My First Quilt... My Grandpa's 80th Birthday!

I decided to start a blog to document the progress that I make as a beginning Quilter! I started quilting (and learned to sew!) in March 2012 in order to make a quilt for my grandpa's 80th birthday. Before that, I have never used a sewing machine! It was scary and exciting all at once. But, the look on his face when I gave it to him made it completely worth it! AND- I became ADDICTED to quilting and fabric! Be kind to my first attempts, I was completely new, but they were made with love!

Here is where I was deciding on the layout... this was harder than I thought!

I made this using 10" squares, but learned how the best laid plans go askew when you flip flop the sides to sew together! :) It ended up looking good so I went with it. I appliqued several squares to personalize it more for my grandpa. To some, this may seem like an odd quilt, but my grandpa loves flannel shirts, golf, baseball and the USA! He is a proud veteran and I wanted to portray him in the quilt.

Here was a close up of the simple quilting that I did, which took FOREVER! Wow, I never realized how long it would take and how stressful it was sewing this on a little sewing machine!

Here was the arduous task of making a patchwork bias cut binding! Wow, for a first timer, it was a difficult process! But worth it in the end as it looked really nice!

Here was my grandpa and grandma at the big birthday celebration! I was so proud when I gave him his quilt, not because it was perfect (it wasn't!) but because every stitch (and tiny blood drop!) was made with love and care.