Growing up, I was always super involved in 4-H. This meant coming up with new projects each year and then scrambling at the last minute to get them all done before they had to be entered on Tuesday of the fair week (if you know, you know). My projects usually consisted of rocketry, photography, some type of woodworking, and at least one baking and one sewing project!
I have always loved taking on a good challenge, so it was no surprise when I went against my mom’s suggestion and chose a crazy quilt pattern. I sewed this particular quilt in the summer of 2014. I found the pattern in a Fons and Porter magazine and fell in love.
A crazy pattern meant that I obviously needed to use crazy colors. The pattern used all different colors in the middle, but I decided that I wanted it to be a mirror image. My sister helped me start picking out fabric and we decided to go with the brightly-colored batiks.
This pattern had a square template, which consisted of nine different pieces of fabric but no right angles. Each piece had to be cut out by hand, but I loved the tedious process. I would cut out the template, figure out which part of the fabric I wanted to use, iron on the template, and then cut out each piece with a quarter-inch seam allowance.
After enough pieces for one block were cut out, I sewed one square together. This was a little complicated to me at first, so I used the chalk to mark where I would be sewing. That helped me to visualize how they would open up. I had to use the good ole seam ripper quite a few times, but oh well, I was just giving it a purpose so it didn’t feel lonely….right?
After each of the squares was sewn, I laid them out and then sewed them all together in strips. Then I added a thin colorful border and a thicker neutral border. Then it was off to the quilter’s house. She sewed the front and back of the quilt together with a layer of batting in the middle to make it nice and soft. Once I got it back from her, I sewed on the colorful binding with a fun, decorative stitch since the rest of the quilt was fun and cheerful.
I received a purple ribbon and a Grand Champion trophy at the Cuming County Fair and a purple ribbon and special recognition for the decorative binding at the Nebraska State Fair. I was so excited about how it all turned out.
I learned that you can still achieve great things even if you have to take a step back and “seam-rip” your mistakes. Not much in life is permanent, so you can always try again. Well, that’s enough about my sewing adventures for now.
Happy Adventuring, Hannah