QJ - Chad's Quilt - My Very First "REAL" Quilt

QUILT JOURNAL - Chad's Quilt - My Very First "REAL" Quilt

Bonnie Hunter (Quiltville.com) has set up a linky to First Quilts!!

I had planned to post an entry tomorrow in my Quilt Journal series -
starting at the beginning with Chad's Quilt - My Very First "REAL" Quilt -
so her timing is incredible!

I have already told you about my first attempts sewing in 7th Grade Home Ec -

And I told you (About This Blog - And Me) how -

I made my first quilt out of two sheets and some batting in 1973. I tied it with yarn and bound it with pre-packaged quilt binding. Quilting books and magazines were scarce back then - but I had them all. My first "real" patchwork quilt was for my first nephew in 1976. So I have been quilting for a while now. I love to quilt.

So - here's the story of Chad's Quilt - My Very First "REAL" Quilt -
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CHAD'S QUILT

Machine Pieced - Machine Quilted
Baby Quilt - Approx 45” x 60”
Started - July 1975
Completed - February 1976

Made for my First Nephew - Chad
Born February 1976

This was my very first REAL quilt!!

Made from scraps - poor baby!!

Back then my scrap stash was pitiful -
red, yellow, blue, green gingham, & a brown floral from a dress I had made myself.

The only photo I have is one that my sister sent me that was taken when he was about six months old - too young yet to sit up by himself. This is a photo of that photo - so the quality is rather poor.

Believe it or not - I STILL have scraps of the green gingham and brown floral!!

When I found out that my sister was going to have a baby - I decided that I wanted to make a quilt. A REAL quilt. I found a book (Patchwork Plain & Fancy - © 1973 by Mark Dittrick & Susan Morrow - A Lancer Larchmont Book) - with instructions for “The Easiest Quilt in the World.”

And - I still have the book!! ;))

The idea was to cut scraps the same width (5") but different lengths - (this was before rotary cutters) - and then to join them in random order. The cross seams aren't supposed to match - a beginner's dream quilt!!

I cut the patches out by hand and re-arranged them on the floor until I thought the colors were pretty well mixed up. Back then we didn’t know the sex of the baby until he/she was born - so I wasn’t too sure about the brown floral - but it was all I had - so it was what I used.

Making the quilt was easy - lay the center strip on top of the batting and backing - flip next strip face down (right sides together and raw edges even) - stitch the seam. Flip sewn second piece over so right side is up and continue to the edges of the quilt. Do other side same way. Sew and quilt at the same time - at least lengthwise. Bind and tie. No seams show on the front at all!

Neither my mother nor my sister could figure out how I did it.

And I wasn't about to tell either of them how easy it was! ;))

1976

EDIT UPDATE - Sunday - 6:35pm

Katie asked "Is the quilt still around, or was it loved to death?"

Yes - the quilt is still around. My sister found it a couple of years ago - in a box, wrapped up, that had been in her garage for 20 years. She asked me for washing instructions - which I gladly gave - and told me later in an email -

The old quilt washed up beautifully! It turned out fine, no loose seams, no fraying, no fading, no nothing. I followed the instructions: washed and dried on Delicate, and it looks and smells good. Hooray.