Finished

I finished up my Sparkle Plenty quilt top yesterday. I’m very pleased with how it turned out. Once I was done I stuck it up on the design wall for a picture. I was admiring my work when it hit me how far I have come in quilting when compared with the first quilt top I ever pieced.
I was excited to see that my boring work of squaring up the each and every one of those 108 HST blocks paid off. 95% of my corners and points match up perfectly. The quilt top actually looks nice and square (there is a slight distortion from the camera.) On the back my seams are laying nice and flat. The seams are also 1/4” like they are supposed to be. I share this not to show off and say “hey look at me, I’m an awesome quilter, neener neener!” I share it to show you what you can accomplish if you stick with quilting.
I started quilting/sewing 7 years ago and my first quilt top has much to be desired. It is so wonky, not square and full of mistakes. I had no idea what bias meant. I had no clue that fabric needs to be cut a certain way in order to minimize stretch. Or that once cut it needs to be handled with care to avoid distortion. I didn’t know that you had to be careful with the iron as well. A 1/4” seam allowance? HA! some of the seams on my first quilt were non existent in some places. I literally had to go back and repair the quilt top (a few years ago) so that it could be quilted.
Still I have loved learning without restraint. The only quilting class I have ever taken was a free motion quilting class for beginners and I took it after I had been quilting for about 4 years. If I had started my quilting journey with proper “training” I think I would have held myself back from trying things that sound too difficult.
If you are just starting out on your quilting journey, DON’T give up! Don’t compare yourself to other quilters. Just give your project your best effort and as you practice, practice, practice – as with all things, you’ll get better. Learn those little tips and tricks from fellow quilters that will help your quilting become awesome. Be willing to try different tips, but also be willing to discard those that don’t work for YOU. There are many ways of achieving the same result and no one way is the right way to do things.
ok, that was a long winded post.

Have a great weekend!
~ Norma
 Linking up to Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday