Hi everyone. My name is Kelle...I'm from Georgia and I'm getting ready to start my first quilt. I "helped" my grandmother quilt a little when I was a child, and have always been interested in the art. I always thought I needed a sewing machine, so have held off on getting started. I finally decided to take the plunge. If our foremothers could quilt for hundreds of years without sewing machines, so can I!

I've bought some Christmas fabric to make a lap quilt for my mom. It's just going to be a simple 6" block quilt. I'm a bit nervous, but the fabric has been washed and dried and I'm eager to get started. Now to iron it and start tracing the template. Wish me luck! I'm looking forward to getting to know the folks on this board.

Kelle

*Waves from Iowa* :)
Good luck :)

Welcome Kelle, from Southern California. We love to see where everyone is from. If you go into My Profile and fill in the FROM category, it will show up when you make posts.

Kelle, Are you fussy cutting out the 6" squares ? If not it might go faster just cutting strips with a rotary cutter.

And Hi and Welcome from Norhten Indiana ! Have any questions just ask and you will get plenty of help :lol:
Sharon

Welcome from Southern California!

Hi Kelle, welcome to the board!!! If you have any questions, just shout out, someone here will have the answer :wink: There are a number of member who have and are handpiecers, too :D :D :D

Hello there Kelle............
Welcome from the state of Washington.
We are so glad to have you join us, on
this quilting board. I know you are going
to love it here!!
:D :D :D :D :D

Hi from Massachusetts, and welcome. Pleanty of help and surport here. Enjoy.

I have seen the term fussy cut, but to be honest I'm not sure what it means. I haven't been able to purchase a rotary cutter yet. I know I need one and a cutting mat, too. I blew my budget on the fabric, a 6 inch square ruler thingy (which I'll use as a template to cut the fabric, making 5 1/2" blocks), some leather thimbles and quilters thread. I have some decent scissors so I'll be using them until I decide if I can really do this and invest in a rotary cutter.

Thanks for the good wishes! I'm hoping to get the fabric ironed this evening so I can start tracing the squares and maybe cutting tomorrow night. I saw online where you can use an index card to mark the 1/4" seam allowances. I'll be doing that as well.

Kelle

Welcome, Kelli, from Colorado. You've come to the best place around for help and inspiration.

Hello, and welcome from Missouri! Congratulations on forging ahead and sewing by hand. Lots of applique is done by hand!
Fussy cutting is when you center a particular motif in the middle of your block and fussy cut around that design. Lots of early Kaleidoscope blocks were done that way. It is still done for keeping a special motif in the center of a block to make it really special! :lol:

Thanks for defining that for me. I'm not doing anything like that this first time. I'm just cutting 6" blocks from 3 different fabrics and piecing them together. One of the fabrics will also be the quilt backing. I just picked up Quilting for Dummies from the library last night and am going to read into it a little before I start cutting on the fabric.

Welcome from WA

Tell us about the puppy in your avatar. Cute. :lol:

Well that's Gracie...she's my baby...she's just over a year old and weighs about 18 lbs. I think she's a wire haired dachshund/jack russell mix. She's my big girl.

I have a Japanese Chin named Griffin who weighs 7 lbs and is 2 yrs old. I have a 12 lb corgi/chihuahua mix named Merlin who is almost 5. I also have 2 cats. No real kids, just fur babies!

They're all rescues...I do a lot of volunteer and foster work with animals. One of my biggest concerns about learning to quilt is them getting into all the stuff! I have a tiny house and will have to put stuff up every time I drag it out. Gracie is still in her chewing stage and recently chewed into a brand new (mass produced) quilt I bought from QVC :( Maybe now I can learn how to fix it! :wink:

Gracie is adorable. I have only fur babies as well, and they do get into things! :? But I love 'em anyway! :lol:

Share pictues of your other babies. :lol:

You know I have tons of pics :) How about you, tell me about your furkids.

WELCOME from El Cajon, Ca. :lol:

Hello and welcome from Canada! :)

Welcome from Tucson, Arizona. Hope you enjoy your project and if you have any questions...just ask.

Thanks for all the warm welcomes and encouragement! This is the quilt I'm going to make, the larger size of the two: http://www.craftandfabriclinks.com/b...babyquilt.html

I'm doing it in Christmas fabrics, one of which is a dark green with metallic(ish) gold stars. The second is a small stripe, red, darker wine red and gold. The third (and strongest) pattern is red, green and gold traditional angels.....not folky, but cathedral-esque.

Hi and welcome!!! I'm very excited about your 1st quilt! Hope you will show us pics as you progress!!! We'd love to help :lol:

Hi Kelle23, and Welcome from SW Michigan!!
I love the pictures of your furry babies, and am looking forward to seeing pictures of your quilt!!! :D :D

Welcome from CT and good luck with your first quilt!

Welcome from NE CA. Glad you joined us and hope your first quilt goes great. Please show us pictures when you're finished, or even before if you'd like.

Welcome from Roscoe, Illinois. Love your babies, and enjoy making your first quilt!

Welcome from South Louisiana. You can still save a lot of time by marking off your strips, cutting, and then cutting off your blocks from the strips (6" strips, 6" blocks). Good luck on your first quilt. Be sure to post pictures as you progress.

Welcome from Pine Grove, CA!

Your furry babies are darling and such a "help" I know!
Good luck on your first quilt.
I second everyone's suggestion to get a mat and rotary
cutter for the next one when possible. It makes quilting
much easier!