The First Quilt I Ever Made...And It Only Cost $18!

I originally had this posted on a previous blog I maintained. Certain life events took place which made me close that blog down.  I still want to share this particular post, as I feel it'll help inspire military wives/families/friends etc. Here's the post:

I started a quilt back in 2010 shortly after my friend deployed to Afghanistan. This was his third deployment.

I gathered some of his old uniforms that were torn or otherwise messed up...BDUs from his time at Boot Camp and AIT, DCUs from his first deployment, and ACUs from majority of his career and second deployment.  Here's a picture play by play. Sorry, not all the pictures are the best quality, but you get the idea.

I started cutting out an enormous amount of 4'' squares from pants and tops. This took forevvvverrrrrr. Thankfully I had Netflix to keep me entertained.

Miss Autumn decided to help me.

Then I alternated  DCU, BDU, ACU and sewed them together in long strips. I think I ended up making 16 strips of 22 squares. But in the end, it became a bit smaller than that. Trial and error lead to many, many trimmings.

I staggered the strips to get a diagonal affect.  They are in no way, shape, or form perfect, but it was the first time ever doing this. I know my squares and rows weren't precise, but it adds character.

No pictures for this part, but I layered the front panel, some lightweight batting, and a backing and sewed it all together. 

  I sewed long, straight rows to give it that quilted look.

This was the first time I've ever tried binding anything, and let me tell you the corners were very tricky. I think I did an okay job :-)

How both sides look finished. 

A bow to top it off. 

Overall, I'm very happy with how it came out, imperfections and all.  I think it's going to be a very warm blanket and a wonderful heirloom.

Final Costs:

Singer Futura CE-150 sewing/embroidering machine- given to me by my Mom

Old Uniforms- free from friend

Batting- free from Mom

Backing material- also free from Mom

7/8'' Binding- $3ea at Hancock, 4 packs

Thread- $3ea at the PX, 2 spools

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$18

Have a great day and a happy heart!

~Kerri Elan

Update- So I finally got a better picture of the quilt and actually measured it. It's 56'' x 82''. 

~Kerri Elan