A local fabric store had the misfortune of closing after years in business. That led to good fortune for me as they were giving away boxes of swatches which I took home for some unknown purpose.
Flash forward a couple months as I organized the fabrics and realized I had a fantastic quilting stash.
While I didn’t jump into the fabric store swatches for my inaugural quilt, I opted for a fun pattern, The Illusion Quilt to embark on making my first quilt in 12 years. I followed tutorials including Illusion Block by Jenny Doan and Missouri Star and It’s All an Illusion by Rob at ManSewing.com.
First picking fabric…
Those two tutorials paved the way for me to drive the project to completion. But here’s a few pointers I picked up along the way.
- Thread many bobbins. Really helps keep pace of play with the machine instead of having to stop every two bobbins to fill a couple more.
- Strip sewing really sped up the process, though if you are like me, I have enjoyed taking my time but it was nicer to buzz through certain parts of the blocks.
- Quilting does enable a best friendship with your seam ripper. Finding a good one you like to work with matters.
- I didn’t focus too much on color selection or too much on value with this quilt. I don’t regret it as there was enough good learning going on with it being the first quilt I made in 30 years. But after I finished the quilt, I realized color and value really make a difference. Next quilt…
- I made the quilt front, back and binding and handed it off to Tisha Cabral Tisha Cabral Designs for finishing. I love what she made of the quilt.
Getting ready to sew…
Blocks are assembled together; ready for quilting…
And the finished quilt which we all love at our house!
thecraftingsaltbox 