I've always wanted to learn how to quilt, and it always seemed so out of reach, something only old ladies did. Boy, was I wrong! Until a couple years ago, I didn't even have a sewing machine. I kept telling myself I'll do it later when I have more time or when the all the kids are in school or when I'm not so busy. And one day I realized that I'll long be dead before my life calms down at all. So, a few years ago my Mom bought me a simple sewing machine for Christmas. I re-learned to sew, and made skirts and pajama pants for the kids. But, wanting to learn to quilt was always lingering in my mind.
I decided there was no good reason to put it off any more. So, I took a couple classes, did some reading, went to a quilt show, bought a pattern and even made the quilt top. But, then it was time to actually put the batting & backing on and quilt it. It seemed too intimidating, so I decided to make a small sample quilt that I could practice on. I gathered a bunch of fabric, and made a little doll's quilt, and quilted and bound it with the help of many youtube videos. And, WOW! What a trainwreck! I made every mistake possible, and it was so bad that I almost gave up and threw it away. I also realized my sewing machine was not capable of quilting, so I went out and bought a decent machine, and what a difference that made!! So, I pushed through and finished it anyway. And, I gave it to my daughter for her AG doll, and she loves it! I must admit the colors look pretty good, and from far away you can't really tell how bad it is :-) But, I learned a TON, and then I decided to finish the one I started like a year ago. And, I made a decent amount of mistakes, but it's a million times better and is functional. I gave that one to my youngest daughter, and she loves it too!
I love being able to make something special and functional for people I care about! I love picking out fabric and patterns and thinking about who will be using it. I'm currently working on another one, which is proving to be a little more difficult and time consuming because of all the pieces, but I hope it will turn out well. I think I'll add a tab to share all of my crafting things.
I decided there was no good reason to put it off any more. So, I took a couple classes, did some reading, went to a quilt show, bought a pattern and even made the quilt top. But, then it was time to actually put the batting & backing on and quilt it. It seemed too intimidating, so I decided to make a small sample quilt that I could practice on. I gathered a bunch of fabric, and made a little doll's quilt, and quilted and bound it with the help of many youtube videos. And, WOW! What a trainwreck! I made every mistake possible, and it was so bad that I almost gave up and threw it away. I also realized my sewing machine was not capable of quilting, so I went out and bought a decent machine, and what a difference that made!! So, I pushed through and finished it anyway. And, I gave it to my daughter for her AG doll, and she loves it! I must admit the colors look pretty good, and from far away you can't really tell how bad it is :-) But, I learned a TON, and then I decided to finish the one I started like a year ago. And, I made a decent amount of mistakes, but it's a million times better and is functional. I gave that one to my youngest daughter, and she loves it too!
I love being able to make something special and functional for people I care about! I love picking out fabric and patterns and thinking about who will be using it. I'm currently working on another one, which is proving to be a little more difficult and time consuming because of all the pieces, but I hope it will turn out well. I think I'll add a tab to share all of my crafting things.
Here is my first official quilt - the doll quilt. I totally messed up the corners and many other things, but Saige the AG doll doesn't seem to mind. Sometimes learning the wrong way to do things is the most valuable way to learn.
This is not the best picture, but this is the 2nd quilt I made. You can see my 3 year old behind it for scale. It turned out pretty well. I bound it in purple which I thought would look cool, but I don't love it. Another lesson learned and overall it's not that bad.
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