Well, here it is. I decided to try something different to the usual cross stitch sampler that I do for friends that have babies. I used to love doing patchwork when I was little, and a chance visit to a craft store lead to me spotting some lovely pastel fabric in a ‘fat quarter’. What on earth is a fat quarter I thought?? I bought it, did my research and embarked on the project that was to become my first ever quilt. It is for the baby of two very good friends, Gordon and George, and their little boy (name yet undecided!), their first child was born last Thursday.

I have become hooked on this, and am looking forward to the NEC Festival of Quilts soon to buy some proper equipment so I can try new things with patterns, piecing and quilting. Thanks to so many of you on this site that have given me advice and info, I have read almost every thread there is on this site in order to absorb as much as I can to help me make this quilt, and the pictures of everyone’s wonderful work has inspired me.

So, enough talk, here are some pictures, and a little summary of the mistakes I made, the things I learnt, and the experience I loved!

Mistakes I have learned from:
Using home made rulers and cutting board - I will be investing in a proper cutting mat and ruler when I go to the Quilt show in two weeks time - using a cardboard template and my kitchen butchers block didn't get such accurate squares, so it seems!

Using normal pins to baste - I know each way of basting has its pros and cons, but I think safety pins are going to be the next step for me, quilting this basted with normal pins was full of 'ouch'!

Not putting on a border before basting and quilting. Seems like such a common sense thing to do, but putting a border on never entered my mind when I had finished piecing the quilt top, so I quilted it and then even trimmed off some of the excess batting and backing. Then I realised my mistake. I have managed to sew a satin ribbon on as a border, but had to sew it through the whole quilt, meaning an extra line of stitching on the back, which isn't too bad but I am annoyed at myself!

Not trimming threads off as I go - I left so many threads untrimmed from piecing and quilting. What a pain - I spent 30 mins trimming them all off last night!

Binding - As I am pushed for time and have not done any hand stitching in YEARS, I sewed the bindng the front, flipped it over the back, pinned it down and stitched in the ditch from the front. However, on the first side of the quilt I pinned too far apart and the machine didn't catch it in the back in a few places. But at least I learnt my lesson for the other 3 sides.

Good things I learnt:
Mitred corners - not as hard as I thought they would be!
Joining the binding ends - also not as hard as I thought it would be!
Stitching in the ditch - again, this was not as hard as I thought it would be!
I love quilting!

How cute is that You did a wonderful job. I can't believe that is your first quilt. I sure wish my first looked that good. Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing with us.

Very Cute!! Good Job!!!

You did a wonderful job with your baby quilt!! It's a wonderful addiction to have isn't it!!! :lol:

Prettykitty, great job. Your quilt looks so soft and cuddly, I'm glad you had such a good time working on this quilt it turned out great, and of course your camera crew (the kitties at the bottom of one of your photos) must have offered lots of love and support through your work.

The satin border is a nice touch as it harkens back to satin boarders without being in a place of constant wear.

Here is something you might like to try when basting. Spray Adhesive. You roll up the back like a worm, and then you roll up the top, set the both aside and lay out the batting completely flat if it's not a square note the direction so it rolls out the correct way. Starting with the back first unroll it, beginning with one side gently unrolling and pressing the backing to the batting. Then flip it over and repeat with the top. It creates a well basted quilt to work with and no pins.

The adhesive comes a couple of different ways and most will wash out when you first wash the quilt, and I've tried about all of them, currently I'm buying Krylon 7010 for about $5.00 a can which will do several quilts (7020 is the same price but is supposed to be repositionible for a longer amount of time) (so far I've done one queen, one twin, a wallhanging, and 3 perinatal quilts and still have plenty in the can). It's a bit smelly when you first spray it but that's why windows open. :D

Thanks for the tips Elizabeth. I will add it to my 'top tips' word document - I kep picking up bits and pieces of info and instructions so I putting together the best to a word document I can refer back to to save hunting for websites, threads, posts etc. I had liked the sound of the basting sprays but as a beginner not sure of all these things. I will look for that product or similar in the UK. Funny, I when I was learning paper crafts as a young girl I used to use a product called Spray Mount that did the same thing for paper and card. I found it through my brother, he worked in printing at the time and magazine makers use it to position pictures and blocks of text on a page before it all went to press. That was in the days before you could do everything on a computer though! :D

Oh yes when I was in college for Graphic design 3M Super 77 spray mount was one of the greatest tips. Just make sure the kind you find to baste a quilt says either on the front or on the back "fabric" The can I'm looking at right now has the following list:

Substrates: Use for layouts. paper, paper crafts, scrapbook pages, cardboard, fabric, balsa wood, felt, photos, decoupage, wrapping paper, and tissue paper.

It also says "creates a smooth flexible, non-wrinkling bond" that last part being the key to having it nicely basted.

You'd have to check the spray mount for usablity on fabric, but it might be workable, in my experience I used to need lots and lots of it (for stablizing) so I would look for the most in a can for the least money and then see if the can in my hand had what I needed. Be sure to check every can they look a lot alike! I buy my at the local craft store as they have more choices and seem to be less money for the exact same thing as the local quilt store.

Don't forget spray the batting, that way you don't get wrinkles and puckers (don't spray the back or the top). :D Always glad to pass on any hints and tips.

Gee if this is your 1st ever, you sure have a knack for quilting! It's really nice and you did a wonderful job on it! You should be VERY proud!

It's beautiful and your friends will be thrilled!