I've been reading the Quilting Board for quite some time now working up the courage to make my first quilt. My mom used to quilt before she got dementia, and I would like to gain the skills to finish some of the work she had started. I will post pics soon. I've made a rag quilt, and have decided I'm ready to jump into the deep end of the pool. The Quilting Board has become my daily "must read" and I look forward to unwinding after work by reading the posts and marveling at all the beautiful quilts the members make. Some of them just blow me away and make me want to drop everything else and start cutting and piecing!I've also been saving all the tips people post, and have been aquiring tools and fabric to add to what I already have from sewing and working years ago at Joann's. Yeppers, I'm a frabric and gadget junkie too! I look at a lot of patterns from the textile companies and places like Quilter's Cache where I like the pattern... not always the fabrics! Choosing colors for me is my biggest "uhhh" right now.... and my bucket list is pretty long.
I live in a small town of about 1500, but I'm very lucky that Brenda Shreve with Brenda's Red Barn Quilting (
www.brendasredbarn.com) is about 4 or 5 miles away from me out past the lake. I've been to her shop once before to talk to her about machine quilting a hand-pieced top my daughter received from an honorary Grandma; she has tried for a couple of years to get me into quilting, but I haven't been out there, mainly because of her hours. She is usually closed by the time I get off work. But I see a trip coming in the near future.
She has different long-arm machines that you can rent time on to learn how to machine quilt, and I hope to tackle that by the end of the year.
There is a vintage Bruce sewing machine that has the shuttle bobbin, sold in May of 1915.. possibly an auotmatic treadle? at my mom's house that needs a repair, but it is in great shape. I believe with the help of the people on this board, I can get him (??) running again in no time. I learned when making the rag quilt that my machine labors a bit with 4-6 layers of flannel, and with it being computerized, I don't want to throw the timing off. I would like to use the Bruce to make my mom a quilt or incorporate some of her past work into a lap quilt that she can use in the nursing home. Maybe it will help her to remember. She originally bought the machine for the cabinet to refinish and tried at the local Singer dealer to get the parts to fix it, but that was in the early 70's and he said he couldn't get the parts. But now with the internet and the people on this board, I think I can make Bruce run like a top again.
My daughter is in college, and will be moving away in fall of next year to go to RN school, so it will be me and my big red furbaby at home. Lots of time in the evening for me to polish my cutting and seaming skills. My first "big" goal is to make a Lone Star quilt, but I'm going to start small with 4-patch, 9-patch, DNP, and a few smaller stars to learn paper piecing and learn to SITD.
I'd better get off here and get back to work... just luv, luv, luv end of the month closing!
Thank you to everyone on the board for your generosity, humor, and inspiring work. It is an honor to learn from you.