oh, quilt.

my new craft is quilting.  I have so many different patterns for teeshirt quilts, and i had decided i wanted to make one.. how hard could it be, right? my grandma makes quilts pretty much weekly, so i figured it wouldn't be challenging...

oh.. how i was wrong.


I went out to my grandma's house to visit with her (first time i had seen her in 6 years.) and to get her advice on making a teeshirt quilt.  like i said, she is a master quilter. when i went out there she had one quilt on the rack to be bound together, and was working on the applique portion of another quilt.. meanwhile, she was telling me about the other two quilts she was getting ready to start. 

I told her about my plan to make a teeshirt quilt, and she sugested i start with easier fabric.. to quote her tee shirt material is very difficult to sew, so you will end up getting discouraged & not wanting to make anymore.. valid point. i am constantly picking the worst fabric imaginable for my poor little sewing machine.  knit fabrics.. satin... polyester (oh yes. i did just finish a sweet polyester tank top lol) she suggested 4 inch squares sewn together as a quilt.  i think she called it a scrap quilt, but i'm not sure of the name 100%.

i must say, her attic (sewing room) is like a dream. she has 3 different sewing machines.. crazy cutting things.. a huge metal cabinet full of old patterns.. a wall plus closet of fabric.. and that quilting rack thing.  (plus endless drawers of scissors.. rulers.. blades.. cutters.. mats.. whatever you need.. she's like a joanne's.

so, once i agreed upon the 4 inch square quilt, she loaded me up with supplies.. scrap fabrics.. a rotary cutter.. cutting mats.. and even some batting. I had her explain the process, and she showed me how to put rows together.. and gave me an awesome vintage book from 1953 full of old pattern blocks.. it is really awesome.. i love vintage sewing books.. she said once i'm done with the front of the quilt, she'll help me put it together with one of her contraptions.

Now comes the fun times. I decide to start browsing my favorite crafting community craftster.org. the people that post there are insanely talented, and generally the things they post are less conventional (duct tape dresses and etc.) I usually only go to the recon board, since i only ever do reconstructions.. but i decided to venture over to the quilting board.. it was there that i saw a super mario brothers quilt. and thats when the wheels in my head started turning (unfortunately.)

I have now embarked upon an impossible task of putting together a triforce quilt. is it going to look perfect? no. but it will be 4 inch squares (ish...) and i am now a master at the rotary cutter.

Quilting is not an easy project.. I'll update again with my process.

as it stands right now, the centerpiece of my quilt is like, 7 and a half feet long. YES SEVEN AND A HALF FEET LONG. i have never sewn anything this big before. this doesnt include the border.. so hopefully it doesnt get too much bigger, although i'm sure it will... *sigh*

this is really going to test me.. anyone that has ever crafted with me knows that i A. dont really measure that much, B. make up the patterns as i go along and C. hate pressing seams and all the other important steps that go along with sewing. but i am confident that it will at least get finished?

I'll update again with how its going.. as it stands, i have two rows completed, about a bagillion squares cut out.. and a rotary cutter injury.. (dont ask. i know there is a saftey.)  on the upside, i found a really kickass program that converts images to cross stitch patterns, which i can then use for quilting patterns. :]] maybe one day i will be good enough to gift these quilts to other people ! :]]]

in other news, i hurt myself again playing wii sports so i'm pretty much done with that machine.. and matthew has convinced me that my new job is going to be a video game reviewer on youtube. so i'll link to that whenever that will happen. ;]

xxoo
diZZ