My First Quilt

My quilting journey has been a long one, I've had a needle and thread in my hand since I can remember. I started out sewing doll clothes, graduated to making most of my own clothing by the time I was in high school. My mom passed her love of sewing on to me, and taught me most of what I needed to know! I took home ec. in school, also, and was lucky enough to have teachers that were encouraging and pushed me to go further, and do quality work. In my teens I made myself a pieced comforter from scrap fabrics and pieces purchased from the sears catalog (there were lots of places that sold fabric in the 70's that don't anymore). It was made out of rectangles set like bricks with the seams alternating every other row. It was filled with a double layer of poly batting, then pillowcased with a sheet for the backing. No binding makes a quickie quilt! I used this on my bed through high school and took it with me when I got married. It was used as a bed quilt, as a couch quilt, and a kid quilt. Not sure what happened to it, but I would love to find it and look at all the fabrics again, it really was a sampler of my life.

My next quilt was one for a double bed and it was made out of pre-cut squares from percale sheets. My mom and I bought a couple sets and swapped colors so we had our favorites. Mine was browns and blues. I pieced the top and tied it with the usual two layers of batting and a pillowcase edge again. We used this for many years, and still have it, it's so soft and lovely to snuggle in! Not a work of art, but it kept us cozy and warm!

My first real quilt was this one:
I made this in 1986 when I was pregnant with my fourth daughter. You can't tell from this view because the background is a small floral with a white background and blue flowers! Not the best pick color wise, but we were kind of hoping for a little boy! The pattern was from Woman's Day magazine, I believer. All the pieces were cut by hand with cardboard templates. I hand stitched it all - no thimble, using a hope and a stab-stitch. Didn't know about rocking my needle yet. The hearts are hand applique and padded. For the quilting I used two strands of regular sewing thread! The edges are prairie points instead of binding. My daughter still has her quilt and loves it, and I have made so many more since that I can't count them all. I think I learn something new with every one - and definitely have improved in knowledge and technique over the years. How fun it is to look back and remember when I first started out, and how much enjoyment I have had over the years with fabric, needle and thread - I wouldn't trade it all for anything!