my first quilt was a twin sized red white and blue 9 patch made from kettle cloth and a red remnant that was just enough, it was all polyester and will never die! lol
I used a cardboard template made from a cereal box and it got smaller as I drew around it for each square and all cut with scissors(took forever). I still don't know how I managed to get that quilt top sewn together. It took me 3 years to hand quilt it. DS got it when he was 10, he helped with the quilting too. DH was horrified that I was turning our son into a sissy.(very big sigh)