littlepaperbird

I've never made a quilt before, though I've often often admired the ones I've seen here here here. The measuring and planning and, worst of all, colour co-ordinating (!) have always scared me off from actually beginning. But I've wanted to...

My godson is one in a few months, and I wanted to make something practical; something that he would like to look at, but also something to keep. And I like trees, so after looking in this book for a bit of technical inspiration, I came up with these...


I was surprised how much easier it is to match colours when they're layed out in front of me. Because I've been trying to do it in my head... So far I've just used bits and pieces of fabric I already have, bits from old clothes, from remnants of previous projects, pieces salvaged from my parents attic... but I quite like that, recycling, re-using, makng something with a bit of history, a bit of me. (And some new fabric is on it's way, which is good too ;) )


It took a bit of trial and error to come up with the shape I wanted (my first attempt was a circle, until I realised that was potentially a bit too complicated for a first go!) As I went along, cutting and sewing and altering I realised that it's easier than it looks to get the shapes to go together. Cutting across seams, pressing, squaring up, adding more pieces; its liberating, like playing... free styling is definitely the way to go :)


I keep popping into my little room, to cut a few more triangles, sew a few more together, and I'm really enjoying it. The little forrest is growing, and I'm beginning to see how this can become really addicive...