Curtains Up!

So, it was a quilt. The thing I've been working on. Since... April. Yes. A quilt. And it is finally, finally finished. (Well, hopefully at least).

This is the first quilt I have ever made. If I was smart (a big if on that one), I would have started out with something smaller so that I could develop some quilting abilities before undergoing a large and more difficult project like a quilt. But, I don't really want something small. I wanted a big quilt. So, I dove right in.

I used the book Last-Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts, which has some fun ideas and projects, but is a little difficult to understand if you are a visual learning like me. I had to read the directions several times and then have Zach read them to make sure I understood them properly.

So anyway, here's the quilt:

The Quilt: the Front

The Quilt: the Back

Some detail on the back

I'm quite pleased with the whole thing. It's called a stacked coin or Chinese coin design, apparently. Of course there are uncountable mistakes, which I believe gives the quilt character. And, whoa Nelly, is this puppy loaded with character!?

I chose the colors based on some fabric I already had and some old shirts of Zach's that I cut up to put into the quilt. I'm not really sure why I picked brown as the base, I think it has something to do with the colors she used in the book, but I like the look overall.

I think I may actually like the back a tiny bit more than the front, but the jury's still out on that one.

So, here's the photo story of the journey of the quilt which I started in April and ended in June:

Sam "helping" me while I cut out the strips for the columns

All of the white stars on a red field after being cut up

Coins pre-stacking

After all the coins were sewn together. This was the easiest way to keep everything in the order I wanted.

Quilt Scraps

The amount of space I had left over when I ran out of binding. Absolutely the most annoying thing in the world.

Part of the reason that I wanted to make a quilt, rather than a small wall hanging or something like that, is because I want this to be really used, something that becomes a part of our family life, full of memories and love. (*Sniff!* Okay, enough sappiness for the moment) Anyway, as you can see, the boys are already getting to work on that.

Ben using the quilt as a yoga mat after they got into my yoga DVDs again. Pretty good downward dog there.

Also, some mighty impressive toddler warrior pose from Sam here.

Sam hiding under the quilt.

"Peekaboo!"

Of course, I may have to do some more work on it. Why? Because after I was completely finished I looked at the bag that the batting (the soft white stuff between the fabric) came in and it said that they recommended quilting every two to four inches. My lines are every 10 inches. Sometimes more. Zach thinks I should sew some more lines so that it doesn't start to break down in a few years and will last forever, per my dream.

But he's not doing the work.

So, if any quilters out there have some advice on what I should do, let me know. I am willing to sew more if I need to. I just don't want to if I don't have to.

In the mean time, I'm gonna go and snuggle up under that awesome, character filled quilt.