Nephew's Quilt

My sister's having her 2nd baby soon. Naturally, armed with a new sewing machine, I figured I'd jump right in with making a quilt. Cause you know, it's been about 20 years since I really sewed and I've never done a quilt before.

Quilt Inspiration:
http://fortworthfabricstudio.blogspot.com/2014/06/oh-sew-baby-strip-tango-baby-quilt.html

Fabrics:

After I okayed the fabrics with my sister, I got home & started in on the design of the quilt. Using the Strip Tango Quilt as inspiration, I started piecing the quilt together. The 2nd and 3rd sections were a bit different than the inspiration quilt after sending text messages with pictures back & forth with my sister.

Kitty Wendy decided to oversee the process

All assembled

After getting the quilt assembled, I figured out the boarder, backing, & got the quilt fully laid out and basted.

Kitty Wendy seems to think this is going to be her quilt

I'm not going to lie. Quilting and binding scared me a lot! I did the "stitch in the ditch" method of quilting. I figured I'd wait to do "fancy" stuff until I learn a bit more. That turned out to work pretty well. It's not perfect, but it was a good first attempt.

Ready for binding

Once I got the quilt quilted, I trimmed the edges and got it ready for binding. I looked through a ton of tutorials, but this one:
http://www.stitchedbycrystal.com/2012/08/technique-quilt-binding-two-techniques.html was the one that ended up making the most sense to me and being the easiest for me to follow. (Seriously, what did we do before the internet?!)

I did a small test run and learned a couple of valuable lessons (like right side down of the binding, cut the binding to 2" to do a 1" finish, and remove the pins before you hit them with your sewing needle).

Smaller than a pot holder. May be good for mugs. Good test run!

I used the Simplicity Deluxe Bias & Piping Machine to create my bias/binding. It definitely made it easy. Once I made the binding, I took the quilt downstairs and pinned the bias to the back of the quilt, right side down, with the edge of the binding against the edge of the quilt. The corners were definitely the hardest part.

Once I got the binding sewed on the back, it was time to flip it over & attach the binding to the front with a lot of pins. Then back up to the sewing machine to get it attached.

Finished! Kind of. Had to fix up a couple of spots and add my "signature".

Doggy David wanted to get in on the action too. 

My sister insisted I sign the quilt. This turned out to be good because I hid a "mistake". 

I learned that I can't sew in straight lines and I need more practice with that. I also learned that quilting isn't super scary, but it is very time intensive. I mean, I already knew that, but it was confirmed with this.