My First Quilt!

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was working on a quilt for Caroline's first birthday, and I DID finish it in time for her party!  For those of you who know me well, you understand what a major accomplishment that is  I love all things crafty, but a quilt has never been at the top of my to-do list.  I just thought it was something way out of my league.  A couple of months ago, I signed up to help with a quilting ministry at LaCroix which sparked my interest.  Due to their meeting times and my busy children, I haven't had a chance to make a meeting and actually help out, but it has been on my brain.  I am sure that everyone there could give me PLENTY of pointers.  I found a DIY blog post (at the fickle pickle) with some simple instructions.  I followed them for about half of the project, then decided to just skip the rest and just do my own thing.

Since Caroline had a John Deere theme for her first birthday party, I decided to put those John Deere scraps to good use.  My mom had them in her crafting closet (and seriously, y'all.. They have been there since I was in elementary school) so they didn't cost me a penny.  I spent less than $15 on the other supplies, since I used a 40% off coupon on the batting and the backing and trim fabric.  

This is what the squares looked like once they were sewn together. 

(Nothing fancy, but once again, FREE.)

Since Caroline had a John Deere theme for her first birthday party, I decided to put those John Deere scraps to good use.  My mom had them in her crafting closet (and seriously, y'all.. They have been there since I was in elementary school) so they didn't cost me a penny.  I spent less than $15 on the other supplies, since I used a 40% off coupon on the batting and the backing and trim fabric.  I sewed all the squares together, then  sandwiched the batting between the quilt front and backing.  For the backing, I chose a light yellow polka dot fabric.  Once that was ironed together to hold in place, I pinned and sewed on the diagonal to make it an official "quilt".  I trimmed it with some green fabric with white polka dots, and put some finishing touches on.  This is what the end result looked like:

It is NOT perfect by any means, but I doubt that Caroline will be complaining any time soon.  I think for the first quilting project, it turned out pretty okay.  It has been in our living room floor since Saturday serving as a  playmat.  I just had to share!  

Love, Maegan