My First Quilt

Jumping on the show and tell bandwagon, folks! Camille and Carrie are hosting a Quilt Show and Tell…encouraging us to show our first quilt, show our most recent quilt, and to explain something that you learned along the way. So…here goes…

I would consider myself a novice quilter. Even though my first quilt was probably made around 2003, I didn’t do much for years in between, and what I did do wasn’t really much. I grew up in a house surrounded by fabric, sewing, and lots of craftiness. My mom ran a full-time custom drapery workroom out of our 4th bedroom (and just recently retired after 27 years! YAY!) so I was SURROUNDED by the stuff. She always asked me if I wanted to learn, and I said no. During college, my husband (then boyfriend) and I went to San Antonio to visit, and the Alamo had their annual day where all of the volunteers dress up and let you participate in activities of the period…like grinding corn in a mill, and making bullets, and *watching* the ladies quilt (they didn’t let us TOUCH their stuff!). I watched them and thought it was amazing how they could create these beautiful, functional pieces of art. No one in my family quilted…mom sews a mean drape…but hadn’t quilted. So, I set out to be the first quilter in the family…with the hopes of passing some of these things on to my future kids and grandkids. Remember…NO SEWING EVER before I made this bad boy…

(OK Mom…don’t cringe at the unmade bed underneath…you did teach me to clean…I was just lazy!)

and I have to say…not all that terrible for someone who had never sewed and who had no one helping. For those of you wondering about the size of this thing…it’s laying on my King sized bed in my room…so it’s HUGE! If you look close you can see the mistakes (like rows TOTALLY not lining up and corners not meeting…I had no concept of this at the time!).

I paid someone to quilt and bind this for me…and I’m sure they just looked at it and gasped! We use this quilt still, and I think that everyone in my family and most of my husband’s family have all slept under this quilt at one time or another. It’s well loved, and I love that!

Since then I will say that the most important thing that I’ve learned is to keep a steady seam allowance when you’re sewing. I’m quite sure that this first quilt has seam allowances running the gamut…all in a 3 inch section! I have also learned to be more patient in my sewing. It’s OK to admit that you sewed it TOTALLY wrong, rip out the seam, and start again…it really is OK!

My most recent quilt is the little doll quilt I made for Hailey.

Here’s a picture of my most recent quilt top…another birthday present for a neighborhood friend!

Well, I think that just about does it! And I encourage you…if you’re a quilter and you’re reading this and thinking…”but mine is REALLY bad!” I say…come on…it can’t be that bad!