Every quilter had their first quilt. The quilt that took them from dreaming to doing. The one quilt that made them fall in love with quilting. The one quilt that taught them so many lessons. Some of those lessons may be how to maintain a quarter inch seam allowance, how to sew a straight line, how to use a walking foot, how to choose colors for either themself or someone else, how to use a seam ripper too many times!, how to re-cut more fabric (and being thankful you had enough left) after making a cutting mistake, how to square up a block, how to do your own quilting, how to find a local quilter and pick out a pantograph to use that would work best for that quilt, how to bind a quilt, and the list goes on and on. It is only through making something new and making mistakes on your own that you will learn the best way to do something and enhance your skill set.
That quilt for me was Fancy Forest by Elizabeth Hartman. From start to finish, this quilt took a few years. Why you may ask!? Well, I received my first sewing machine around the same time I was going to begin working on this pattern, and then the sewing machine malfunctioned. This malfunction led to about a year of trying to get it fixed and using a loaner machine. And being a beginner, I made so many mistakes on the loaner machine I used because I jumped right in without really figuring out how to use this particular machine. I got to the point where I stopped using the loaner machine, and waited to finish the project until I got my own sewing machine back.
I got my machine back, and finished all the blocks and got help from my aunt when putting all the blocks together. The quilt top was complete, and the feeling of making this from start to finish and just figuring it out as I went was so amazing! I got backing and batting and chose a pantograph to go along with the quilt. I sent it out to be quilted and couldn’t wait until I got it back.
My favorite part of making any quilt is cutting off the excess when it comes back from the quilter. It feels like the process is complete and the hard work has paid off. I bound the quilt, which took way longer than it should have, but I completed it none the less. It was and still is a personal victory, even though the project was on the table for way too long!
I am such an advocate for supporting, purchasing and making other designers’ patterns. I hope to share more personal projects that I have completed from other designers’ patterns. I love making quilts that aren’t my own design as it helps me learn new techniques and discover new ways of piecing or putting things together. It is also fun to see what other quilters have made with a certain pattern and get inspiration from them as well. I love searching Instagram hashtags for quilts I am going to make or have made to see the design choices that other quilters have made, like color placement and selection and how they chose to have the quilt top quilted.
You can find Bliss Quilt Co. on social media using the handle @blissquiltco and the hashtags #blissquiltcopatterns, and #(insertquiltname)quilt.
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Learn more about my journey here.
Happy Quilting!