grocery store safety pins are a little on the dull side

Last night we moved the table out of the dining room so I could lay out the quilt to put all the layers together.  Who was the one who thought it was a good idea to make my first quilt be so BIG?  Oh right.  Me. 

In case you get the idea to embark upon a quilt making adventure here are some things I learned today.  It takes way more safety pins than you think it will to keep all the layers together.  Grocery stores do carry safety pins if you happen to go to Super Target at 7am to get some and discover they don't open until 8am.  You will have to buy about 4 boxes of the mixed sizes though because they don't have any packs of just the big ones.  Grocery store safety pins are a little on the dull side. 

Stitiching in the ditch is way harder than you might think when you are trying to guide an industrial sized quilt through your machine. 

And yes, if I would have waited until the safety pin store was open, and if I would have went to the Bernina store and had them show me how to put on (and use) my walking foot, and if I would have had any one of the 3 people I know who are excellent quilters help me, this would have been much easier.  But what fun would that be?

I am the exact same kind of quilter as I am a sketcher.  Highly enthusiastic.  Poorly trained.  Loving every minute of the process.  

Comments

[Bobby]

Wow I love it... cant believe it's your first! My first quilt was made of trapezoid shapes... They drove me insane until after about 3 metres of ruined fabric patches someone told me you have to offset the seams to get them to match... grrrrrrr!!

Your machine is very groovy... how did you get the funky flowers on it :)

[pam]

as you know, i have a similar attitude...do the project, figure it out as you go, maybe learn a better way for next time during the process. also, i have made 7+ quilts and never put my walking foot on- even the big ones that I quilted on the machine- duh pam! so excited you're doing this, you're going to LOVE It!

[Amy at love made my home]

Enthusiasm is the main thing I think!!! It is much better to have a go than worry about being perfect, otherwise you would put off everything for ever. I love the colours of the fabric that you are using! xx

[Chris Oliveira]

From what I can see, all your efforts are well worth it - it looks beautiful!

[Odette]

It's against my religion to read the instructions.

[Leslie J. Moran]

Ah the Bernina walking foot. I happened to be taking a class where I got to use one. Came home, installed mine on my new machine, and now I want to sew everything with it. I got the curvy quilting pins and am two steps behind you in the process. It's so daunting. My dining table will be out until Christmas at this rate. I plan to hand stitch the first one. We shall see.

[Peggy Fry in Tulsa]

start in the middle, and move outward. trust me on this, you will not have to rip out so much!!!!! go to the middle and stitch a line to the edge. Then turn the sucker around and stich the other half of the line. once you do the the "structural" main lines all over, then you can sew wherever you want. each square will stretch or squish up a little, just enough to get them to match. Or match enough. you will decide how much mismatching or little pleats you will be able to live with. or not.

[Jane Bumar]

This looks amazing! Your colors and style are just beautiful, and I am highly impressed by such terms as 'walking foot' and 'stitch in the ditch' - i had to look them up. I am not sure whether I have a walking foot yet, but dang, you've inspired me to give this a try!

[Domenico]

My mum will kill me if I start another arty project, but I have a few friends in foster care, and wouldn't a colorful quilt make not having a family just a little bit easier?