My First and Only Venutre in Quilt Making - and a Bonus Tie-Dye Quilt

"My" quilt.

Many of my friends and relatives--including my mother and grandmother--are quilters.  I like to sew, too, but I like to sew clothing--dresses most notably.  At the insistence of my mother, though, I finally consenting to trying my hand at quilting.

Its not for me.  Not really.  Or, at least big ol' bed-sized quilts are not for me.  I've made a couple quilted wallets and potholders, etc. so far with enjoyment, but oh, scale matters to me apparently.

Bed quilts are too big and involve too much math for my liking.  Cutting was the worst on account of all the measuring and precision.  So much measuring!  For someone who does poorly with math this was a real challenge for me.  With dress-making I just slap down a paper pattern piece and cut around it.  Boom!  Done!  With the quilt top I had to measure and cut a lot.  A lot more than I found enjoyable.  I only want to sew if its enjoyable.  And cheap, too, while I am at it.

I really like the swirly pattern of the quilting.  On the darker blocks its not so noticeable, but it really shines through on those gold blocks.

So, my mom took pity on me and finished the quilt once I'd gotten the top done.  Maybe she perceived that was the only way it was really going to ever get completed.  She might have been right, too.  As such, to say it is "my" quilt is really a stretch.  Its got more of my mom in it than it does me.  The fabric all came from her stash (except the backing fabric which she picked up on sale because she knew I'd love the feathers--and I do).  She sandwiched the batting and had it quilted by a local woman who specializes in such things.  So, yeah, I just helped pick out the colors and made the top.  That is it.  The rest is all Mamma.  It turned out great though.  Teamwork makes the dream work.

In addition to all the help with "my" quilt my mom also put the finishing touches on a beautiful tie-dye quilt she made for Matt and me as a wedding gift.  At the time only the top was complete, but she got it all finished in time for it to be a first anniversary present, too.  (Presented alongside "my" quilt.)

You can see this String Cheese Incident-themed shirt in its previous life in the 6th photo here.

The really neat thing about the wedding quilt is that my mom made the squares from Matt's old tie-dye shirts (well, a couple were just shirt that never sold, but the majority were ones Matt wore holes in).  The black contrasting fabric really highlights the rainbow colors.  Its beautiful.  I didn't take a photo of it, I guess, but the backing for the tie-dye quilt is a big sheet that Matt tie-dyed for that purpose--part of the reason my mom didn't have it completely finished in time for the wedding.  She needed Matt's help on that last bit!

That bottom right (yellow) shirt was actually one of mine.

Huzzah for new quilts.  They are most certainly works of art, labors of love, and true of treasures.  They will be cherished and keep us cozy for decades and decades to come.