Some progress ... and thoughts on process

I've got a pretty good start on my patchwork quilt. I'm making it with some of my stash fabric - Lizzy House Red Letter Day. This quilt will be for my son Joshua's big boy bed - he is still in his firetruck toddler bed and I think making a quilt is a good way for him to get excited about the transition. Today I want to talk about how I make quilts.

1. Look for inspiration. I do this a lot ... I like to look at flickr, quilting books, and magazines (but I look at flickr most - daily)
2. Decide on the design. This can be agonizing ...
3. Decide on the fabric - either find it in my stash OR buy it (usually online at Fabricworm or Hawthorne Threads or my local fabric store)
4. Cut it out. This is the scary part because once I've done this, I'm COMMITTED!
5. Start sewing the quilt together.
6. Decide on the quilt back design (#2, 3, 4, and 5)
7. Sandwich the quilt (I baste it using pins but I may try using spray adhesive - Film in the Fridge has a great tutorial here)
8. Quilt it on my machine (more decisions - free motion or straight lines, if straight lines how - wonky straight, random angles, echo quilting ...)
9. Binding - cut, machine sew the front, hand sew the back
10. Wash and enjoy!

I'm in the #5 stage right now for my quilt. I really enjoy this stage ... it's fun to see how the design I worked out in my head is working - sometimes it does, and sometimes there is a whole lot of seam ripping and starting over. I decided instead of sewing the blocks together one by one to do a nine patch random formation. I think it's helping keep the shape of the quilt and also helping me with keeping the patchwork looking random. I like it so far, and so does Josh (although he did tell me it's too wide and not long enough). Off to make some popcorn for my boys and work a little more on this quilt.