First Quilt

So, I made a quilt.
 

 

First time ever.
 

 

And, I am pleased.

Remember that first paper pieced block I made?

Well, I turned it into a doll quilt.
(The plan is for my daughter's birthday in June. Along with a wooden cradle I have from when I was a kid and a mattress cover and pillow yet. See if I can wait until June...)

 

So, a first paper pieced block turned into a first quilt top which I got to do some first-time quilting on and then had to do some first-time binding.

Good start to a new year--learning some new skills.

And, I learned the skills here:
A mash-up of these two tutorials for the binding:
Perfect Binding Tutorial from Jay Bird Quilts.
Tutorial: How to Attach Quilt Binding by Machine from Olive and Ollie.
I liked how to connect the loose binding ends better from Jay Bird Quilts and I liked the mitered corners better from Olive and Ollie. I used my own width of 2" and after folding the binding in half length-wise, I folded one side into the middle.

And, instead of making another quilted line on the back as Olive and Ollie suggest, I stitched-in-the-ditch to make the stitching somewhat invisible. I say somewhat because I'm not a perfect sewist and did 'drive' out of the ditch at times.
And, the quilting, I just sort of did--I think I've read enough blogs to know how to do basic quilting. Most of that was also stitch-in-the-ditch quilting. I did not want to add too much to the quilt and thereby make the handstitching not stand out so much.
I first quilted around the heart, then the individual 'boxes' around the heart until the last box. The top and bottom where there on the front to stitch-in-the-ditch, but not on the sides. So, I just made corresponding lines going down to make another box on the back.

 

Also, the actual design on the front was my own. I had sort of drawn out what I had in mind and then started cutting and sewing and measuring and cutting some more until it was about the width and length I had in mind. The total dimensions are 11.5" x 14.5".

 

I admit my 'batting' is not batting but two layers of flannel I had laying around.
And, the Linus Heart block, the info for that was on my last post here.
The fabrics I used are again those Lites and brights scraps, some more of that orange pillowcase, the white is from another pillowcase, and the backing from yet another pillowcase. The pillowcases are all thrifted.

I used my box of quilting attachments for my machine for the first time too.
The walking foot, the 1/4" foot, and the quilting guide.
Now, I'm just scared that my list of projects I want to do will increase significantly.....