I took up sewing just a few years ago and love it! I had always wanted to learn to sew but never had the opportunity. Then my aunt told me her and my cousin were going to start learning to sew with a friend and she asked if I wanted to come along. I of course said yes and it's been amazing ever since! Thanks to our friend Steph I have now made pillowcases, bags, wallets, hot pads and have now finished my first quilt!
I didn't get into sewing because I wanted to make a quilt. I had always thought it would be way too hard and just didn't really have the desire until one day I walked into Sew 'n Save of Racine and fell in love with a piece of fabric. I bought some of that fabric to make a small wallet and then realized it went with an entire collection called Summer Cottage by Gerri Robinson and Red Rooster. Needless to say I loved every single piece of fabric in the collection and right then and there knew I wanted to make a quilt.
I bought every piece of fabric in the collection even having to get some at different stores and online to make sure I had every single one and Steph helped me pick out a pattern that would allow me to use all the different pieces. I decided I wanted to save my favorite fabric, which is the multi colored floral, to just feature in the border instead of incorporating it into the quilt so as to make it special.
After what felt like literally forever I finally had all my pieces together and was ready to use my favorite fabric in the border. We got it all laid out and added the boarded and everyone was silent for probably about 2 minutes which when you are standing there expecting to love what you see, feels like an eternity. No one wanted to speak up because it looked horrible! I'm not exaggerating either! Although this multi colored floral fabric was part of the collection it looked like it didn't go at all. I was seriously heart broken! I started this quilt because of that fabric and there was no way I couldn't incorporate it! Steph told me not to worry, that we would figure it out. We took a few different occasions to lay out different fabrics in different lighting to see how we could make it work. Finally we found the right combination and I was able to use that fabric! Phew!!
Finishing this quilt was a huge accomplishment for me. I'd never made one, I had been working on it for years because I'm so busy and it took me out of my comfort zone. I'm a very calculated person and plan everything out. This quilt is made of up piecing different fabrics together randomly which was hard on me! We all had a few laughs watching me freak out about making it perfect.
In the end I absolutely LOVED it!! Definitely worth the wait and hard work! Thank you so much to Steph, my mom Marta, my aunt Nancy, cousins Philip & Elizabeth, Angela and Steph's mom Phyllis. Literally couldn't have done it without you!!!
If you'd like to share any feedback or give me ideas for my next project I'd love to hear from you here!