1st Ever Quilt- Installment # 2

Happy Today!

So, I am still working on my quilt. I have to say that I am really starting to enjoy this quilt making stuff. I think my friend, Mary is starting to enjoy it also.

For our second class we learned to actually quilt the quilt. I know, some of you are now scratching your head and wondering what I am talking about. So, let me pull out some more of that handy quilting language and explain :)

After piecing your quilt top, you then make a quilt sandwich. Now before you get visions of a great big turkey, ham, and roast beef sandwich, let me explain what a quilt sandwich is. The quilt sandwich is made up of your quilt top, batting and the quilt back. The fun part was taking safety pins and pinning the quilt sandwich together. You would have laughed at Mary and I as we pinned our quilts...we were so serious and determined to pin correctly (hate to break it to you, but there isn't a right or wrong way to pin) LOL!!!

 Once the quilt sandwich is ready, I was able to pick out how I wanted to quilt my quilt. The quilting part of the process consists of the stitches that keep the quilt top, batting and quilt back together. Normally quilters pick really detailed quilting, but Mary and I decided to keep it simple and stitch in the ditch (I am not making that term up, it is the official quilting term for the pattern that we decided to use on our quilts). After looking at my quilt once I had finished stitching in the ditch, I decided to try something that required a bit more skill (ha, ha, ha!!!) So, I pulled out my painters tape (who knew that would be helpful in quilting???) and marked some lines to stitch next too.

It's hard to see my stitching in the photos, but you can see the pretty pink thread on the quilt back. All in all quilting the quilt was a fun learning experience...I only had to pull out two seams, which is better than I thought I would do on this project.
Mary and I are getting close to completing our very first quilts...Can't wait to show it off next time....