My first quilt: Modern green brick pattern

It was only a matter of time before I ventured into the world of quilting. I could only resist the allure of combining multitudes of printed fabrics for so long. But for a long time, I viewed quilting as sort of a secret club, filled with tradition and history.

But you know what? It’s not. Quilting is just another hobby. Anyone’s allowed to quilt. There’s not a huge learning curve. If you have a working sewing machine and can sew a straight line, you’re already half way there.

Sure, it requires a bit of math and can be time-consuming, but it shouldn’t be intimidating, especially when tackling simple straight-line patterns.

Because this is my first quilt, I decided not get too fancy with the piecing pattern or the quilting itself. Instead, I wanted to play to my strengths which are a) coordinating prints and colors and b) creating a nice “randomization.”

I stuck with a simple brick pattern based on this quilt I saw at Red Pepper Quilts. It looks a bit more complex than a basic square grid, but I don’t think it was any more complicated to put together.

My “bricks” were 3″ x 9″ with a quarter-inch seam allowance, and I did 20 rows of bricks. The final size was approximately 39″ x 50″. At least that’s what I planned; I forgot to take measurements of the finished product before gifting.

I machine sewed everything including the quilting and the binding. All the fabrics, the batting and threads I used were 100% cotton.

The recipient of this quilt is my friend Kim’s baby boy-to-be. (Yes, my first quilt and it’s not for my own child. Don’t feel too sorry for her. Before she was born, she got not one, not two, not three, but SIX handmade quilts and blankets. She’s not lacking in the blanket department.)

It’s not perfect by any means. I’m not going to win any awards for my stitchery as you can see in the photo above. (Experienced quilters: please, try not to laugh.) But it was made with lots of love.

I’m already brewing up the next one in my brain and have started collecting fabrics. I’m thinking something girly for Elise in a twin size, but there are just too many options to pin it down any further!