First-Attempt Quilt

I have been trying to keep busy this winter. You might recall I found some fabric in a charity shop before Christmas. I added to that collection over the holidays and decided to attempt a quilt. After enjoying hours of looking at patterns, I chose one that I thought I could handle.

I have worked on it after the kids are in bed, and when Husband was home on days off. It is coming along nicely but I have not decided if quilting is something I will take on as a pastime. Once I saw all the squares lying out together, I thought I might like to try another and do a better job of it. Some of my squares are quite "out of whack" but others are surprisingly neat and tidy. I can understand why people love making quilts--it is very satisfying to see the work come out as planned.

the material I used was either free or purchased at second-hand shops.
I purchased the white material and the backing (below).

 Since material and batting are costly, I wanted to learn to quilt using inexpensive material. I am not a fan of purple, but in all the colorful material cost about $4. The backing cost about $7 on sale, and the white was $6. The other day I found batting for $13, which would bring the cost of making this quilt to about $30 Canadian.

 I've finished the quilt top and will leave the final steps until next winter. In the meantime, I've cut the material for a baby quilt (a post and pictures to come soon!)and would like to finish it entirely before the weather gets nice enough that I'm outside every day. It was -20C in the wind today--I expect getting the baby quilt finished in time shouldn't be a problem!

I used to work at the women's shelter in town. When women and children leave the shelter to start a new life on their own, the shelter gives them each a clean new blanket to take with them. For Christmas next year, I plan to donate this blanket to a woman leaving a domestic violence situation, and if I can get one done I plan to add a crocheted baby afghan to the donation. Have you attempted a new craft this winter?