My First Year of Quilting - Part 3

My 3rd quilt I made my own pattern.  I made it for my son.  I asked if he wanted a Mine Craft quilt.  Then  I went looking for patterns and couldn't find one. So.... what is a girl to do but figure out how to make one from looking at a picture.

I drew it up in Excel... I asked him if it needed any changes.  This is why it doesn't look like a traditional creeper.  I cut all my squares, and laid them out like in the picture. And then I started sewing them together into 4 patches.  I got some of the inside squares in the wrong places. He never noticed.  On this quilt I started teaching myself how to "spin the seams". Somewhere in here I discovered Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville I have learned SEW much from her!!!  I got it figured out to a point however when I started to sew it all together into columns are rows I discovered that for spinning the seams to work properly they all have to spin the same.

 Duh.. Anyhow I persevered got it all sewn into a top. Stitched it in the ditch with my walking foot. Which is harder than it looks.  My lines jump in and out of the ditch, and cross the ditch...
 and oh well he seems to like it!

Here it is all laid out flat.  He chose the binding and backing fabrics.  He is in that in-between stage of kid and teenager.

Front side.

So what did this quilt teach me?

1. When you pick up your pieces after laying them out pick them up in the order they will be sewn and LABEL them. 
2. Perfection is in the eye of the beholder.  My son isn't looking at it and telling me what I did wrong.  He is telling me that he loves that I made HIM a quilt.
3. Warm and Natural 100% Cotton batting or 80/20 is way easier to work with than the big fluffy polyester batting.
4. Hey look I can build a pattern!!!
5. If you are new to quilting and are trying to teach yourself about it from online sources late at night as a single mom.  Bonnie Hunter is amazing.  She has quilt cams where she sews in her studio and shows you how to do stuff.