My quilting journey

As number 9 on a 10 stop blog hop it’s now my turn to tell how I got started on my journey into quiltie land (as my children have always insisted on calling my adventures)…

My bio page is up to date and tells most of the story so I won’t repeat that here but I have never actually published a picture of my first quilt before. I made it in a class in 1998 with Linda Yokelson at Stitches and Stuffing (now closed) in Naperville. I took the class because my friend Sheila made beautiful quilts and the whole process  intrigued me…

So, here is a picture of that quilt, held by Sheila just this week, for the world to see.

Lovely isn’t it?  I had never used a rotary cutter before. I learnt a lot while I was making it including the importance of a 1/4″ seam allowance, pressing to one side and nesting the seams at intersections. We tried hand appliqué and made different triangle blocks. It’s hand quilted with a flannel backing… my fabric choices left a little to be desired. Linda was a super patient, knowledgeable teacher and I booked my second class before I left the store with my quilt!

I have made hundreds of quilts since then. I started teaching 10 years ago. In spring 2012 I challenged myself to enter a quilt into two shows before the end of the year. I had finished my Imperial Blooms quilt in January so it was ready to go. Here it is with a third place ribbon at the AQS show in Des Moines.

Sending an entry in to a juried show is an interesting experience. Waiting to hear if your quilt has been accepted is scary! Anyway, Imperial Blooms has now been to Wisconsin, Iowa, California and Ohio and come home safely every time.

“In for a penny, in for a pound” the saying goes.

In February this year my little modern quilt went to QuiltCon and paid for me to visit it there.

In June my African Folklore Embroidery Quilt went to the NQA show in Columbus. It got a second place ribbon and I finally got a good picture!

The same month I had two quilts in a special modern quilt exhibit at Quilt Festival-Chicago (details here) and enjoyed being a part of Open Studios. All so much fun! So what’s next?

Good question! I’m looking forward to finding out. I have a full fall program and I plan to blog as I go. I’d love to have you come back soon and enjoy my adventures as they unfold.

As I said at the beginning this is the 9th stop on a 10 stop Blog Hop. Thanks for dropping in. Please follow along on the Blog Hop to the last stop and, if you have missed them, go back to the stops already posted!  Be sure to leave comments! (we all love comments)

Aug 1. Cyndi Zacheis Souder – http://moonlightingquilts.wordpress.com/
Aug 2. Becky Glasby – http://bumblebzs.blogspot.com/
Aug 3. Cheryl Sleboda – http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/blog/
Aug 4. Barb Forrister – http://www.barbforrister.com/category/blog
Aug 5. Jackie White – http://jabotquilt.blogspot.com/
Aug 6. Tracy Mooney – http://www.3littlebrds.com/
Aug 7. Lisa Chin – http://somethingcleveraboutnothing.blogspot.com
Aug 8. Laura Krasinski – http://laurakrasinskisartontherun.blogspot.com/
Aug 9. Catherine Redford – https://catherineredford.com/blog/
Aug 10. Sylvia Lewis – http://bunchberrystudio.blogspot.com/