A Quilt for Lil

Here's a photo of a lap quilt I made as a wedding present for a co-worker. This was my first quilt project, but I had so much fun that it won't be my last!

The fabric is from the Decadent Victorian collection by April Cornell for Moda. If you're interested and don't have your own source, I recommend the Fat Quarter Shop (http://www.fatquartershop.com/), which has a fantastic selection of fabrics at very competitive prices, and provides lightning-fast shipping.

I made the back pretty, too, by making a "frame" for the backing fabric with strips of left-over fabric from the front. Since the backing fabric is narrower than the finished quilt top, this was also an economical way to complete the back, as opposed to buying twice the length of backing fabric and piecing the lengths together.

The rest of the story: When I got a new sewing maching in 2000, Lil half-joked that I should make a quilt for her. At the time I had a lot of other projects in the pipe-line and wasn't into quilting, so I just laughed. This fall she got married, and all of a sudden the quilt seemed like a good idea.

I did end up adding some gear to my sewing room, most notably a self-healing cutting mat and roller for making precise cuts, a 1/4" piecing foot for making precise joins, and a walking foot which was invaluable in putting the layers together with minimal creep.

Including climbing the learning curve, this project took a couple of weekends and a few evenings. And it was fun!