Quiltingboard Forums - Hi! My name is Melanie from Oklahoma.

My grandmother taught me to sew when I was a little girl by feeding the squares through the machine. Then she had me card the cotton for the batting (carding - combing fibers (cotton, wool, etc) over wooden boards with wire teeth, to align the fiber in one direction). That was my first introduction to quilting. She tied all her quilts.

I sewed like most of the baby boomers for myself and family, but did not quilt until 2004 when a friend wanted to take a class and did not want to take it alone. It took me 8 years to finish my first quilt. I moved to the country in 2005 and my quilt had remained packed for some time. In 2007 I joined the Spinning Spools Quilt Guild of Shawnee, OK and I have been quilting between making soft-sculptured cloth art dolls and spinning my own wool and weaving. If I can figure out how to upload pictures, I will do so.

I have three cats, two tuxedos and a calico. I lost my husband and three of our cats (two to Bobcat Fever and one to old age) in 2010. I really like the quiet of the country, but right now I wished I lived in town. There is just too much to do for one person.

Last year I took in a foreign exchange student from Germany. It was quite an experience for someone who has never had children. I made her a Road to Oklahoma lap quilt with hand embroidered cats in the large white spaces in blues and white. I am in the process of trying to applique a wall hanging for her mom; a bunny dressed for the garden.

Our quilt show next year is entitled "One Strip At a Time" and I'm not sure what to do for it yet. I may try a twin size for the signature quilt and an applique wall hanging.

1: Challenge quilt I did; 2: My 1st Charity quilt; 3&4: Road to Oklahoma; 5&6: My first commissions; and 7&8: Two of the three entries in our 2012 quilt show. #8 is my first quilt that took 8 yrs. I also finished my girlfriend's quilt (the hand-quilting) for her for Christmas that year.