Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Catch-Up: First Quilt

I made my first quilt, above, in about 2003 or 2004 (is this the most recent first quilt we've seen on the blog?). I can't imagine why I thought making a quilt was a good idea. At that point I was knitting a lot, and I guess seeing a Gee's Bend quilt was enough to make me take up a new craft.
Why didn't I use solids like the example?? Or at least cooler fabrics? Being broke was no excuse, since the Gee's Bend quilts aren't made with $9/yard fabrics, but I probably didn't know much about the quilts--I only remember seeing the picture and being inspired. I got the fabric at a Rag Shop craft store that was near my apartment. The store had leaks everywhere, and smelled like a place that had leaks everywhere. Hopefully that helps you understand their limited fabric options. I got a bunch of cheap calicos. And for some reason, velvety stuff for the back (no batting, because I had no idea there was such a thing).

I pieced and quilted the whole thing on a strange toy plastic sewing machine--I think my mom gave it to me at some point in college because she new I liked using her actual sewing machine, and she figured that was a suitable stand-in. Usually I believe the tool doesn't matter as much as its operator, but not in the case of tiny toy sewing machines!

This mostly lives in a dark corner of the closet, but it obviously got some cat-claw love at some point.

I went back to knitting for a while after this. I started up again in 2007, but finally began investigating the quilting process a little more, learning things like what batting and binding is. I believe my second quilt ever is the grandmother's flower garden I'm still plugging away on, which was kind of ambitious! I feel like I've come a long way since this quilt, but it's only been a few years. I still have plenty to learn :)



3 comments:

  1. I admire your spirit, Mary. There is a lot to learn and it is not so easy as some books claim. Have been at it over thirty years myself, and learn something new with each and every project. It is never boring!

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  2. Great beginnings! Thanks for sharing the photo Mary!

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  3. Think it's pretty amazing that you finished it!

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