Well this week I have finally taken the plunge. After sitting on the fence for ummm probably close to ten years now… or even more I have started to learn to quilt.
I t really has been something I have always wanted to do, I’ve often picked up fabrics here and there and even a number of quilting patterns have turned up in my stash over the years. For one reason or another though I always put it off. NOt this time though, armed with a beginners course that I got for Christmas (ok got myself for Christmas) and the company of a good friend I am tackling my fears and getting started.

The first class was this week and while it was a bite strange and stressful with the idea of meeting new people and everything that goes along with that the overall experience was quite fun. There was a lot to cover in the first class with learning how to use our rotary cutters, cutting accurately and figuring out how best to get our machines set up to do nice accurate and neat seams. Patchwork by hand would be much simpler I’m sure but I’m certain the process will speed up eventually.

The first block we did was an Ohio Star and we concentrated on getting all the pieces cut and ready then on piece the triangles together. I have had to unpick a couple of the seams and redo them because I wasn’t happy with the ones I did at home after the class but I have completed the first part of my homework and finished piecing my first block *hooray* 😀

The top Left hand corner seems a little out of alignment so I may need to redo that but for now I am just happy that my points seem pointy and the seams are pretty much lined up… All in all I would say I’m pretty happy for a first effort.

With the course it is classes every two weeks with homework in between. This fortnight the homework was to complete this block and attempt one other that uses the same piecing and cutting techniques. If we want to make a queen sized quilt then we may want to make more (I am thinking about a Queen sized but we will see how I go).

I’ve looked through the patterns we were given and cam across Jacob’s ladder and clay’s choice which are high on the list of additional blocks I may try for this weeks homework.

There is also Annie’s choice although it is all triangle piecing and cutting and I feel it would be a touch more fiddly so it may be an option for when I have built up more confidence.