My first quilt!

My grandmother makes beautiful quilts. She made me one when I was in high school and then she made another one for my husband and me when we got married. She enters her quilts in competitions and her work is beautiful.

I regret never asking her to teach me when she lived close to me. I was so young then, it never occurred to me. She moved to Florida when I was in second grade, so although I got to appreciate the things she made for me, I never got to chance to learn from her.

Now, I see the meaning in her work and I want to learn.

Luckily, I have Lucinda.

She is one of the women I met in the International Women's Group here in Germany and she is also an extremely talented quilter. Each of the beds in her apartment is covered with a unique quilt and her creations decorate her walls as well. I am in awe! I was thrilled when she told me that she gives lessons--even to super beginners who know nothing about quilting (or sewing for that matter!)

Before I went home to the US, Lucinda taught me a little bit about selecting quilting fabric and showed me some different designs/patterns. The fabric in Germany is quite expensive, so she recommended buying it while I was in the states.

My mom and I went to JoAnn fabrics, but for an amateur, it was really overwhelming because there is so much stuff. I looked at a lot of fabrics, but did not find anything that really jumped out. I am going to make a baby quilt, but I don't actually have a baby, or even a baby on the way, so I didn't really have any particular inspiration or theme in mind. I was on the lookout for a print with zoo or farm animals because I figured that was gender neutral enough while still being really cute.

JoAnn's turned out to be a flop.

I recalled the recommendation of a family friend, who said that smaller quilt shops are far superior. My mom and I looked up the ones she recommended and set out to find the perfect fabric. Since it takes a long time to make a quilt, Lucinda said it is very important to be in love with your chosen fabric because you end up looking at it a lot!

We found a little quilt shop tucked away in Bethel, CT and the owner was really helpful. Aren't small businesses great? The fabric was a little more expensive than at JoAnn's, but I knew the quality and selection would be better.

With Lucinda's coaching in mind, I searched through rows and rows, bolt after bolt to find my fabric.

I am so happy with what I found and I think that despite my newbie status as a quilter, that I did a pretty good job selecting coordinating prints. Lucinda said to pick one "main" fabric that I really love and then choose 4 or 5 other fabrics that coordinate. The other fabrics should have very small prints.

This is what I came up with.

 

 Even though this color scheme is not super girly, per se, I think the a Noah's Arc theme is really cute for either a girl or a boy. I love this one as the main fabric.

The coordinating prints:

 

 

 

 

smaller "coordinating" version of the main print. I love that it goes, but that it is smaller which follows the rules :0)

 

 doesn't this one look like waves? Perfect match for the Noah's Arc theme...this one will be for the back of the quilt.

close up of some of the cute animals

 

**those came out pretty dark, but the flash was making big bright spots so no flash was the better option**

I am really excited to get started and I wonder how long it will take to finish?! I think the most exciting part about making this is that I feel like I am doing it for my grandma and I can't wait to show her my handiwork!

Are you crafty?

Do you sew?

What is your favorite crafty project or something that you are dying to learn how to do?