the first...

finally!  i started this quilt in april.  it was my first quilt top ever.  i probably bit off a little more than i could chew, but i'm glad i did.  i learned a ton from this quilt!!  it's been sitting in my craft room, starting at me for a couple of months.  mostly because i fell out of love with the colors, and didn't know what to bind it with.  finally i got some fabric and finished it.  i like the colors again, now, which is a bonus!

the sweetpea...

i wasn't really quite sure what i had gotten myself into when i started these quilting shenanigans...four quilt tops (more posts to come!) and two completed quilts later, i'm still not quite sure.  all i know is that right now i am loving it so much!!  it's a combination of finding the right combos of colors, a big puzzle of  block making, and therapy as i sew, sew, sew.  

this was my mother's day present to my cute mom.  i didn't get it finished quite in time for mother's day, but i think she forgives me!  with this quilt, i went a little bit more than just straight lines on the machine quilting.  i also quilted around certain blocks.  i love the pattern it ended up making.  random but cool!

my first finished quilt...

i know, i know...this isn't really my first quilt.  it's actually my third.  but my first quilt isn't finished yet.  i was afraid of binding it.  so that still needs to happen.  and my second quilt, is only really a quilt top at this point. both of those will be posted later.  but here...this is my first completed quilt.  and i was in kind of a rush to get it completed, for a few different reasons.  one, it's his 70th birthday this year.  second, father's day is coming up.  and third, we have decided as a family to stop my dad's treatment for the brain cancer he has. and life has improved greatly after that. but i wanted to make him a quilt that he could enjoy while he is still able, then pass it on to my mom.

so that's why this is my first complete quilt!!  if you know my cute pop, you know he always has on a pocket tshirt.  always. so i used a bunch of his old tshirts to make this.  this was my first tshirt quilt, and probably my last...it was definitely a test of my patience!  but i'm happy with how it turned out.  a true labor of love!!

ps isn't my dad the cutest???

my quilt journal...

i have never been a real journal keeper.  i've tried many times throughout my life, but never lasted more than a week or so. i do kind of look at my blog as a sort of journal...although not completely. when i started quilting,  my aunt jill told me that i should keep a quilt journal.  i had no idea what that was or what i should write in it, but i gave it a shot.  and i'm so glad i did.  i'm keeping notes about the particular project and adding little scraps of fabric.  i love it.  and so far, so good!!  here's the first page about my string quilt blocks.