Speaking Of Quilts...

I'm getting ready to delete my quilting blog and just keep everything "crafting" on this one blog. I was going through the pictures and it is like a trip down memory lane! :o) I took my first class at Quilter's Corner the fall of 2004 when my girls were about 18 months old. It's hard to imagine them that small. They are 2 in this picture, A on left and J on right, playing with my first Mary Ellen Hopkins method quilt, which I made in my It's Okay If You Sit On My Quilt class, which was a lot of fun. I don't know where the finished picture is, but it turned out really nice with an orangey striped binding that looked just like a ginger calico's fur, to match the kitties in the fabric.


Of course Abbie is my official fiber arts tester. She has to check out everything to make sure it will be the appropriate comfort level for the recipient. This quilt went to my Aunt Grace in Seattle and I am told that her Norwegian Forest Cat, Sweetie Pie, loves to sleep on it.

This quilt is actually on my list to finish this year. This is just the placement of the blocks for a patchy, rainbow, Trip Around The World baby blanket. If you were a baby, wouldn't you be happy under a quilt like this?

And this is me, November 2004 with the finished top (or half that you can see) of my first quilt. It is pinned and I started machine quilting but it is just way too big for me to machine quilt (almost King size). I love the fabrics and colors which are a blend of old and new fabrics, some date back to my high school bedroom curtains and bedspread. I have been thinking lately about the possibility of hand quilting this. It's a crazy idea, but I can't really afford to send it out. It has some errors, the kind you hope will "quilt out", but I can't help but love it because it was my first.

This quilt class was taught by my favorite teachers, Barb and Pam, from the book Quilts! Quilts! Quilts!. The timing of the class was serendipitous because it was in this class that I met Amy who introduced me to blogging and talked to me about her knitting, which caused me to pick my knitting back up (having 3 babies in 17.5 months tends to cause you to put aside some things). She doesn't live too far away but we're both busy homeschooling Moms and haven't had as many opportunities to get together as we would like, but Amy wants to finish her quilt from the class this year too. So, when are we going to start Amy?! :o) (I know, I know, in our copious amounts of spare time! LOL) Hey! I just noticed Amy's quilt is the yellow one behind me on the wall.