i decided to make a quilt

First, a disclaimer: when I started this project I had used my sewing machine a grand total of one times, back in 2007. I know zero things about sewing, or quilt making, and am completing this project by making it up as I go along.

So! Sewing maven that I am, I decided that taking on a quilt was a good first project. In reality, it hasn't been very hard (yet). The idea seems big, but the steps are small. The steps are a good, manageable way to think about any project.

I have lots of fabric scraps, because anytime I've spied a pretty fabric in the last 7 or so years I've picked it up, promising myself that one day I'd do something with it all. After starting at this ever growing pile of scraps for the umpteenth time, I decided to finally get going and I started cutting the fabric into shapes that slightly resemble squares.

It was at this step that I realized my quilt was going to be far from perfect, because I don't have the patience to cut uniformly or precisely. I also had out the iron, and if a scrap was particularly wrinkly I gave it a quick once over before cutting. I will say that I did use fabric scissors (shears?) because I'm super pro like that.

After I was sick of cutting, I laid out a row, haphazardly. I knew I wanted the quilt to be pretty patchworky, so I figured I'd make each row look nice, then sew the rows together and it'd hopefully turn out alright. I used my rug as a guide for how long each row should be (approximately 6 feet), and then stacked the squares up for easy transportation.

Then, I took out the sewing machine and spent approximately one hour looking up the manual online because I obviously didn't keep it, threading the bobbin, and threading the needle. This part took awhile and was pretty frustrating, but I got it done so I know you can too. I have a Singer Simple 3116 and you can download the manual here.

And then I sewed some things together! "Right" side facing "right" side (which I did wrong the first time). And they stayed together because sewing machines are magic! I also kept losing my thread, so now I am a pro at threading the needle of the machine.

That's about where I am at the moment. Something got jammed in the machine so I'm troubleshooting. But I'm excited, because this thing could conceivably turn into a quilt and that's cool. Stay tuned!