Tuesday Archives #161: Tied Quilts

Welcome to the linky party that rejuvenates your old quilting/sewing posts! 

Please click here to read more about this linky party.  

This week's theme is: TIED QUILTS 

Mom, What are you doing with my blanket?

 This was one of my very first quilts. I bought it at a County Fair some twenty years ago. I loved it's scrappy look and I bought it out of inspiration as I knew someday I'd learn how to make a quilt.

It is now tattered and worn and admittably one of Jackson's kennel blankets, 

but there's just something so charming about an old fashion, tied quilt.

Throwback Thursday

I always enjoy reading Janine Marie's Throwback Thursdays posts and have been looking forward to sharing this post with you. Some of you may have remembered from an early Tuesday Archives theme posted almost two years ago, my very first quilt was this Irish Chain Quilt for my parents: 

These pictures were the only ones I had of it until this past week as my parents made their final visit of the summer.  Twenty-three years later and there it was peeking out from under their newer Underground Railroad Quilt that is on their motor-home bed. 

As my mom and I pulled it out and set it up for pictures, we sentimentally examined it's ragged little binding edges. We found ourselves lost in conversation about the day we picked out the fabric and pattern. The afternoons she'd find me sewing away as my young daughters napped, happy to see me  finding a new sense of normalcy in my life after 11 months of chemo and radiation as I fought my Hodgkin's Disease. (My hair seriously came back in ringlets...thus the crazy curly hair above.)

I'm so grateful to have had a neighbor who I could run back and forth between our homes with questions and for guidance as I learned to read a quilt pattern and sew my first quilt. Our time together made an everlasting impression on me and keeps me hopeful that I too, will someday have someone to teach our craft of quilting to one day...until then, I'll happily continue to create quilty hugs for friends, charities, our home and those I love. 

Linking with everyone at:

 

Also...

Click here to see more Irish Chain quilts.

My Journey to Quilting...

I grew up in hand made clothes.  Any of us would tell ya, we all remember matching too. (I get the economical fact behind it now, but quite honestly, I didn't then!) My mom had two basic shirt patterns and one basic pants pattern.(I think?) And here we are styling the ol' crew neck tee and pants:

Mid 1970's/On Vacation visiting our Grandparents in Detroit, Michigan.

Another blast from the past of the the four us styling the V-neck pattern (sleeves and no sleeve versions) paired with what looks like the shorts version of the pants pattern. (Like my hat??)

Flintstone Village...on our way to the Grand Canyon, Arizona.

Okay, one more for old times sake:

The Grand Canyon, Arizona, Mid 1970's.

Watching my mom sew throughout my childhood, one can only imagine my own excitement as I myself learned to sew during my high school Home Ec. class. (1980 & 1981)I loved it!!! Man, we had so much fun. Best homework I ever had! Serious....look what I found while rummaging through my own sewing room today...my old "seam assignments!"

I can't help but smile as I create this post, 

reminiscent of my ol' high school self creating these seams for homework:

 I'm telling you, all through high school I made myself many of dresses and only wish I had the pictures transferred to my computer to share with ya. You'd crack up I'm sure! I  mean, I can  remember us girls planning a "dress" day to parade our finished projects around school. LOL!

So fast forward though the college years...when, as a young wife and mother (Early 1990's), I actually found myself buying my very first sewing machine at a garage sale for $50.00.  I cherish these memories of being a young mom, personalizing our very first home by sewing all our curtains and creating matching chair seat covers for our dining room. It was so relaxing to throw in a load of laundry and sew during afternoon nap times. (Even when the girls grew out of naps, I made them rest so I could sew!) Again, I wish I had pictures transferred to my computer.

Fast forward a few more years, and you'll find me visiting my very first quilt store with my Aunt Cela as she made sure I left well equipped to begin my journey as a quilter:

Though the hobby of scrapbooking consumed my time and fulfilled my desire to be crafty during my years as a young mother with a growing family, I did manage to complete two quilts. 

They are: My Sunflower Quilt and Irish Chain.

Finally, as an empty-nester and just completing a big move, in 2009, I jumped into quilting with my whole heart and soul. (I mean I could only create sooo many scrapbook pages of Jackson! )

I took my first piecing class in September of 2009 and made the above Pinwheel Quilt. I started blogging one summer day in June of 2013 and have never looked back! 

(Here's a link to my FIRST POST.) 

  Now, almost seven years and many quilt tops later, 

I continue teaching myself the art of Long-Arm Quilting.

I volunteer as a quilter for Project Linus and 

absolutely enjoy quilting and consider it a true "work of heart"!  

 I'm so grateful for our blogging community, as without our friendships and support of one another, I don't know if this journey would be as much fun and as rewarding.  So thanks for that!

So how about you? 

Who taught you how to sew? 

When did you begin to quilt?

And a big shout out to Jenn. Thanks for the motivation to share my journey to quilting as I link and share with everyone at your Throwback Thursday Linky and Lorna's Let's Bee Social.

Sunday Sew Day

"Yep! I got got her back in the studio guys. 

 Keep reading to see everything my creative mom is up to. 

Oh! And thanks for all the belly rubs!" Jackson

It felt good to spend the morning catching up on all your blogs and we got in a long walk.

I finished this cute bear and star pantograph I was commissed to do for a friend.

I also prepared two blocks for the Bloom QAL

Now it's time to get the rest of the laundry folded, um excuse me Jackson, 

and myself ready for the work week. 

Happily, I'm four teaching days and one work day away from my Spring Stay-cation! 

My list is already started and I look forward to sharing it with you soon. 

