My First Quilt! [Part 1]

Hello there fine folks! Are you a quilt-wisher like me? A wannabe quilty-girlie but no idea where to start? Possibly you also have three young children runnin’ amok in your house? I mean, it’s a don’t-leave-the-rotary-cutter-within-reach-under-any-circumstance type situation in my roost, I don’t know about you. I struggle to make time to pursue my creative ideas but know carving out time for these things feeds my soul.

I learned how to sew while pregnant with my first kiddo. After a few sewing courses under my belt, I can navigate my way through threading a machine, changing a bobbin, and knowing when is an appropriate time to use curse words when sewing. As for quilting, there have been multiple false starts for me. In January 2021, days before my second child turned one, I purchased a quilting class from Lo + Behold Stitchery. I’d followed her on Instagram for a bit but also wanted to support her since I’m a North Carolina native, which is where she is located!

Did I follow through with making the quilt? No. Am I still able to access her course thanks to the platform she uses for her courses? Yes! And that’s what leads me to where we are today.

However, I’ll mention there was a second false start when I signed up for another quilting course, an in-person one, back in 2022 when I was, again, pregnant. Third kiddo. Something about babies makes me wanna quilt, clearly. Unfortunately, I severely injured my back birthing that third kid, and a quilting class became an impossibility at that time.

Now we’re here in 2024. The year of Jen! Something I’m trying to manifest (haha). My youngest is now two years old and can play with her older siblings, ages four and seven. I find myself with a little more physical and mental bandwidth to be able to work on creative projects during small pockets of time intertwined with everyday activities. It’s time to sew my first quilt! And head back to my class from Lo + Behold, which, lo and behold, I still have access to!

Brittany from Lo + Behold Stitchery is teaching me how to make my first quilt through her Beginner Academy Course!

First things first: viewing the modules. Her course is broken down into modules so she really does walk you through it hand-in-hand. I’ve decided to make a large throw size quilt using the traditional version (which wasn’t on her original course but was later added). The level to which she breaks the quilting process is a breeze, and I’m loving every minute of it.

Here are some of the fabrics I bought from Hawthorne Supply Co. for my first quilt!

Next step: ordering fabric. I used to live near the cutest sewing shop on the planet (the place where I learned to sew), Finch Sewing Studio. While writing this post I discovered they’ve closed their brick and mortar store! SAD! The store was an inspiring as a trip to Anthropologie. You just wanted to be there. Anyway, I haven’t found a place that lives up to that level of cuteness yet, so lately I’ve been ordering fabric from Hawthorne Supply Co. My favorite feature about their site is they will find matches to your fabric! Let’s say you have a green, beige, and pink floral fabric, you can click the color palette under the digital fabric swatch pictured and select other fabrics that match those colors. Hype hype hype. Now I’m feeling I should be reimbursed for all this free advertising, but I’m just sharing my process and the resources I trust!

Waiting. The wait time for fabric to arrive reminds me of a kid waiting for Christmas. Once my fabric finally arrived, I was so excited to see that the colors went very well together. What a relief! Wait, now that I have all the fabric I need, does this mean I get to become a quilter now?! Yeeee!