On becoming a quilter

Several years ago my mother gave me a sewing machine. I've made curtains, slipcovers, and a few simple pieces of clothing with it. But I've never really gotten into quilting. A few things are working against me being a quilter:

• It is complicated and there's a lot to know (at least to me it's more work than fun)
• Precision is important (and I'm a eyeballer, fudger, corner-cutter, bend-the-rules kind of gal)
• Most quilt cotton is really not my style.
• An unnamed person I know likes to start quilts and never finish them (you know who you are!) and I fear I am the same way. Ask me sometime about the Peter Rabbit quilt. :)
• I'm the type of person who enjoys the problem-solving part of a project more than the actual creation, so once I have the solution figured out I am satisfied without even making the item.
• I'm a fabric packrat, so I like to buy fabric with no express purpose. Fabric doesn't go bad, right? Then I'm mortified by the mounds of untouched fabric the next time we move. So I've put a moratorium on all but premeditated fabric buying.

But, I also recently found out that hip quilting fabric exists. (!) Etsy has introduced me to designers such as Amy Butler, Joel Dewberry, Michael Miller, Heather Bailey, and Sandi Henderson. I decided to make a play quilt for the nursery, so I went the safe route and purchased fabric in sets of coordinating fat quarters. And, in tagging along with Mom to a quilt shop in Hagerstown, I saw a quilt a simple pattern that would be more interesting than square blocks. I can do that!

I drew it out on graph paper so I'd have an actual pattern. Another day I cut out pieces (thanks for the help, Molly) and sewed blocks together. A week later I laid out the blocks on the nursery floor to find an arrangement that looked decent before sewing them all together. (Turned into quite a puzzle, and I'm glad I took a picture because likes to run around in there).

So I'm making a quilt (!) and yes, I am following in the unspecified person's footsteps and haven't finished it. Yet. I've had other pressing things to do like work, naps, and hanging out with Steve. Did I mention he was on the road for work for most of June? So good to have him home again. And the procrastinator in me says I have months to go before I'll need that quilt.