Making My First Quilt

Over the summer my mother in law helped me make my first quilt.  I shared about it over Facebook and Instagram but it is now months later that I am finally sharing the finished product.  People I know in real life would see me with my quilt and be like, "Is that your quilt?!?!" in a I cannot believe I get to see it, you haven't shared about it online, this is a really big deal kind of way.  So I apologize for keeping it a secret for so long!  I am so thankful many of you weighed in during the process making it that much more fun!

It took us about a week of me going over to my in laws to work pretty much all day.  It was very intense...quilting boot camp I would say...but very gratifying to get it done in such a short period of time. 

During the process, my cutie little sister in law took LOTS of pictures to document it for me as well as get some photography practice.  I thought she did a great job!  So here it finally is!

The cutting began...we purchased all the fabric from Joann's.  My mother in law is way better at the technical side of things so she measured and folded so that I could cut with ease.

Here my MIL is sketching out the size and layout of the quilt.

Starting to piece it together...

And then the contemplating...oh the contemplating...this is probably the hardest part in deciding on the design.

The night before we started sewing, I just could not decide on my pattern.  Over and over I pieced it all together.  Here is the photo I shared via Facebook to get some of your feedback!

Needless to say, I went with #2!

The sewing began...

And the ironing...

Starting to feel accomplished...I think I may have sewn the entire top in one day...

The next day we started on the back.  A much simpler pattern with just three panels but the fabric and design was just as cute as the top.

A little sanity break...I think I ate a lot of chips as well...my nemesis...

Seriously, this is how it feels when it is all coming together.  

Our final day was spent at the quilt shop where I got to top quilt it myself with the help of my trained mother in law.  This ended up taking much longer than we anticipated but I decided on going with the more time consuming stitch so that the quilt was made perfectly to my liking. 

My hair looks super crazy in this picture but also quite possibly displays an accurate account of how I felt right about then.  The quilt that would never end...

Finally we finished and how happy I was...

And just a few weeks later, the quilt got it's first night out on my birthday date night with Brent.

After all that work a proper photo shoot was in order...meaning me and my tripod while our neighbor's dog barked at me the whole time...

Will I make one again?  Who knows.  But it is definitely one of those bucket list items I am happy to check off my list.  Not only do I love my quilt and am so proud of it but it also is very sentimental to me to be able to pass down one day to my own children as well as the special time I got to spend with my mother in law and sister in law making it.