The Manly Man Quilt begins...

I got started on the quilt I'm making for my oldest son. He will return from his LDS mission to Honduras in 4 weeks and 5 days! (But who's counting?) I thought it would be fun to make a bedspread for him for his return. Does anyone else have a hard time choosing a pattern and fabric for a Manly Man's quilt? I sought advice from his next younger brother, but his input didn't give me the impression that he cared very much.

So, one day I was browsing one of my favorite quilting blogs, Confessions of a Fabric Addict, and saw this quilt (the one that's blues with white.) I thought it looked pretty manly so I picked it. Luckily for me she linked that quilt with the pattern that was on the Moda Bake Shop site. And, luckily for me, the creator of the pattern, Amy Smart, gave conversions for making it a twin size quilt. Yes! All the busy work done for me!

Here's all 84 blue and brown bricks and 84 white squares cut and ready to assemble...

Assembled and ready to iron. By the way, I learned something about myself doing these. I found that I do not like chain sewing. I started out doing that, but after about 2 bricks I had to stop. I couldn't stand the thought of having this lonnnnnggg messy chain of fabric that would still need to have the threads clipped and then neatly organized again. I know that people like chain sewing as they feel it's a nice fast way to do things. But I found out I'd rather clip threads as I go and have each brick stacked neatly as I go. That way, when I'm done sewing them they are done and ready for ironing. I don't have to still do all that other stuff...

Ahhh... neatly ironed and ready to lay out my design... next week.

Today I also dove into making my first vinyl zippered pouch. I thought they were so cute and I had purchased and cut out enough fabric to make four of them. I thought they would be great to make a bunch of, to have handy for gifts and such. I also thought I'd line the fabric side of the pouch with a layer of vinyl so that the total insides would be vinyl in case someone wanted to use it for a make-up bag or something.

So, I began. Well, let's just say that not too far into it I quickly realized that I would only be making one of these puppies. Ya. I didn't love making it. It is cute and handy for sure, but I didn't care for the stress of making it. The vinyl kept sticking to my sewing machine for one thing. I slid some tissue paper under it and it helped, but there were other things that made me not love the process. Oh well. It's a one of a kind. : )

And... I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict's Whoop! Whoop! Friday. - on Saturday. : )

And, I'm linking the pouch up with Such A Sew and Sew's April Finishes Linky Party.

And... I'm linking up with Quilt Story's Fabric Tuesday!