In 2019 I decided to start quilting. I'm not exactly sure how it started but I found myself on a DEEP dive on instagram and pinterest looking up modern quilts and quilting techniques.
>>Want to see photos of my daughter and I with this quilt at the beach? CLICK HERE <<
Something about creating something artistic and practical interested me. The color combos...the quilt patterns...it all just fascinated me. My first two quilts were bad. Like really really bad. I didn't use any patterns, I was still getting familiar with my sewing machine (it was my mom's backup machine she didn't use), and everything was learned via Youtube, a magazine I picked up at Barns N' Noble, and Instagram.
By the end of the year I made two really bad quilts with horrible binding, a few blocks, and three decent Christmas stockings. It was time to take on a new project: the Pink Gold Mini Quilt.
I got the idea of a mini quilt from a friend who sells quilted baby bibs. Her son had a mini quilt he loved, and I thought it would be cute for my daughter to have something I made her that she may one day cherish.
I decided on doing a patchwork style quilt. I thought it would be fast and simple...what's so difficult about a bunch of squares? SEAMS. Seams is the answer to that question. The amount of lining up and accuracy you have to use to make a patchwork quilt full of squares look decent was way more detailed than I initially planned.
After figuring out that sewing in strips was NOT going to work for me (*cough* and 45 minutes spent seam ripping), I used a block method where I made 4 patch blocks, then used those blocks to create bigger blocks (16 squares) then a bigger one...and so on.
I finished it off with a simple embroidery in the bottom corner, a simple Kona Cotton binding for the trim, and I used a Target Threshold flat sheet for the backing for a super soft feel.
All this to say: I came, I saw, I learned. One thing for certain is since I am learning how to quilt via social media (mainly), youtube, and blogs I find, I am failing a lot...but failing forward. I'm excited to keep trying new projects and am looking forward to dabbling into something a little more traditional for my next quilt project...stay tuned!
check out photos from a mini quilt photoshoot here
>> Let's connect! follow me on instagram @chelseamonsevais <<