I have finally finished my first ever patchwork quilt!

[overmydeadbody]

My first quilt

I made it using lots of my accumulated scrap fabrics (It has made a little dent to the mountain!) and backed it with a double flat sheet. MY quilting skills are nil so I just stitched in the ditch vertically (my squares didn't all line up perfectly horizontally, never mind, it looks ok for a first quilt). Even the binding I made out of lots of fabric scraps, so it is a missmatch of fabrics but it looks lovely to me!

I'd love some feedback, I know it' not a piece of art or anything and real quilters would do a far far better job, but I have got the quilting bug now so hopefully my next quilts will be neater!

I have learnt so much doing this. It was great fun, even if it took me 16 months of procrastination to actually finish it!

Oh wow, that's really impressive! Love it :)

OP your quilt is gorgeous - really lovely mix of colours.

congratulations, it looks lovely. It is a real labour of love isn't it!! I have just finished DD's quilt yesterday so know the feeling of achievement....it took me a year!

I am blown away by the sheer scale of your first quilt, OMDB. My "finished" quilt top is now in danger of being chopped up and turned into a stacked coin one to make it a big bigger (but would still only be single bed sized at most)

Thanks so wash and then cut then sew. I'd have done it all back to front

Thought of another stupid question - do you make a template for the squares and how big do you recommend?

Urgh scissors I haven't ever heard of the other... Iron?! >falls down dead

A rotary cutter, with cutting mat and ruler, is a wonderful thing. It makes your shapes so much neater and thus makes it easier to sew them straight. It's also way quicker if you're doing a lot. But for big squares you'll be fine with template and scissors.

I will add it to my list ( have yet to even attempt using machine!)

I've just bought a sewing machine with the hope of learning quilting and yours is proper inspiration. Congrats.

Thanks for the lovely comments!

I would also recommend a rotary cutter if you are cutting squares or strips for quilting, I cut out 725 squares for my quilt, there is no way I could have had the patience to do that with scissors!

A rotary cutter is like a pizza cutter, but you use it with a cutting mat and ruler, and you can cut four or five layers of fabric at once so you can get a lot cut. Lines are perfectly straight too.

My squares were cut at 3.5 inches, so the finished squares when sewn together were 3 inches wide.

I only ever iron fabric for sewing too, never clothes! When the ironing board is out, that means a project is in progress!

Well done - that's beautiful! I remember when you first blogged about it and it was around then that I decided I would do one too. I cheated and bought the fabric as I'm fairly new to sewing and my stash is nowhere near big enough yet! I finished it in time for Christmas and it's here if you fancy a look. I also used the stitch in the ditch method as my free motion quilting is not really up to scratch. I love the pocket effect from stitching in the ditch and think I actually prefer it to fancier designs.

I also recommend 505 and a rotary cutter. A quilting ruler is really handy too for all sorts of projects. I have a 6" x 12" one and it's been one of my best purchases.

Wow, absolutely beautiful ... and a lovely blog too.

You have inspired me to try one myself. It's long been ambition but you have galvanised me to try.

toomuchpizza thank you! I am glad I inspired you and I love your quilt! I am not also following your blog, thanks for the link!

Rouge I am glad this has inspired you to give it a try too! It is very very satisfying.