quilt numero dos.

Yesterday, my house was full of quilting and football. You might not think those two go together, but in my casa, they equate to a fantastic day.

Work has begun on quilt #2. Quilt #1 was super fun and awesome, but it was also an exploratory quilt. Would I continue the hobby? Perhaps more importantly, could I even make a quilt? The answer to both questions is yes, but I wasn’t freaking out about achieving perfection because hey! It was only my first quilt. And not that I’m expecting perfection with #2 either, but I’m working more on my skillz.

I chose an “attic window” design with sashing in between the “window panes”. There were many many factors that went into this design decision, including the fact that evil triangles were kept to a minimum, and my friend K promised to show me a handy dandy way of silencing their dastardly voices and keeping them from stretching out. I could sew the quilt more in an assembly line fashion, meaning I could even chain piece if my heart so desired. (At first, I was anti-chain piecing because it was new, and I don't like change, but when I realized how easy it was and how much time it saved, well, I caved.) With my brain becoming more forgetful, and the very real fact that my belly is going to continue expanding for the next three months, it seemed smart to choose simple block construction over trickier work, especially since the distance between me and the sewing machine will grow with my uterus.

And yesterday, while we watched the Taxslayer.com Bowl, then part of the Outback Bowl, then the Rose Bowl, finally topping off our football day with the Fiesta Bowl, I somehow managed to pin, sew, and iron my way through most of my block construction. There is still quite a bit of work to be done before I’m finished piecing it together--blocks need to be finished, sashing fabric needs to be cut and attached, then rows sewn together, THEN the border--but I finished four times the amount of work I was expecting or even hoping to complete. And in record time!

I'm particularly working on making sure my sewing is even and my cuts are lined up perfectly. With one quilt under my belt, I understand the importance of making everything as close to perfect as possible as early on as possible as it only makes things easier. Can we say that together? EASIER. And the end result looks prettier, or so I've been told since I don't have any practical experience in *that* particular arena. 

With both quilts, there was a cringe moment before the rotary cutter actually hit the first piece of fabric. Would the combination of fabrics go together well? Would it lay out the way I saw it in my head? But now that I'm actually sewing this puppy together, I think it's looking great, and I'm excited. I had originally envisioned something else entirely to go around my focal fabric. I was thinking greens in various colors, but when we got to the fabric store and put fabrics side by side, the plan shifted dramatically. The greens have been replaced with other colors, and now that the blocks are coming together, I'm getting impatient to start work on the sashing to see if it looks as smokin' fierce as the blocks do. 

When I mentioned to my friend V the time it takes to put into a quilt, she balked and couldn't understand why anyone would pick up the hobby. And yes, they DO take quite a bit of time, even if it's just a crib size quilt! But I enjoy it all so much. Okay, the binding was not as enjoyable, but it's a part of the process, and it really does make the quilt look so much sharper. And while I enjoy all of the hobbies I've picked up over the years, I may just like it the most!