My 1st Quilt - Finished!

Ta-da!!  My very first quilt!  I am seriously addicted now and could not stop until I got it completed, and have about ten others I want to get started on immediately!  New things are fun.

 

As I mentioned before, I found a brick pattern idea while skimming online (and unfortunately did not keep the link).  It was for tiles, so I altered it into a strip to run the length of the quilt.  I then chose some antiqued white fabric to finish it off.  The finished size is 81"x 88".  Since I didn't use a pattern I chose the size of the bricks to be 6"x3". Making the strip 18" wide.

On the back (which I did not for some reason get an image of), I repeated the 18" horizontal strip in the green damaske fabric I used for the binding.  When I completed the quilt top and back, I moved on to basting (which I must say was quite a challenge... I totally commend you guys who have it down pat because it was a beast!).  It being the first time I attempted this, I probably should not have been so aspirational to plan for the 18" strip to fall directly behind the brick path on the front.  I used about a gazzilion pins to make it work!  I then stitched the outside and the vertical lines in the bricks with clear threading, "stitch in the ditch" I guess is the term.  Then repeated the vertical lines in the bricks throughout the extent of the quilting.  I then used a wonderful little tutorial by Heather Bailey to hand stitch the binding.  And, voila!