Quilting!

I have finally begun work on my Dad's quilt.  I bought the fabric for him (that he picked out) in February.  This is your introduction to my procrastination.  I have put it off for a long time because I can't just start the process at the part I love, sewing, and quilting.  No, first I have to cut out 1.6 million tiny squares.  I'm exaggerating, I only have to cut out 875 squares.  But I finally started the cutting of the squares!  Which means I can finally start the part I love and having some non-food related crafting to write about.

First I cut long strips 2.5 inches wide off the fabric: 

This is why I hate cutting the squares:

 My cutting mat and ruler aren't long enough to cut the strip in one continuous motion so I have to shift everything to finish the cut and it doesn't always go smoothly.

2. Cut squares 2.5 inches wide off of the long strip:

 

I cut a bunch of squares out of the star fabric and dark blue fabric.  The medium blue fabric is also the border fabric so I want to cut the border pieces before I start cutting squares out of it.  I'll do that tomorrow.  The dark blue is also the fabric for the backing of the quilt.

 

The quilt is an Irish Chain quilt.  I have made one before on a smaller scale for my nephew when he turned 1 and then for my niece when she turned 1.  The dark squares in this sketch that criss cross across the quilt are the star fabric.  The medium squares are the medium blue and the light squares are the dark blue.