Let's get it started in here

Thanks for voting everyone. I know this isn't everyone's cup of tea. For those of you who are into it, enjoy and settle in for a long ride (it'll take me quite a while). For those of you who aren't into it, just fast forward through these posts and get to the cute kid pix.

For background, I usually find a pattern of what I would like to make in a quilting magazine. They provide complete directions for the type of quilt you are making. That being said I don't think I've ever completely followed the directions that they give. I'm always tweaking something here or there (or for that matter, EVERYWHERE) as I go along. The only time I've ever truly followed a pattern in anything I've ever sewed is when my 4H instructors made me and the one time I took a quilting class. I do, however, use them as a general guideline for what I'm doing.

The pattern I chose comes from Quilt Magazine Fall 2005 edition by quilt designer Gyleen Fitzgerald. It's called Sunshine and Shadows according to the magazine but when I Googled this quilt name it came up with a completely different looking pattern. I guess I'm just going by Gyleen's Sunshine and Shadows.

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Page 3. Above is a picture of a smaller version of what my finished product will be.

My selection of fabrics both from a distance...

...and up close

For the fabric, I went to a super huge fabric store in Shiloh Ohio which is west of Ohio's Amish country. Their website says they're in Amish country. I would call this an extreme stretch but enjoy their store nonetheless. I mean, they have over 7000 bolts of fabric.

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7000 bolts, people!

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Fabric selection can be hard. Getting just the right color combination takes some time and effort. You have to be willing to walk around the store for an hour looking at fabrics or remove or add a fabric after you get it home. I've read that you should always use 100% cotton although I have seen patterns that use silk. It probably depends on the amount of laundering the item will get because some fabric types will stretch or warp in strange places when they're not cotton. Stop me if I'm getting anything wrong, Kortney.

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I'll also try to keep you updated on how much this project costs. I'll not factor in costs such as my sewing machine, pins, needles, scissors, etc because these are standard basics that I did not specifically buy for this project nor will I count the cost of washing/drying material (To me, this cost is negligible but if you really want to know the combined total is 29 cents. Although, if you want to be more specific, I threw the material in with a regular load of my laundry so you'd have to divide this up between the fabric, 9 shirts, 3 pairs of pants, assorted socks, and underwear).

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So here we go. My fabric is washed and pressed (essential steps before you start to cut) and I have my general instructions along with a brand new needle in my sewing machine. You should always start with a new needle before a big project like this. I'm going to assume that my reader has basic sewing skills because otherwise, there is simply too much to explain.

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Stay tuned.