I am quite the creative, artistic individual and I am always
looking for new ways to express myself artistically. One of my life goals has
been to make a pieced quilt. Upon expressing this goal to my mother, she
enthusiastically mentioned the name of a woman who lived just down the road who
was well known for her beautiful pieced quilts ( and craft room from all the
rumors that I had heard), who would be all too pleased to teach me a pattern.
One Saturday I drove to her home and she rolled out the welcome wagon to me. She showed me how to cut the fabric to the needed size and how to piece all the fabric back together following a paper pattern. I arrived home and immediately jumped into action. I drew out the plans on a paper and calculated out all of the measurements. It was a pleasure to use my college education to be able to do something practical. After no fewer than 10 sketches I settled on the design that I wanted. Now, looking back, it was a pretty ambitious design that would require special attention to detail in sewing and cutting. I probably should have thought back to my known weakness of getting impatient with a project at the time of planning, but I am pleased that I didn’t.
The next step was to choose the colors. Luckily, as an artist, I already know of my preferred color scheme and the actual choosing of fabrics went quickly. What I didn’t anticipate was the price to finish the whole project. I probably spent a total of $60 to make this quilt (not including the time my mom bought some of the extra fabric for me because she loves me!). I got lucky on the backing. I originally bought a queen-size sheet set to use the flat sheet on the back of the quilt. However, the next day I went to a thrift store nearby and found a full sheet set, the exact same style and color that fit the quilt exactly. I saved $20 bucks on that purchase.
Putting the squares together and lining up all of the lining was a very lengthy process that nearly had me in tears a few times as I had to pull apart my work to make the stitches smaller or longer, but the finished product made the whole thing worth it. There is not a feeling like seeing something on paper that I designed, held in my hands in real life. It really was an incredibly rewarding experience. I am so pleased with the finished product. I really couldn’t be more satisfied with how well everything turned out. All of the tears, and pricked fingers and seam ripping experiences were wholely worth the entire experience.
My only problem now is that I never want to use it because it is too beautiful and I don't want to harm it in any way!
One Saturday I drove to her home and she rolled out the welcome wagon to me. She showed me how to cut the fabric to the needed size and how to piece all the fabric back together following a paper pattern. I arrived home and immediately jumped into action. I drew out the plans on a paper and calculated out all of the measurements. It was a pleasure to use my college education to be able to do something practical. After no fewer than 10 sketches I settled on the design that I wanted. Now, looking back, it was a pretty ambitious design that would require special attention to detail in sewing and cutting. I probably should have thought back to my known weakness of getting impatient with a project at the time of planning, but I am pleased that I didn’t.
The next step was to choose the colors. Luckily, as an artist, I already know of my preferred color scheme and the actual choosing of fabrics went quickly. What I didn’t anticipate was the price to finish the whole project. I probably spent a total of $60 to make this quilt (not including the time my mom bought some of the extra fabric for me because she loves me!). I got lucky on the backing. I originally bought a queen-size sheet set to use the flat sheet on the back of the quilt. However, the next day I went to a thrift store nearby and found a full sheet set, the exact same style and color that fit the quilt exactly. I saved $20 bucks on that purchase.
Putting the squares together and lining up all of the lining was a very lengthy process that nearly had me in tears a few times as I had to pull apart my work to make the stitches smaller or longer, but the finished product made the whole thing worth it. There is not a feeling like seeing something on paper that I designed, held in my hands in real life. It really was an incredibly rewarding experience. I am so pleased with the finished product. I really couldn’t be more satisfied with how well everything turned out. All of the tears, and pricked fingers and seam ripping experiences were wholely worth the entire experience.
My only problem now is that I never want to use it because it is too beautiful and I don't want to harm it in any way!
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