Work in Progress: Car Seat Quilt

I've been rattling forth with My Very Own Bernina Sewing Machine. So far I've completed one beginner sewing project, Matilda's Curious Quilt. I was surprised at how quickly I completed the little blankie, because I've become accustomed to the months of work that crochet blankets need. I decided to tackle a slightly larger, and more complex craft project; a quilt to cover the back seat of the car.

Above: Cut and ready to sew. I chose the cheapest material available at the fabric shop. This way, if I make a major boo-boo, it won't break the bank. The cloth seems to be a hybrid of synthetic and extra-terrestrial threads, prone to suddenly floating away on an invisible cloud of static, before trying to suffocate the iron by melting itself to the iron's surface. 

Sewing has, so far, not been an easy sport for me.

Above: Planning is not a strength of mine. This is what my attempt at being organized looks like (Note at the bottom left; the detailed plans for the border). Of course, as with all of my craft projects, the design has changed along the way and looks nothing like the plan.

Above: I decided to open up the seams and iron them flat, to prevent unsightly folds along the seams. It's time-consuming, but the finished result is nice.

Above: As a beginner quilter, I'm not quite at the stage of lining up the print with the seam. I don't think Matilda will mind. :)

Above: I decided to separate the squares of color with navy blue (not in the original plan. Note the rolling of eyes). I muddled up my measurements a little. The large, single fabric squares are slightly smaller than the joined fabric squares. I'd joined all of the pieces before it dawned on me that something was awry. I took the live-and-learn approach and figured out a way to continue.

Above: The center piece of the quilt, complete. This was as far as I was going to take the quilt in the original design, but I've decided to add a few borders of randomly-placed scraps of cloth. I'm hoping to soften the uniformity of the quilt's center with the uneven borders.

As far as hobbies go, I think quilting is way up there for me, although that may just be beginner's enthusiasm. The craft poses lots of little challenges and there is constantly room to improve. I'm looking forward to gathering up scraps of cloth to stitch into odd-ball quilts.

.