A colorful quilt from mismatched scraps

Aside from a quilted Christmas stocking that I made as a kid (and which still adorns my parents' fireplace each December), I'd never done much quilting. Nor did I have much of an interest to. But during college I was blow away by the Gee's Bend quilts, and I also started doing more sewing of my own (thanks to this lovely book). When I saw that a quilting class was being offered through the local parks and rec department this spring, I jumped at the chance to take my sewing hobby to a new level.



On the first day of the class, I brought a bunch of colorful fabrics with me. Some were leftover scraps from previous sewing projects, some were given to me by a friend, and some were purchased at a fabric boutique on my honeymoon. I paired the mismatched prints together and hoped for the best.

In the end, I'm incredibly pleased with how it turned out. I finished most of the quilt during the four-week class, but I finally took the time to complete the hand-sewn binding (made from leftover fabric from my craft fair table cloths!) this weekend. Seeing it all put together is such a wonderful feeling, and the colors and patterns just feel so "me." I can't wait to use this quilt as a colorful wall hanging in our apartment, and maybe sometime in the (very distant) future it will get some use as a baby blanket.



After finishing my very first quilt, I feel inspired to keep quilting. I plan to participate in Rainbow Around the Block, a volunteer project aiming to provide quilts for families who lost their homes during the recent flooding in Tennessee. People from all over the country are making 12 x 12 quilted squares and sending them in to textile artist Anna Maria Horner. I'll be sure to post pictures of my squares here as I get started.