So, I have attempted my first ever 'patchwork quilt'. I think that attempted is by far and away the best way to describe it. I took some delicious Tanya Whelan 'barefoot roses' fat quarters, chopped them into four and then began machine stitching the little critters together. Some rows are beautifully lined up, some are so haphazard that I am now pretending that they are meant to be that way.
Once the front was sewn I had to spend several anxious days waiting for Mr Postie to bring me the wadding that I had bought off ebay. There followed many moments of snipping and pinning and then days of waiting for the off white calico that I had ordered to come in the post so I could finish it all. You may have observed a slight impatience, more on that later.
Calico arrives and is swiftly set about with a snip snip of the scissors. One cup of tea later and I am sat at the sewing machine and I am stitching the patchwork to the wadding to the backing. Being a complete novice I opt not to put an edging around the quilt, plus I have run out of patience and I just want to see it finished.
Oops, slight impatience leads to severe puckering on some of the squares as I start my basic diagonal quilting across the top. It seems really hard to machine quilt, unless you have something called a 'walking foot' (!?) or you have a 'long arm quilter' both things that I am sure I will not need until much, much, later in my quilting career.
So, it is finished, and for a first effort it is not bad. Delightfully shabby in some respects, but also very cute. It is a tad smaller than I had imagined, but it lies beautifully across the foot of single bed in the guest bedroom.
I have learnt one very important lesson - that sometimes things shouldn't be rushed and that it you need to take your time.
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