It was funny to see Blair‘s post this week recommending first quilts, one of them being the lap quilt from Bend the Rules Sewing, since I just finally put the binding on my Bend the Rules Lap Quilt, which has been sitting unfinished in my sewing pile for almost two years. I guess I didn’t really have any reason to finish it, but it’s done now!
The maroon fabric is definitely unlike anything else in my collection right now. I think I found it by searching ebay for “dandelion”. I quilted in concentric squares inside each rectangle. 
But what was important was that I really wanted to see if I could make a quilt. Not a project that would stretch over months or years (um, oops on that one, but now I’m better about that!), not a project that would require any special equipment (on my list at the time was rotary cutter, self-healing mat, and walking foot, all of which I have now but wasn’t going to invest in before I knew if I liked quilting). This quilt was a perfect first project – minimal measuring, no lining up corners, and a forgiving design that you make by looking at the layout. The top went together in one evening, including cutting. The quilting probably took me a little longer, and I remember breaking quite a few needles because I was pulling too much on the fabric to move it through the machine. There are puckers and wrinkles on the back (but I still have some of those!)
Lap Quilt Back
The downside about it is that it’s really a lap quilt for kids – it covers my lap when I’m sitting on the couch, but it’s not big enough to sit and cuddle with. That’s all right, though, really, for a first quilt…a test project if you will. And with the two baby quilts completed and at least four in various stages of completion, I’m glad I got started on this hobby.
