I'm a Newbie!
02-20-2011, 05:02 PM
#1
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: San Francisco-Area, CA
Posts: 18
Hey All,
I met a new friend, Brenda, at Jo-Ann's last weekend and she told me about this site. She said she was fairly new here, too, but said everyone was wonderful in welcoming her, or helping when she was "stuck" on something or other.
My "Grama" was a life-long hand quilter and instilled her passion in me. We'd sit in the living room, watching TV, while she quilted or cut her pieces. I'd help her lay them out all over the floor to decide the "perfect" arrangement for her sampler quilts, or the arrangement of varying colored blocks within a repeated-pattern quilt.
I lost Grama a little over 7 years ago, and not a day goes by that I don't think of her. When she passed, my brother's wife was VERY pregnant with her first child. One of the things I discovered in the quilting items I inherited was a nearly-completed baby quilt top in pastel flannels. I had seen her work on quilts a million times, but hadn't done one, myself - having, instead, been content to watch her work. I finished the top and gave it to my new niece 4 months after losing Gram.
Since that point, I have made a few quilts from beginning to end - one for myself as a school project, 2 baby quilts, and I quilted a top that I was given by my step-Grandmother. Last year, I had 2 new babies enter my world: My niece Madison (Aug.), and my nephew, Dylan (Sept.). I'm attaching photos here of the two quilts that I just finished last week. I decided to save some time and do them both at once, using some of the same blocks for each. It was the first time I had done a quilt almost exclusively by machine. I did hand-stitch the Stars in Dylan's and the butterflies in Madison's.
I'm looking forward to getting some feedback
I met a new friend, Brenda, at Jo-Ann's last weekend and she told me about this site. She said she was fairly new here, too, but said everyone was wonderful in welcoming her, or helping when she was "stuck" on something or other.
My "Grama" was a life-long hand quilter and instilled her passion in me. We'd sit in the living room, watching TV, while she quilted or cut her pieces. I'd help her lay them out all over the floor to decide the "perfect" arrangement for her sampler quilts, or the arrangement of varying colored blocks within a repeated-pattern quilt.
I lost Grama a little over 7 years ago, and not a day goes by that I don't think of her. When she passed, my brother's wife was VERY pregnant with her first child. One of the things I discovered in the quilting items I inherited was a nearly-completed baby quilt top in pastel flannels. I had seen her work on quilts a million times, but hadn't done one, myself - having, instead, been content to watch her work. I finished the top and gave it to my new niece 4 months after losing Gram.
Since that point, I have made a few quilts from beginning to end - one for myself as a school project, 2 baby quilts, and I quilted a top that I was given by my step-Grandmother. Last year, I had 2 new babies enter my world: My niece Madison (Aug.), and my nephew, Dylan (Sept.). I'm attaching photos here of the two quilts that I just finished last week. I decided to save some time and do them both at once, using some of the same blocks for each. It was the first time I had done a quilt almost exclusively by machine. I did hand-stitch the Stars in Dylan's and the butterflies in Madison's.
I'm looking forward to getting some feedback
Dylan's Stars, close-up
[ATTACH=CONFIG]165800[/ATTACH]
Madison's butterflies
[ATTACH=CONFIG]165801[/ATTACH]
Side-by-side, showing backs
[ATTACH=CONFIG]165985[/ATTACH]
Dylan's quilt on the left, Madison's at right
[ATTACH=CONFIG]166226[/ATTACH]
Hard at work
[ATTACH=CONFIG]166446[/ATTACH]
Prepping for Binding
[ATTACH=CONFIG]166550[/ATTACH]
02-20-2011, 05:17 PM
#7
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Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: San Francisco-Area, CA
Posts: 18
Thanks! =)
I know I'm being hard on myself, but I feel like there are a couple of things I "could have done better" on Dylan's quilt - there's a rough edge near the binding on one side, but I couldn't see a good way to go back and fix it. There are also some spots that bunched up on me - the stupid sewing machine threads kept getting tangled somehow!
I keep telling myself that I'm fairly "green" at this and and the imperfections make it more individual and unique! I'll get better with the sewing machine as I go - This was my first *real* experience with using one!
I know I'm being hard on myself, but I feel like there are a couple of things I "could have done better" on Dylan's quilt - there's a rough edge near the binding on one side, but I couldn't see a good way to go back and fix it. There are also some spots that bunched up on me - the stupid sewing machine threads kept getting tangled somehow!
I keep telling myself that I'm fairly "green" at this and and the imperfections make it more individual and unique! I'll get better with the sewing machine as I go - This was my first *real* experience with using one!
02-20-2011, 05:22 PM
#10
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: San Francisco-Area, CA
Posts: 18
Do many of you incorporate previous quilts in subsequent projects? When I finished Emily's quilt, I had leftover fabric. I've incorporated the remainder into the front her sisters' and cousins' quilts.
Ex: Em's was the white fabric with the pastel hands, feet and ribbons; Caitlyn's was the blue moons and stars; Lizzie's had the yellow bug-print, etc. - most of which have been added to the fronts of the subsequent quilts....
Ex: Em's was the white fabric with the pastel hands, feet and ribbons; Caitlyn's was the blue moons and stars; Lizzie's had the yellow bug-print, etc. - most of which have been added to the fronts of the subsequent quilts....
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