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My first quilt finished!!


Phew! I did it! Finished a whole quilt!

I enjoyed the whole project - learning as I went along.

I started with a bag of scraps:

Which were all sorts of funny shapes and sizes, so mixed with colour scraps I had, I cut squares and strips..

 and gradually pieced together enough to make a single bed sized cover:
I don't own a rotary cutter, and although I read a lot of quilting advice and blogs that said how important it was to cut accurately, I stayed with my trusty scissors.
I am not a perfectionist and much prefer to focus on being able to do something successfully than perfectly (if that makes sense) - a successful quilt to me is one that looks nice, covers the bed and keeps the occupant warm!

I did lots of shuffling around of the pieces until I liked the overall look, then stitched them together.
Only a few fish ended up swimming upside down!! oopps!

The batting layer for the inside was made with all my scraps of fleece pieced together!

Then the backing was made from a large roll of mustard coloured knit fabric I was given recently!

Now things were getting tricky!
I've never sewn anything the size of this before.
Some quilting blogs I read suggested tacking together the layers to stop them slipping when you quilt them. 
I'm too lazy to do that, so went with the safety pin option.
One blog I read, the lady said she'd used 500 safety pins to secure her quilt!! Unbelievable!
I raided my stash and found about 30!
So placed and pinned them at intervals, smoothing the fabric as much as I could!


Then it was time to quilt the 3 layers together!
Oh my! Trying to maneouver all that through my little machine was tricky!

Oh - and I had to test out first that I had my threads right - with blue on top and yellow on bottom to match the colours on the quilt!


I think overall it went pretty well - only a couple of puckers on the bottom:

And a couple of bits of dodgy stitching on the top:

So now all I had to do was the binding!

So I found another yellow scrap piece and cut this into strips:

I joined the strips together, then ironed the long strip in half..

Then opened it out and folded the edges into the middle crease and ironed again to make my own binding!

Then I was very lazy. (again! gosh that seems to happen a lot!)
I got my quilt, binding and machine and stitched it all together as I unrolled the binding strip!

Yes I did end up with a couple of small 'missed' bits..
Which I had to re-stitch to secure.

But hey - I finished a whole quilt!
And in spite of the small flaws and imperfections, I'm proud of it!
Here's the front...


and here's the back..


And my daughter loves it on her bed - now the other daughter wants one too!
And here's one last picture of my quilt on a fence - because it seems to be that you have to photo your quilt on a fence! That's what all the quilters do!! and now - maybe I can call myself a quilter..?? maybe?

I take my hat off to all you quilters out there who have the patience and the skill to make perfect and beautiful quilts!
I love browsing around blogs to look at them in awe!

But to those of you who have never quilted, I say give it a go!
It was a challenge - and yes I will be making another one, which may or may not have fewer flaws and imperfections.  But it's handmade with love, and hopefully these quilts will be ones that my daughters will keep for years - and hold happy memories of growing up alongside the Great Barrier Reef!





43 comments:

  1. I LOVE it, Jill!!! No wonder your daughter does, too!!! I suspect it's something she will always keep.

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    1. Thanks Pam! It's really satisfying to finish such a big job! Hope yours is coming along well - I'm looking forward to seeing that too! :)

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  2. It looks fantastic! Well done.

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  3. Well done Jill!! Your quilt looks amazing!

    Michelle :o)

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  4. It looks great! What a great job you did! I don't even quilt my own quilts in my tiny machine...so hats off to you for trying! What a great accomplishment! I would highly recommend a rotary cutter. Not for it being a perfect way to cut, but for ease of stress in your hand cutting with scissors all the time. Rotary cutters are faster and easier (in this quilter's opinion) however I'm of the school of "whatever floats your boat".

    Can't wait to see your second quilt! Lovely job!

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    1. Thanks so much Amber! I'm very flattered that an amazing quilter like you thinks my attempt is good!
      I know I'll try a rotary cutter one day - I'm just not very good at getting myself (and using) new gadgets!!

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  5. Jill!!! Oh my... Turned out fantastic! I have no clue how to quilt... Wow, just wow.

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  6. I actually love that some of the fish are swimming upside down! Adorable finished first quilt - congrats! And - ahem - there is no possible way on earth that you could ever be labelled lazy.

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    1. Thanks Michelle! - I could just say they are acrobatic fish!!

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  7. Very impressive! Looks great...I am sure it is comfy and warm too!

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  8. Congratulations on your first quilt! I'm really jealous Jill!! Making a quilt is one of my dreams, haha. I actually started asking Suzy about some stuff a while back when she did her quilting for beginners series on her blog. But the whole thing still intimidates me. Great work on yours :)

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    1. Thanks Janelle! You should give it a go sometime! It was challenging but fun, and fabric is very forgiving!!

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  9. You definitely can call yourself a quilter! I love how you used odds and ends of fleece for batting. And the flaws? That's just what makes it unique to your daughter! :)

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    1. Thanks Jenni! At least my daughter certainly doesn't care about any flaws I may notice! :)

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  10. Well done you! You've beaten me, I'm still looking for a (cheap) backing fabric for my first quilt. Made with love is the most important thing about a quilt. May it have many many years on your daughter's bed.

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    1. Thank you! Good luck finding some great backing for your quilt!

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  11. Wow, I found this really interesting! I love how you did it your way and it turned out great :) Tash

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  12. Congratulations Jill !!! It´s an amazing work !!!!! An aventure without rotary cutter !!!! I really love it.

    A hug from Lisbon-Portugal

    lovecraft2012.blogspot.com

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  13. how fabulous! I am all for the give-it-a-go style of quilting! Well done!

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  14. It's great! Congrats on such a big accomplishment! I taught myself to make them when I was in college and it was so fun to see the finished product. Now, I'm too impatient for such a large project!

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    1. Ha! Thanks Lisa! I have to make one more for the other daughter - but I'm not sure my patience would last much past that!

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  15. Great job! Congratulations on your finished project. I love your style of just winging it, that is totally the way I operate too!
    Stopping by from A Creative Princess.

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  16. Gorgeous Jill you did an amazing job and it looks enormous, I love the look and idea of quilts and made one for my little fella and still finishing off one for my little baby girl but they are so much work, definitely a labour of love for me, I love the finished article but there is plenty of cursing during the process!!

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    1. Thanks Ruby! Yes, they are a LOT of work! I don't think I'll be making very many quilts! :)

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  17. Hello Jill,
    Your quilt has become beautiful, what a fantastic job. It is a piece of art, really!

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  18. It is gorgeous! Congrats on finishing! Quilting is on my MUST TRY list!

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    1. Thanks Holly! I definitely recommend trying quilting - it's a long process, but so satisfying to see the finished product!

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