This is the very first quilt top I began at 13.I loved watching Little House on the Prairie and the quilts on their beds, plus I was learning to sew on a sewing machine.
Like many quilters, I was given my first needle and spool of thread at 6, taught how to hand sew and fell in love with fabric.
I had saved fabric scraps from my mom (who loved to sew clothing) to make into doll clothes.
Without a pattern or instructions I made the 9-patch blocks from these scraps of fabric.
You can see that they didn't line up well at all, as I had not considered the variation that could occur...and I even used fake fur from a puppet my mom made for my brother.
That's the best part of this keepsake, which I still treasure. There are fabrics from clothing and aprons my mom and even my grandma wore.
It did take me until my thirties to make my next quilt - and I've never looked back.
But that story is for another day....
I'd love to hear your 'first quilt' stories - share them in the comments!
Daily Inspiration...
When I first moved into this sweet little home, I covered a section of the paneling, that is above my desk, with pictures of family, loved ones and more.
I then glued them with watered down glue, directly onto the paneling.
And even included a fabric swatch and favourite ribbons to fill some spaces.
Since then, I have added to this collage wall, as I had to add my two Grandsons & my cat Ash.
I love this inspiration wall - In the 8 years I've lived here, I can always garner a smile by looking at those lovely pictures!
Vintage Fabric Eye Candy...
 |
| Image © School of Textiles 2018 and shared with permission Click to go to original tweet. |
Happy Saturday Stitching!
Benita, my cousin and I wanted to learn to sew so at age 12 my mom and dad bought both of us a Singer sewing machine. Mom and Dad sent me to a sewing class at the Singer store. My first project was a wine colored dress. I continued to sew clothing for years for myself and my daughters. At age 16 my grandmother had to move from her country home to a home in the city. Her health was failing and she needed to be where we could help her more. While helping her pack I found a quilt top and some blocks that my mom had made. She gave them to me. When I became pregnant with my first daughter I decided to use the quilt blocks my mom had made to make a quilt for my daughter. Then when I became pregnant with my second I made a Dutch Boy and Girl applique quilt for that daughter. I didn't make another quilt until I retired. I took a quilting class and made a log cabin quilt. I continue to sew and quilt. I love piecing quilts more than anything and applique is my favorite. An aunt of mine taught me to embroidery when I was around age 8. I often use embroidered blocks in my quilts, too. I am always working on some kind of needle work at night in front of the TV.
ReplyDeleteI love your quilting journey, Kaye.
DeleteThanks for sharing it!
Benita, I am the oldest of 3 girls. We lived in the country and our mother made most of our clothes until we started school. She gave us pieces of fabric to make clothes for our dollies which were chubby cupie dolls or trim 8" dolls. My favorite items to make were ruffled tiered skirts. I still have a couple of them. One skirt I even sewed sequins onto the polka dots. It was several years before I had a small child's sewing machine, but I still preferred sewing those ruffled skirts by hand. Most of our fabrics were from feedsacks that were quite abundant at the time. I kept my fabrics, thread, scissors, needles and project in a round oatmeal box. My mother had a subscription to Workbasket magazine and she taught us to embroidery using iron-on patterns that came with the magazine. Mom was also a quilter, so I learned to love quilting at an early age by sewing squares of fabric together for quilts for my dolls though I didn't actually do a major quilt until I was about 19. I used a white sheet and ironed on a purchased pattern of a peacock in a pink dogwood tree with clusters of pink dogwood around the sides and corners. Mom and I quilted it by hand (on a frame set up in our living room) using a 3" crisscross pattern. Gosh, I was so proud of that quilt, but did learn that quilting on a sheet with cotton batting is not easy. Finally gave that quilt to my 18 year old granddaughter last year since I rarely used it. I embroidered an animal print quilt for my first baby girl in 1965 and have been doing all kinds of needlework ever since. Love working with fabric with my hands.
ReplyDeleteYour story is wonderful, Betty!
DeleteWhat an amazing treasure you passed onto your Granddaughter, since her Grandma & Great Grandma both put love into that quilt!!
Thanks for sharing your lovely memories.