My first quilt September 2011

So my sister started on my quilt for me for my birthday, she and I got to talking and we thought I should do one for Nate's Christmas gift. I have never made a actual quilt before (I attempted once in YW's and that failed lol) so I was hesitant to do it but I figured I had my sister who is awesome at it, her machine, and lots of time to make it work (I was going to be in Utah for another week plus it was only September and Christmas was three months away lol)

So I headed out to Material Girls in South Jordan, Utah and picked out my pattern and started getting material that would work with it-since I was doing it for a guy I wanted to make sure it wasn't "cute" lol

Alrighty so here is a progression of my first quilt:

Step 1. Find pattern & pick out material (only took me about 3 days to pick a pattern online & an hour to pick out fabric...good time right? lol)

Step 2. Cut out ALL the fabric and since I was making it for my 6'2 giant I doubled everything so I had to do 2x the cutting lol

Step 3. Sew the blocks together, assembly was sewing the red center blocks to the two sides then sewing the top and bottom to it.

 Again since I doubled it this step took some time, I had some assistance from Britt (my sis) while I was at the gym she did the rest of the squares :) oh and a picture of me to prove I actually did sew the quilt didn't just buy it lol!

 All the blocks sewn together and the white centers cut out

 Step 4 & 5 were to cut the gray squares and white squares (above) and sew them into different strips

Step 6. Lay them out and arrange them into a design I liked (which was possibly the hardest part lol)

 Step 7. Sew each row together then sew them all together

 Its all sewn :)

 Step 8 Lay backing down and see how it aligns with top

 Time escaped from me in Utah and sadly I had to leave BUT a lady in my ward had her daughters in town with their sewing machines (yay!) and they offered to help me finish it up :)

Step 9 Place badding in and pin everywhere!!!!

Step 10 Start sewing lines every 2-4'' apart till you hit the other side :)

Step 11 lay quilt back on table and start pinning the binding

Step 12 sew one side of the binding down

Step 13 flip quilt over and pin the sucker down lol

Step 14 Sew up the other side of the binding

 And WALA!!! Its all done! My very first quilt!!!!

I can't wait to send this quilt to Nate :) I hope he loves it-I sure do lol It was a long and difficult journey but I am really happy I decided to do it. I learned a little more about patience, got some skills with the sewing machine, and had some awesome times with my sister chatting it up as we sewed :) Thank you Britt for being so patient and understanding with me through this and always helping or answering my questions whenever I needed it :) Love you!