This week's theme is Cross Hatch Quilting.

Underground Railroad Sampler Quilt

I took my first quilting class in the Fall of 2009. We used a simple pattern and learned about patchwork and quilting. We started with fabric selection and were guided through every step of the quilt-making process. Following this six week class, I was immediately hooked and found myself  immediately signing up for the only class available to this wee beginner, an Underground Railroad Sampler quilt class. (I know talk about jumping in with your feet first!)  Over the next ten months, seven of us met every Monday night at our LQS. We compared our progress. We discussed our challenges and of course, praised and cheered eachother along. 

I used the Kansas Trouble fabric line for this quilt.

I finished this sampler 10 months later, just in time to gift it to my parents for the 50th wedding anniversary. I made it specifically for their motorhome, as they travel 5 months out of the year, and there's nothing better than a home-made quilt by their "favorite" daughter (LOL!!)to make a place feel like home. My mom loves it so much, she uses it on their bed at home during their non-travel months! (Yes, this was one of those ultimate moments for me!)

As you can see, I was pretty proud of my accomplishment too!

September 2010

I always kinda miss the comaraderie of taking classes with quilty friends. Unfortunatly, I'm just too tired (or maybe I'm just getting older) at the end of school/work day to take a class until 9:00pm. We don't have a local guild. Saturdays are the only day off my husband and I have together. Store closed on Sundays. So thus, I'm grateful for blogging and our virtual guild of sorts we find here. Also, like many of you, I'm thankful for the opportunity of Tuesday Archives to document this sampler quilt here on my blog as I write a new post about an older quilt to share with you...

my "oohhh and aughhh" comaraderie of quilty friends.

Thankful Thursday

Thankful for that very first quilting class I took back in the Fall of 2009. I made this Pinwheel Quilt adapted from More Quilts for Babies by Ursula Reikes.

Each of these are 12" blocks. The finished quilt 52" x 64".

I found myself revisiting the basics from this class as I start to prepare my list of summer projects I want to accomplish. Spring is such a busy time for teachers (and parents) and I feel summer at hand's grasp...but still far enough away that I'm only getting in one day of sewing right now. (I hand sew in the evenings on weekdays...kinda like many of you may knit or crochet.) As I unearthed my beginner's book that was recommended: Machine Quilting with Alex Anderson for our continued learning, I reviewed all the basics of quilting once again and studied the seven exercises, projects and full-size quilting patterns. I also found these notes in my notebook:

Some fabric "tips" worth remembering:

1. You generally want atleast four colors in your "focus" fabric.

2. Don't have any "orphan" fabric...fabrics should be used more than once.

3.Every quilt should have a "sparkle" fabric.

4. Use a neutral thread color. Perhaps white or beige for light and medium fabrics; grey for dark fabrics. (100% cotton) I pieced this one using a light grey and it was quilted using red.

I've realized as I look back, how much I've grown as a quilter in the past 5 1/2 yeas. What was once new vocabulary: Omnigrid, quilter's safety pins, sashing, borders, and applique to name a few, are staple language now. I've worn bored with my early magazine subscriptions to: Am. Patchwork&Quiting, Fons and Porter, Love of Quilting. (Thanks mom for those subscriptions!) Do you have any NEW subrscriptions to recommend??

October 2009

So even though I'm not getting in as much sewing as I want right now, I'm thankful to be a quilter and humbled to remember my beginnings. Have you looked back lately? I know many of you have had quilting passed down through generations, some of you are self taught, others have taken a beginner's class like me. Please do comment and share your beginnings as a thankful quilter.  (And if you are inspired to, or have written a past post on the subject...please feel welcome to leave your link in the comments so we can stop by.) 

Tuesday Archives #35: Irish Chain & Fall Quilts

Welcome to the linky party that let's you rejuvenate your old quilting/sewing posts! 

(Check over in my right margin for the list of our November themes)

This week is all about skimming through those archives and finding quilts that showcase your IRISH CHAIN QUILTS/PROJECT and everything and anything that says: FALL. 

IRISH CHAIN QUILTS: 

Okay here's a blast to the past for you: YES! That's me about, 20 years ago! I found these photos slipped into an old pattern book and started busting up! I mean check out my hair! As I shared here, I'm a cancer survivor and I remember referring to this crazy hair as my million dollar perm. Seriously, it came back in ringlets after my 10 months of chemo. You may have noticed I'm not a long hair gal, but I did enjoy this wild hair for awhile. 

Remember the Mauve days of decorating!! Bahahahaaaaa!!! I made the bunnies too! I geuss you can say, "Crafts have always kept me sane" as these projects kept me busy when I was home sick from chemo or the girls where early to bed in the evenings. My mom still uses this quilt twenty years  later and takes such good care of it.

Fall

I've yet to meet a person who doesn't love the colors and transition of Fall. Last week I saw this wonderful Fall quilt by Shannon who blogs at Modern Tradition Quilts and knew immediately it had to be highlighted this week for our Fall Linky!

My Sunflower Memory Quilt

 I made this, my very first quilt, 18 years ago. My Aunt Cela (a quilter herself) bought me my first Omnigrid ruler, Olfa Rotary cutter and sent me home with a beginner's guide to quilting and this is what I created:

What's sentimental about this quilt is the fact that all the fabric was leftover from a sunroom we had in Arizona. (which was obviously decorated in Sunflowers! LOL!) This quilt always reminds me of family gatherings enjoyed in that room and of myself as a thrifty young mother who sewed curtains and chair cushions out of sunflower fabric!

With smiles,

Val:)