I have always enjoyed cushion cover projects. They are more manageable than quilts and I can always find a use for cushion covers. It took me a while to decide to stretch myself by making a quilt using the English Paper Piecing technique. Not just a quilt cover, but one that is basted with batting, attached to a backing and framed with a border. I watched Youtube videos to learn how to make the different parts of a quilt and put them together. Good thing that none of my quilts have fallen apart.
This was all in all a good experience. It always takes me by surprise what I can do when I am able to work through my limiting beliefs. I never thought I could sew or take photographs with a camera but I can, and quite decently too. A sewing machine is definitely a gadget that was never on my to-buy list for the home. Now, one such machine has a semi-permanent spot on my dining table.
I have always thought I sucked at artwork like drawing and painting. This is one limiting belief that I haven’t quite worked my way through. I might just give it a try someday.
My first successful quilt is this Diamond Quilt, which I made using a kit from Jodie of TalesofCloth. The pattern was a breeze to make! The biggest challenge when making a quilt is choosing the fabrics. There are so many possible permutations. I either get stuck through sheer indecisiveness, or just plain fear that the result will not be ideal. I wanted a pastel palette with a few pops of colour for this quilt, and tried to work towards that.
After much mixing and matching, I went with this combination of some 13 different fabrics. Quite happy with the result! I managed to sew the pieces altogether quite quickly but the backing proved to be the tricky bit. I had chosen a jersey fabric and it wasn’t easy for me to sew all four sides easily. The material kept buckling up. Happily, I also managed to figure out how to miter the borders along the way!
I gave this quilt to a little girl and hope it is something that she can use for a long time.
I have another English Paper Piecing Diamond Quilt as a WIP project right now. Almost near completion!