For the past year, I've been reading more and more quilting blogs and being inspired by the images and glad for the tutorials. I've been quilting for about a dozen years and would categorize myself as an intermediate quilter. I'll try anything. Any technique. Any color combination. Anything that lets me touch fabric, cut it up and put it back together in a way that pleases me. And how do I know I don't like something until I try it?
Since moving a few years ago, I haven't been as involved in the quilting community as I was. I'm hoping Blogland will give me a place to share my creations, mull design decisions and record my work. ('Cause I sure am a slacker when it comes to that!) Maybe someone more interested than my husband will take a look and give me some feedback. And if not, then at least I'll have a place where I can go back and see what I've been up to.
To start the blog, I thought I'd start by sharing my very first quilt, which was started in January 1996 during a class at an Orlando quilt shop. It was a beginner class, and if it weren't for the rotary cutter revelation I'm not sure the lure of all that pretty fabric would have been enough to keep me going! That and a really great teacher.
I seem to remember that I got the top put together pretty quickly. I was always good about doing my homework. And then my mom, who had quilted for years -- at least since the '70s -- showed me how to hand quilt. That's all she did, so that's what I learned.
After that first class, I was hooked. I signed up for classes every session. I made lots of tops. I was still hand quilting No. 1, and I think it took me two years to finish it. I look at it and think it needs more quilting in the border, but I never get so inspired that I actually add to it. By the time I'd hand quilted in the ditch along every square in that multi-Irish chain, I didn't have the energy to do much in the border. Still don't.
Once I get the binding on a quilt, it's done as far as I'm concerned. Which is why many of my quilts lack labels. (I just put a label on my wedding quilt. We've been married over 10 years. But that's another post.)
My plan for the blog is to keep it short and include pictures. It's what I like about the ones I read. And the picture part is going to be challenging for me.
Hope you enjoy looking and reading my blog.