First Quilts - DQ Poornima

(Guest post by DQ Poornima, the 5th in our series of 'First Quilts')

First of all, Thanks for putting my first quilt as the cover page! Truly a motivating gesture for an upcoming quilter! This group is really inspiring!

Making my first quilt has been an exhiliriating experience. But also it has been the most challenging... yes, one needs a LOT of dedication to finish it! I am so happy that I actually finished it!

Let me share with you how it happened. When I decided to make a quilt, the first thing thing for patterns on google. I found some really good ones, the pretty ones, the large ones, the smaller ones, the colorful ones, the simpler ones, the complicated ones...and finally I was confused and exhausted! Google is very helpful, but at times it throws up more information at you than you actually need. That is when I decided to visit Desi Quilters on Facebook and the Desi Quilters blog.

Desi Quilters are the most active quilters in the world! Everytime you log in, there is something new to look at. There is enough information (read inspiration) for a new quilter. I went through a lot of the pictures, tried to understand the patterns, fabric, colours, variations, most importantly measurements and also read a lot of posts/write ups from the members. At the end, I felt all geared up to create my very first quilt.

The first and foremost challenge for me was the measurements. Yes, it was very difficult for me because, I am not that good with numbers! In quilting, my measurements have to be precise if I want to put the pieces together at the end. I wrote my pattern and the measurements on a graph sheet. I erased and wrote again, and again and again - It took me two days to finally settle with a pattern and measurements. Then came the task for measuring the fabric. Again, I measured and remeasured and finally cut the fabric and got all the pieces ready. Sewing the pieces together felt like a cakewalk...until I realised that I have taken the wrong measurements! That's when I "slightly" started to feel that deciding to quilt was a wrong idea. I came back to Desi Quilters - saw more pictures - different patterns, colorful fabric, quilted pouches, quilted handbags, what not! That reassured me that I can really get this quilt together!

I re-did the measurements and cut the fabric. Once you get the peices ready, like I said, sewing is really a cakewalk. I cut the batting material and the back piece, and finally finished the quilt. It took me a week to finish the quilt. Finally when I showed it to my family and gifted it to my niece, it was a great experience! It gave me a high and inspired me to create more quilts (now that everyone in the family wants one!).

Creating a quilt is not a cakewalk, but you really feel like you have eaten a big piece of cake once your quilt is finished! I am hooked on to quilting. I can't wait to create more!

Thanks to Desiquilters!
-Poornima