About making a quilt

I am working on a new quilt and with Instagram being my newest addiction (next to hooking, sewing and indulging in fabric and yarn and anything and everything crafty!!!), I have recorded my process in a step by step way that I thought would be fun to share. I know that many of you visit me for my crochet and initially I guess this was more of a crochet blog than a sewing blog, but lately I seem to spend more and more time by the sewing machine than with my hook.

Don't get me wrong. I ADORE crochet. But since I developed my crochet elbow over 2 years ago, I just can't do crochet marathons anymore. Nowadays I spend short sessions crocheting and long sessions sewing instead. And maybe some of you magnificent crochet-maniacs do carry around a secret dream of making a quilt one day but don't know where to start. Maybe you, like me before I made my first Scrappy Doll Quilt in 2010, are totally intimidated by the process of making a quilt. Pssssssst - come closer............................... I want to whisper something in you ear:

It is so easy!!!

Seriously!!! I first pick my fabric. This time I wanted to use fabric from my stash. I always go with my gut feeling when I choose and sometimes I change my mind further into the project and that is okay. There are rules (of course...), and I love to NOT follow rules... I love breaking boundaries when crafting. Spice it up. Make it unpredictable. Don't you?

After picking my fabric I cut my pieces. I am not a big fan of cutting. I find it fussy and time consuming. On big projects I hardly ever cut all pieces at ones. I do it as I go. A little at a time.

Now the fun starts. The design wall. I mix and match, move around and experiment with my pieces. When I find a design I like I ALWAYS take a picture. In my house you never know when the kids decide to play monsters and come swishing by my design wall and dragging all the pieces down...

And today I have come to the piecing part. Sewing the pieces together. One by one I sew them together, pressing every seem carefully... This part is magical to me. If I had doubts when being at the design wall stage I usually feel happily surprised when piecing my quilt. It almost always turns out better than I first imagined.

Looking at this latest quilt project of mine makes me want to have patchwork curtains in my home... Wouldn't that be quite nice? Another day I 'll share the finishing touch of making this quilt. Until then read more about this at Diary of a Quilter, Amy has a GREAT beginners How To Make A Quilt Tutorial that will take away any fear you might have left. And then dear crochet friends - Just Do It! You won't regret it.

PS I should warn you that making quilts are highly addictive, just like crochet. But it is great to have such a healthy addiction... :D Enjoy!

Kärlek
Annette