Thursday, September 1, 2011

Some of my first quilts

This is the 2nd quilt I ever made, it's a bargello. I gave it to my mother-in-law, she loves it and was my inspiration to start quilting.

This is the next quilt I made, it's a double Irish, I made it for my Grandma, she liked it so much, I think it was one thing that made her want to quilt as well. She is now my quilting buddy.





The next is also a double irish, I made it for my younger brother. I made it in 16 hours, I had a timeline to get it done and quilted for my parents to take to him in California.







This one is called Stars-n-Stripes, I made this one but didn't have any plans with it. I ended up trading it with a relative for a handmade saddle planter. It was well worth it.

Friday, August 19, 2011

Sorry

My Blog is having major difficulties...it will not let me make comments. So I am reading everyone's comments, but apologize I can't respond to them.
Charity

Past Quilts that have a story....

I have made alot of quilts over the years, but here are a few with some stories...

I made this block for my Round Robin in quilt guild, Piece by Peace last year...I love the pattern, but not the colors. Needless to say it's still a single block all of its own. This block is called stained glass by Jinny Beyer I wish I would have ordered the fabric line she had for this specific block, plus I had to cut the block down probably by 75% to make an 18 inch block for the center of my round robin.




Here is the block I ended up using for the Round Robin...Everyone that participated in the round robin used the batiks and made stars, I have to make more blocks to finish the quilt. When I get it done I will have to share it with everyone. I love the blocks that were made and the colors.






My Grandma made a quilt for each of her grandaughters, when she finished one she had enough left over material to make another quilt, I helped her make the first one at our annual 'quilt retreat'. It's put together like the 'Trip around the world' and when I had the four sections of strips laying on the floor, I picked up one set and I somehow flipped it around so when I was done sewing it, it was sewn together just like the one oposite to it. So I had to unpick, if you knew me well, that's one thing I hate doing. So I sat there and unpicked like 19 rows and mummbled under my breath the whole time.  Grandma laughed and said "I am glad I am not the only one that does things like that". Because I helped her she gave me the left over fabric and I got this quilt...I still need to quilt it, but I love the colors Grandma picked out, they went together well. I loved the border fabric she used and when I got mine done I needed to do the outside of it so I went to the fabric store and no matter what I tried to put with it for the borders (pink and green) I just couldn't get the fabrics out of my mind that Grandma used...in the end I picked the same as hers, but I put the small strip of colors and extra pink border in mine.

I made this quilt for my husbands cousin that needed a kidney transplant, her cousin provided the kidney and they had a fundraiser to help with medical expenses for both of them. They asked me if I could donate a quilt for them to raffle, I was just finishing this quilt and it was hard to let it go, but it was for a great cause! She had the transplant and is doing very well. (right)

Okay that's my sharing for today, of course I have alot more and perhaps I will share some blocks I am working on for my BOM I have to do in our guild this upcoming year. Happy sewing everyone and thanks for checking out my blog and for all the wonderful comments!


Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Quilting with Grandma

I now quilt with my Grandma, I made her a quilt and she liked it so much she started quilting alot. She did some before I made the quilt, but now she is addicted like I am. Twice a year I go and spend time with her and we piece quilts and visit, creating memories to last a lifetime. Here is a picture of us and our twinner quilts. I made the quilt and Grandma liked it so much she made one too, and her's is even more special than mine because I quilted hers! I cherish the time we get to spend together and make lasting memories in our minds and with our quilts.

Why Quilting?

Growing up I always loved the quilts I would see, all the colors and shapes pieced together to make a beautiful work of art. They looked so hard and complex, I just knew I would never have one as beautiful. One year, around Thanksgiving in 2002 I got a wild hair and decided I would make my Mother a quilt for Christmas, I figured it couldn't be too hard. Right...I picked a block I liked and bought material and started cutting and sewing. Nothing came out right, not one seam was aligned correctly and what did they mean by a 1/4 inch seam allowance? Well luckily for me our LDS Stake had a 'quilting day' and I decided I would go and get some help. Well that first quilt is still sitting in a bag all cut up, maybe one day I will pull it out and finish it now I know what I am doing. I was taught about strip piecing and how easy it was. I picked out another pattern and I was able to get it made in only a few weeks (this was a lap size quilt) and then quilted in time to give my Mother for Christmas. SInce then I have made approximately 35 quilts over the last several years, maybe more that I can't think of right now. But I love quilting, it, I am constangtly working on something, always cutting or sewing and there are threads everywhere. When I finish a quilt there is just an 'awe' overwhelming feeling of satisfaction.