This was originally posted on my old MommaQuilts blog.
I’ve been reflecting on my personal quilting history. Having never been educated on a quilt journal, it never occurred to me to keep a record of what quilts I’ve made. My initial thinking was that it hasn’t been a lot, but when I started to list them, I found that I’ve made more than I realized.
I started quilting around 1996. I was pregnant with my first child and a bit sentimental. I looked up one day and realized that my grandmother and her sister were hand quilters. No one in my mother’s generation had picked up the habit. And I had this “boo hoo” moment of thinking that the tradition would be lost. I don’t have the patience for hand piecing and quilting, but I did sign up for a class at the local quilt store.
This quilt is the result. When I look at it now, I have to admit that I’m pretty impressed. I can’t believe that I took the time to cut and piece all of those little squares. I don’t have that kind of patience at all now. I had discovered African inspired fabrics and decided that ALL of my quilts would include at least one piece. (That commitment didn’t last.) The quilting on it is not very impressive. In class we quilted on a small sample, but I discovered at home that I was unable to translate that to a good sized quilt.
After this class I played around with different patterns from older books trying to do things by sight without a pattern or template. I made this quilt for my grandmother. The blocks aren’t precise or anything, but I love the colors.
I also took a double wedding ring class. It is my all time favorite quilt. But since it’s lot of work, I’ve only made two. The one from class went to my goddaughter as a baby quilt and the second went to my sister in law. I intended for it to be a queen size, but I never got past lap size. Unfortunately, it was lost in the New Orleans floods.
I then proceeded to make quilts for my Godchildren. I don’t have pictures of those though. I’m not sure if they still own them anymore, but I wasn’t making heirlooms, so what matters is that they were used with love. I made photo quilts for my mother and mother in law when my second child was born.
I think I’m up to eight quilts now, right? The sad part is that I still hadn’t made quilts for my own children at this point. I started one for my oldest (who is now 11), but I kept trying to do things that were way above my skill level, so I never finished. When I got pregnant with my second I decided on a whole cloth quilt. I did get it quilted, but I’m yet to bind it and she’s seven now. I have ideas for the quilt for my third daughter, but nothing is written down.
My life got so hectic that I looked up and realized that it had been over five years since I had touched my machine! So last year I joined our guild and found a bee that meets weekly. This group hand quilts at our meeting so I tried my hand at that. It took me almost a year, but I finished a quilt for my mother. I’ve joined a round robin (remind me not to make this mistake again!) I’ve started several things, but I’m starting to get bummed out that I’m not finishing anything.
As I’m pregnant with my fourth daughter, I’ve decided to get some things done! I’ve started on one that should be easy to finish. I’ll keep you posted.
So here is my first stab at a free style block. It's probably hard to tell, but this is supposed to be a manger. I'm trying to stick with what's in my stash so my blues are quite patchy. I've cut the fabric for the star. I also want to make a block with a shephard and angel. We'll see how that goes. I'll keep you posted.
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