Gramma's Quilt - CC April DT Project

April’s theme is Grandma’s Quilt.  When I heard that, I immediately thought about the quilt my Gramma made me when I was about 9.  She made one for me, my brother and my 4 cousins.  We all got to pick what color scheme we wanted.  Pink being my favorite color at the time (oh who am I kidding, it still is) that’s what I choose.  She would go to flea markets and get any sort of material she could find.  I pulled out my well loved and tattered quilt and carefully looked at the pattern.  That’s when I realized that it was hand stitched!  I thought pictures of Anna would be appropriate for this as she’s named for my Gramma and was born almost a year (to the day) of when she passed away.

Having not done a quilt myself, I have since found out that this pattern is called Log Cabin (thanks Jasmine!)  This is my inspiration.  My plan is to have it repaired and then be able to display it or at least have it out to look at more often.

The smaller patterns of the 6x6 Carta Bella True Friends resembled the calico so well, it was a great match. 

 I measured out how big I wanted the pieces and after trial and error; this is what I went with.

Once I figured out the sizes and layout, I started cutting……and cutting……..and cutting!  In order to position the strips correctly, I used my hermafix squares and pieced the pieces together using lots and lots of squares.

I made four “panels” to complete my background for my layout.  Just like a real quilt, some are not exact, some pieces are off just a little, but that’s what makes it great!  There was something about the actual piecing of these squares together that was somewhat relaxing!  I’m scared to death of an actual fabric quilt, not sure why, but after doing it with paper, I may just be ready to take some classes and actually do it!

After it was all pieced together, I started to add the goodies.  Since the right edge wasn’t exactly even (I’m giving away a little secret here), I added a scalloped border to cover up the bare edge.  White Pebbles paper flowers, covered in stickles with some brads.   For those of you who have been around for some time, you may remember these…..these came in my very first box of chocolate in June 2010!  Then some Bazzill bling and a sweet tag with a ribbon and charm.

Paper piecing really isn’t all that hard…..the hardest part is keeping everything stuck where you need it long enough to get the whole piece on the page!  Making a quilt has always been a goal of mine….maybe this will put me that closer to actually getting it done!  Thanks for your comments!!

CC Products used:  Carta Bella 6x6 True Friends, Sassafrass Custom Brads, Jillibean Soup - Pink Twine, Crystal Stickles

Non-CC: Bazzill White, Pebbles paper flowers, White offray satin ribbon, bazzill bling, "feet" charm.