I've long had aspirations of learning to sew competently. I gather materials. I read. But I rarely sew. I thought I would harness the power of Purlygirls and invited everyone to my house for a sewing bee. Amanda, Sasha and Sarah all arrived at 11 am sharp, armed with their machines, piles of fabric and patterns. (And cupcakes!)
I had spent a terribly long time at the new quilting shop yesterday trying to decide on a project. I finally chose one of the desktop organizers from In Stitches. I picked out some fabric (Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy and Nature's Whimsy from Northcott.
While I was standing at the cutting table a wall quilt caught my eye. It was elegant and simple and used a fabric that I had carried around the shop with me for an hour before putting it back on the shelf. It's a free pattern but you can barely see it in the photo. Plus I don't like the way it's quilted in the original. Too busy. I had everything cut out when my sewers arrived.
I started piecing my quilt.
I ran into a bit of trouble when I realized I had cut two pieces of fabric too short. I didn't have enough to continue so I set it aside and started working on the desk organizer. Then I ran into trouble on that when I realized I bought the wrong amount of Timtex.
Sigh. Are you seeing a trend yet? I was starting to feel a little defeated. What do you do when you feel your sewing has gotten the better of you? Why taking your first stab at hand-piecing, of course!
I am inordinately proud of this. My first block for my Dear Jane quilt. Pieced by hand. By me.
Please ignore the wonkiness of the upper corner. When I sewed the bottom strip to the center I didn't pay any attention to my seams so they're not lined up at all. I did a much better job sewing on the top strip.
After Amanda and Sasha left, Sarah and I headed to Ballard. I did a quick dash through the quilting store to get more fabric and more Timtex. We got a delicious breakfast/lunch/dinner (no time to eat when you're sewing) at Hi-Life.
When I got back home I got back to work on my quilt.
Again, bursting with pride here. My first quilt top. Done in a single day. Granted the pieces are gimundous, but still! The quilt top is 40" x 45". I haven't picked out backing or batting yet. That will be my next adventure. Then on to quilting.