Seven and a Half Patch Wonder

Seven and a Half Patch Wonder

OK, here it is. My first quilt. I know what you're thinking - that looks like a nine patch, NOT BAD!!! Well, actually, it isn't considering I had literally just learned how to sew and had inherited a ton of fabrics, yard goods, and notions (terms I had yet learned) from the preacher's wife. But if you were to measure each of the patches you might reconsider that nine patch notion.

See, I bought a sewing machine for my husband for Christmas 2002 because he kept harping how we needed one in the house for repairs and costume design and I kept replying I don't know how to sew; to which he shot back, I do and I can teach you!! He didn't teach me. Well, the sewing machine sat in the basement for 6 months.

I belonged to a women's group at church and there were a lot of ladies who were seamstresses and quilters with a lot of time and varying degrees of patience. One of my friends, Cathy offered to show me how to make something with my husband's sewing machine. Our first project was a pair of pajama pants and with boring you with the details, hers were great and mine, well thank God she was there to fix them. So she suggested that I learn how to make patchwork quilts first because they were "easier" and they would be a good way to practice sewing straight lines and cutting. Then when I felt more confident we could try some pjs.

The fabrics, with the exception of the border, binding, and back, are all from the preacher's wife's stash. Even the batting was from the goody bin. So I made this nine patch top and when it was time to put a border on it, my friend Cathy took me to the quilt store where I proceeded to sit down in the aisle and sketch every quilt on display. She must have secretly thought I was a bit off, but she didn't say a word. Finally, I found the orange fabric and Cathy helped me figure out what I needed to buy.

While I was standing there waiting to get my fabric cut, I noticed a beautiful blue batik crazy quilt hanging on a cabinet. It had a label and it said, Fat Quarter Frenzy and it listed dates and times for classes. The teacher was Sarah Raffuse and I asked the lady cutting my fabric about the quilt and the teacher. She told me that Sarah worked in the store but that it was her day off. I fell in love with quilting that day! I told Cathy I wanted to make that and she promised to show me how once I learned quarter-inch seam allowances. I paid for my fabric, Cathy bought hers and away we went.

I worked on the quilt that whole weekend and I wanted to tie the blanket with this really cool shoestring that was lime green with metal strands woven in it. I I took some batting that was in THE stash and I layered the quilt and pinned it. I took the biggest tapestry needle I had (I am a crocheter) and I threaded those ties through those layers. My fingers felt like they had been tied into knots.

Closeup of the ties.

When I finished, I made a binding and decided that wonder under would be a great help to keep my binding in place while I sewed it. So I lined my binding with it and ironed it according to the directions. I quickly noticed these puckers in my borders and back and I could not iron them out.

I called Cathy because I thought, how can this be happening. I explained to her all that I had done and she asked me if I still had the packaging for the batting, I told her yes and she asked me to read the label and see if the word "fusible" was on it. It was. I had fused my quilt layers together. YIKES!

We talked about some options, but I decided to stick with my original plan and I finished the binding. We won't even discuss mitered corners. Did you notice the black button on the top right hand side? My solution to that quandary. Because there's only one button (it was a bear to sew on), this quilt could be considered a UFO - but I call it a wonder!