Hi! My name is Edie - 4 days shy of turning 71 - live in St. Paul with husband and dog, Bess! I am just finishing a quilt for our son and daughter-in-law. I have been quilting for about ten years now. I started by ironing transfers on a piece of muslin, embroidering the design and then putting on the sashing and border and learned how to hand quilt - basic running stitch. Then I decided to make a pieced quilt. I started out with one pattern - "Antique Tile" and ended up with a Memory Quilt - 35 blocks - 5 across - 7 down - with everything you could imagine. Different squares meant different things to me. I did one on Christmas Eve in the 1950's, one of 9-11, the neighbors, the neighbors pets. I can look at each square on each block and know exactly what it means. It is a true treasure for me.
I also wrote a book to go along with the quilt. That was almost the most fun, but it is provenance. So when I have passed this mortal coil, our grandchildren and great grandchildren (when we have them) will know about our family.
I finished a quilt that right now is on display and will be raffled off on November 15, 2009. It is for the Susan G. Komen Three Day Walk. I was asked to make it and I jumped at that one. It was a lot of fun. I wrote a book for that one too.
My next project is in the works right now. I am going to make my husband and I a humungous quilt called Scrappy Floating Stars. It is really neat and I already have the main piece of fabric and will use my stash for the star points.
Thank you for letting me join this. It, I can see already, is very informative and I know I will be confabbing with people who enjoy this hobby and now a way of life as much as I do!