where to start?

Now that I'm starting my own blog, I have a whole lot more awe for all you other crafty bloggers out there! I'm having a hard time figuring out where to start... I guess I'll go with my first real quilt, the one I've named in my head "The First Hit is Free!". (No, it doesn't have a label yet!)



I know, it's silly name. But it's because this quilt is the one that got me addicted to quilting in the first place, and because everything about it was practically free... Let's see:

• The fabric was from a yard sale last summer, picked up for just a buck or two. It was a bunch of loose pages from a set of decorator sample swatches. I believe they were from some Laura Ashley line, and included several colorways. I wish I had thought to take a picture of them in their raw form, with the paper attached and all that. To prepare them, I cut all the paper off, washed and ironed them, and then cut them into rectangles. I think they ended up around 4"x8", and I got about 100 of them. I just randomly sewed them into rows, and then arranged the rows as well as I could to not have repeats next to each other, and sewed them up.
  
• The batting was also a garage sale find. Can't even remember where or how much! It's cotton, but not as nice as warm&natural.
  
• The backing was from a generous Swap-bot friend (hi June!) who I've done some trades with. She's an awesome quilter who does some amazing things with selvages.
• The binding is from my stash, not sure where I picked it up!
  

The quilting is pretty simple, just "top stitching" (about 1/4" on both sides of the seams) along the row lines, and a sort of diamond pattern connecting the corners of the bricks. The backing is pieced with the leftovers that came from cutting off the short bricks on the sides of the front. I remember being really pleased that there was practically no scraps of fabric left when I was done with this thing!