In The Beginning

In the beginning, this was all I used to make a quilt. Coats & Clark thread, cardboard from cereal boxes, a #2 pencil, a pair of scissors pulled from a drawer somewhere, a needle (any one would do) and a tape measurer (I ended up getting a 12" school ruler for the second quilt). I will never forget the day I decided I wanted to make a quilt. It was over 16 years ago. My sister in law, Sherry was in from Colorado and that evening she sat on my living room floor putting binding on a quilt she was to give to her husband's brother and his bride. It was a red, white and blue windmill. I will never forget it. I think the white background was a bed sheet. I know the red was polyester (the stretchy kind) and I think the blue was a cotton. I know I sat there thinking "that is the most beautiful quilt I have ever seen!" I sat watching her rip binding. YES, rip. She would measure out 3 thumbs widths, snip and tear. I think that was a sheet too. She sat stitching the binding on by hand and I sat mesmerized as I watched her perform what I thought was the most amazing feat I had ever seen. Oh how I wanted to do that too. Sherry spent that whole evening stitching and giving me a step by step detailed instruction of how I would make my first quilt. And I did it. I ran to Walmart the next day, supply list in hand and bought a blue with pink flowers and a pink solid. I used the 4 1/2" cardboard template Sherry had helped me make the night before (Sherry had left that morning...I was on my own) and traced each piece of fabric. I marked the sewing lines and off I went. I will admit my corners were not great but I ended up tying that one any way. It is a rag somewhere in a box in the basement.

Here is a wallhanging Sherry sent me as soon as she got home from that trip. I was never so excited about anything in my life. She explained the center did not go together as planned. The red is the same stretchy polyester from the windmill quilt. It still hangs in my home today. Right now it is in Zach's room.

She would kill me if she knew I was showing this. Even though I learned to make my first quilt from Sherry, the following summer when she returned, I introduced her to the rotary cutter and cutting mat. She was more excited than I was the year before. She took these tools back up on her mountain and shared them with her mountain quilting group. The ladies acted like they had seen a flying car! Though I began using a rotary cutter and mat, and even a olfa ruler, I continued to piece by hand. Here is my first "quilt". It is still a UFO, and I won't tell the reason as I will get mad all over again. I will finish it "someday". I learned on this quilt how to match corners, but not until I was 1/2 way through it.

This is my first hand applique. It hangs in Charlotte's bedroom. I did the prairie points because of the prairie points on Sherry's wallhanging.

I am very happy to report that I have greatly improved over the years. And so has Sherry. She sent me this little miniature several years ago. By the way, it is 100% cotton quilt shop fabric which is all she buys now. She has become a fabric snob! Though my "tools of the trade" have changed some, I have added a sewing machine, I am not a big gadget person. Simple is best! I do have a couple of favorite tools. Below is my little bowl of handquilting supplies that sits next to the sofa where I quilt. My niece made it for me in a pottery class and I love it. It holds my thread, needles, thimble and scissors. That is all I need, though that spool of thread looks like it needs to be replaced soon. Oh, and my favorite coffee cup. I love to handquilt in the morning and evening. If you look close, you can see that I keep my hand quilting needles in a double fold of fabric. It helps them stay put and not wander from the package.

The hoop I use to hand quilt is very special. Sweet Hubby made it for me years ago. It is the only one I have except a half hoop which I never use. My special hoop has a triangle base, no ball joints to make it tilt. Just plain and simple. The triangle base allows me to tip it easily. I can't imagine quilting without it.

For hand applique, I like to keep everything in a plastic container. All the threads, a film container holding sequin pins, needles, which are not in a piece of fabric and got loose, so they are everywhere, scissors, and a thimble. I have a very expensive thimble bought for me by a friend, but I lose thimbles everywhere, so I like the cheap ones. Don't look too hard, this is the Masterpiece block... (It won't enlarge no matter how many times you click on it Linda. LOL) So you see, my tools are still pretty simple. Nothing fancy, nothing you would find in the Jetson's sewing room. (would they sew?? maybe Rosie would) Just what I need, nothing more, nothing less.

I did promise Linda that I would post a picture of the Masterpiece block by the weekend. Well here it is.
I am so sorry!!! I could not resist!