this.

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  8. Sweet picture of max cuddled under the fun and vibrant quilt. You did such a nice job. Thanks forvsharing and have a great day

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