by Cathy Cousins of Sweet Little Things
(Sarah's Sister in Law!)
Let me preface this by saying I can actually sew in a straight line. Learnt that one years ago in Fashion College. I can also cut, count, match up bits with other bits, unpick, resew, iron, style colours, hem, cut and sew bias, pleat, sew a zipper, make button holes and myriad other sewing-related activities. I cannot, however, add up very well. At least in situations where it matters that everything actually adds up.
Making my first quilt brought this deeply buried secret of shame to the surface.
If I'm going to be honest, there is no doubt why I failed the pattern making module of fashion design. Well, I didn't actually fail at all, but I may as well have. I don't remember A THING. Not ONE SINGLE THING. Apart from sepia tinted memories of pencils, brown paper and rulers...not a thing. From memory I was far better at draping. You know, where you make it up as you go along....?
You see this is how Sarah lulls me into a false sense of security. By tapping into my 'make it up as you go along' mentality. She tells me that quilting is 'easy' once you get the knack of it. She also tells me it is very 'freeflowing' suggesting you can design, create and change it as you go.
The Teacher
While this may be true and many of you seasoned quilters may agree - let's face it - all those little squares, triangles, strips and other weird and wonderful pieces have to actually match up, meet at the corners, have seam allowance added and still fit a queen bed exactly.
Before I go any further, I have a confession to make. I have actually made a quilt before. About 3 years ago for my godson's christening. Is it fair to say I don't count this one because I didn't really like the colours? I believe this is in part because I had to choose boy ones. Sounds crazy, I know, but if you knew me, you would be utterly unsurprised by that considering I carried around my plastic Barbie tote complete with strawberry flavoured lip gloss and scratch off nail polish from the age of 3. I like girlie colours, so sue me! Although if I am really honest it was because the only gender neutral fabric I could lay my hands on had clowns all over it, and clowns frighten the life out of me! I also don't really consider it my first quilt because I didn't attach the wadding or quilt it myself and I cheated and sewed the binding on by machine because I ran out of time.
So, with that out of the way let me continue to tell you about my 'first quilt-making experience'.
My little goddaughter Izzy is getting christened in a couple of weeks and I wanted to do something really special for her. Something she can have forever and know how much I love her and how honoured I feel to be her god-mother. I truly believe nothing is more special than receiving a gift that has been lovingly made by hand.
After heading out to the fabric shop with the SIL and buying a tonne of other things I probably don't need, I settled on 3 main fabrics. Izzy's mum likes quite modern colours, so I thought the purple and aqua combo would be perfect and something a little different to your usual pink and white.
Equipped with my fabrics and a positive attitude I headed off to Kangaroo Valley for the weekend. For those of you who don't know where this is, it is about 1.5hrs drive from Sydney and is basically really lush green beautiful countryside. With plenty of divine little coffee shops, sweetie factories and antique dealers along the way. We hire a gorgeous cottage down there once a year and go with my husband, his sister (Sarah) and her husband Damian. The weekend comprises of feasting and drinking and crafting. I usually bring my beading forest (I'm a beader at heart) and Sarah her quilts. This time, I commandeered the sewing machine knowing it was my one chance to get this thing done with private tuition. After that, I would be on my own and knew it would sit in my studio until I managed to steal some of Sarah's time again!
In an attempt to prevent your interest waning, I will not go into minute detail on how I progressed. Let me just recount some of the highs and lows. Like running out of fabric for my border and having to steal some of SIL's (it's that lovely dark purple with bright pink spot around the border).
Finishing the top and noticing every single corner of those pesky squares actually matched up in the middle. Finding out you don't have to backstitch at all during quilting. Finding out finishing the top didn't mean the rest of the quilt would take me 5 mins. Making the back of the quilt (yes, I realise this is the 'easy part') was, well, interesting to say the least. This is where I really came unstuck.
Where it all went wrong
My dysfunctional relationship with numbers reared its ugly head. The thing is - I knew what I had to do. I had it all planned out. Knew what lengths I needed to cut......so I went ahead and cut the wrong lengths, didn't I?
Ugh!
Cupcakes for backing
I absolutely, uncategorically blame this on the fact that quilting fabric comes folded selvedge to selvedge. What is that all about?! It's confusing for those of us that have always handled dressmaking fabric and are used to just cutting pieces, not strips if we fold it. The irritating thing is I had actually laid the fabric out unfolded and then folded it again because I thought it would be 'the proper quilting way' to cut. So I cut the side with the fold at the right length as I knew it would double out and cut the other the same, thinking it would double out. Of course it wouldn't because it doesn't have a fold!
Ugh!
After this latest emotion dissipated, I stared at my piece of paper. Made some doodles. Frowned. Sighed. Insisted to Sarah I didn't need any help. Did some more doodles. Relented and asked Sarah for help. She did some doodles. Sighed a bit. Wondered what I had done. Did some more doodles. Suggested a solution.
Which I tried. Only to find there still wasn't enough fabric.
Back to the doodles. The calculator. More sighing until.....woo hoo! I managed to make it fit!
Hastily I made for the machine in case somehow these pieces managed to make themselves not fit again just to irritate me. I sewed them all together then ah - relief - it worked!
Hellish basting
What a satisfying feeling. I rewarded myself with a glass of wine. It's important to do so, don't you think?
I am not going to go into any further detail about finishing it all off, as it actually all went pretty well and will make for tedious reading. So I will wind it up here. I will say, however, that if you were at all interested in the pattern I'd love you to email me and I am sure I can squeeze it out of Sarah. I might even be able to put together some 'beginner instructions for beginners' where I explain absolutely everything that other quilters find obvious :) There's nothing like a true beginner to give you the basics!
After reading my little account I do hope you will feel encouraged, not disheartened to embark on your own project of this kind. In hindsight, Sarah was right. Making a quilt (well, a basic one) actually is a relatively easy thing to achieve, even if you have very limited sewing skills. It also helps to have a good teacher :)
This quilt was all about straight lines and corners. Cut in a straight line, sew it straight, match up the corners and you will be ok.....promise. Apart from some back-breaking basting, you will be fine!
The challenge for me is staying interested enough to carry a project through to completion. This is why I admire you seasoned professionals out there. Quilting truly is a timeless, tireless tradition; one that requires dedication, good technique and a whole lot of love.
Despite the emotional ride, this quilt is at the very least full of the latter.
Me and my quilt
For a chance to have the story of your first quilt published on Sewn, and go into the draw to win a beginners quilt kit supplied by Maggie Robertson Design, email the story of your first quilt to sarah@sewn.net.au, along with any pictures you have to go with it. The best five stories will be published on SEWN, and the winner one will receive the quilt kit! Entries close Friday, Sept 11 2009.Do you have a story about your first quilt? We would love to hear it.
Send submissions to sarah@sewn.net.auTo see more of my favourite things, click here.