I am a newcomer to the quilting world. I have only been quilting officially since fall of 2004. I knew I wanted to but I just did not understand the concept of buying fabric, cutting it into small pieces and then sewing it together again. Since I have a love of scrap quilts I have been saving my leftover fabric from garment making for years. From time to time I would pass along boxes of scraps to friends that quilted because of the lack of space to store all the boxes.
In September 2004, I went to my Local Fabric Shop for material to make napkins. As I waited in line I looked around at all the quilts they had displayed. Then suddenly a bolt of fabric on a lower shelf grabbed my ankles. It was a lovely purple fabric with a Lily of the Valley design. That is when the lightbulb moment happened. I went from thinking quilts should only be made from scraps to seeing the design possibilities available. I haven't looked back since.............
I spent several weeks organizing the fabric I had on hand for garments into quilts I could make. I began watching "Simply Quilts". The feeding frenzy began. I purchased books that contained quilts I wanted to own. I bought the tools I needed. Alex Anderson introduced me to Dear Jane, I joined the Dear Jane List and found out about Quilted Diamonds by Linda Franz, Dutch Treat by Judy Garden, Little Brown Bird by Margaret Docherty. I discovered miniscule nine patch groups, and Grandmothers Flower Garden quilts.
When I purchased fabric it was with a specific quilt in mind. I got all the fabric I needed at one time for that specific quilt. My workroom was too full so I moved two stacks of totes to another area so that I could concentrate on one quilt at a time.
And then I found out about swaps. I joined the Dear Jane Siggy swap, the Dear Jane Holiday Swap, the Dear Jane Spring Fling, two Round Robins and three Row Janes. I spent hours and hours working on those quilts and blocks for others and it was a wonderful experience.
I discovered "Block of the Month" and signed up for several. Then I found free ones online and started six more projects.
I learned to paper piece and applique. I perfected my 1/4 inch seam and all the while I was adding to my work space more quilts I wanted to do.
Here I am again, unable to move in my little corner of the world. I have gleaned valuable information from many Blog Friends and I am ready to downsize.
Any favorite fabric I have already has a quilt it belongs to. So instead I will tweak Judy's Challenge to fit my needs. I emptied a box of Strips I found into the laundry basket pictured above and during the month of February I will empty it into Heart String Blocks. I wonder just how many I will get from that basket? Any guesses?
3 comments:
This is the way we all have started. I had tryed out all kind of hobbies. But when I moved back home after a divorce I disovered "my" quiltshop and joined a class in handstitching. This was in -98. And I was hoocked. This was my kind of hobby!
Boy, you have been busy in just 3 years.
I have never seen the Dutch Treat - oh my goodness!! I want that book!! I just love, love it. But can I do both the DJ and the Dutch Treat? Are you doing that quilt as well? I am stitching my DJ by hand and I am very slow. I like to read the DJ digest. I also love the Linda Franz diamonds and wish to try those one day.
I just wanted to thank you for sharing the love and beauty of quilting with me. I have gone from making girls formals and costumes to quilts. I like the quilts more. Every time I work on one I think of the time we spent together quilting and look forward to times we will have in the future.
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