My First Quilt

Hello again! I know I've been M.I.A. but between Megan's wedding and working tons of extra hours since I've been back, I feel like all I've been doing is working and sleeping! I'm posting this know right after having taken a nap (I picked up extra hours again this morning). Too bad I haven't won the lottery so I can quit my job and spend all my free time here with you all! :o)

Anywho . . . I mentioned before that I'm co-hosting a baby shower for a co-worker. I'm totally going full force on trying to be as creative and unique as possible for this party. Then I decided to take it one step farther . . . I decided not to buy her a present, but to make her one.

I saw this cute Baby Rag Quilt Tutorial over at Creations by Kara. I'd never heard of a rag quilt before, but it looked super cute and really easy! This started me on my quest to make Mason's (baby-to-be) present.

I was originally going to use the same pattern layout Kara used for her quilt, but after stumbling on some really cute fabric, the plan changed.

I found the cream colored vintage cowboy fabric at my local Hancock Fabrics. I absolutely fell in love with it! I showed it to anyone who was ever at the house at any given time. I don't think FH really cared about what fabric I bought, but he listened patiently while I rambled on excitedly about it! :o)

Because I loved the fabric so much, I reworked my pattern so that those fabric squares were bigger and you could see more of my adorable fabric. Unfortunately, that was really the only cute fabric I could find at the fabric store, so the rest were purchased off of eBay (YAY!) including the super cute blue vintage cowboy fabric above (I used it for the back of the quilt).

I also purchased a denim fabric and a red bandanna fabric:

Now, when people say that rag quilts are easy to make, they are technically telling the truth. They're not difficult to sew. But, they are extremely time consuming. This project took me about two and a half days to complete. It can be a very tedious process, so if you don't have a lot of patience, this might not be the project for you. I do have patience, but I generally like to be prepared in advance that I'm going to embark on a project that requires it. So, if you're like me . . . consider yourself warned.

But, despite the unanticipated duration of this project, I'm very happy with the end result. It's super cute and Kristen (mom-to-be) can't wait to see it!

Isn't it adorable? I love it!! I'm not sure I'll be making another rag quilt anytime soon, but I'm glad I now know how. You never know when inspiration may strike! :o)