Why Every Family Should Make a Patchwork Quilt

I love my patchwork quilt.  It's one of my most treasured pieces in the house since we moved here.  I machine sewed it together to resemble a new start as my fiance and I were soon to move in together now consider it as the beginning of our family heirloom.  And believe it or not, I'd never sewn anything properly in my life before, other than a handful of unsuccessful attempts at straight lines.

After buying my prints, wadding and thread, I initially had a few disapproving looks about how the finished project would look, but I had a vision and they never saw it until it was done.  Many thought I'd never see it through to the end, either.  How wrong they were!

And since finishing it, over the years I've had many a question about where it's from so they can buy one themselves and it gives me a little excitement to be able to say, "Sorry, I made it myself".  But what I do tell them is that it's easier than it looks and that I was inspired by a feature of Jane Brocket's book, The Gentle Art of Quiltmaking inside a 2010 copy of Sew Magazine.

It helps to have a sewing urge, for sure.  You'll need some time which took me a solid 3 months of evenings and preferably a machine.  You'll need more patience than I ever did if you're hand sewing it.

What I didn't learn from the book is that an Omnigid ruler and rotary cutter are worth their weight in gold!   It helps you cut perfectly identical squares or strips and much of your time should be spent double measuring for a straight finished look.  And funnily enough, the Omnigrid is one of my favourite go to tools when doing DIY jobs.  I trust it more than a tape measure.

You don't need to make it an expensive project, either.  Because I was so excited, I did head out to buy the prettiest prints that caught my eye, but you could easily recycle scraps.

And once you've made one for yourself, I can tell you, it's the greatest feeling as a family when we're snuggling inside it with hot chocolates.  It's our little family treasure and hope it will be part of many more memories to come.