Sewing memories

Tuesday evening at Uncommon Threads Quilt Guild 

we were asked to share our first quilt and a recent quilt.

I had to look through my stack of quilts in the closet and then a stack on the twin bed.

Finally I found the lap quilt below.

Martin helped me remember when I bought the pattern and fabric.

The summer of 2003 we visited San Diego and nearby towns when Martin went 

to a print run for the MWF&P's annual digest.

I like to visit fabric shops as we travel and I found a cute place in Carlsbad.

The pattern I chose had an ocean theme but the original fabric was not available.

I chose Peter Rabbit fabric and picked out plaids, 

flowers, and prints that I thought would make a pretty quilt.

A little background - I started sewing at my mother's feet as she sewed for our family.

I made doll dresses out of scraps and made a shirt for myself when I was ten.

I continued to make garments including a shirt for Martin but had never made a quilt.

My mom was a prize winning seamstress and quilter. 

I could have asked her for help with my first quilt.

But I didn't. 

My attitude has always been, I can do it myself.

So I went to a newly opened local quilt shop to get some supplies and a few pointers.

When the quilters in the shop looked at my pattern and fabrics, 

they assessed my choices and let me know that some changes needed to be made.

All of my plaids and prints were replaced with solids.

I think only two of my choices remained.

I finished the lap quilt complete with a flange as an inner border and machine quilted it.

I hand stitched the binding on.

My first quilt was finished around 2004.

I did not label or document my first quilt.

My recent quilt is quite different from the first one.

This one has blocks that were paper pieced.

(Mom had suggested that I paper piece my blocks to improve accuracy. "No thanks", I said.)

Since I moved to Tennessee I have learned to paper piece 

and enjoy making complicated paper pieced blocks.

I used a variety of scrap fabrics and patterns from several sources for the quilt below.

The layout is my own design.

I hand quilted this quilt.

The binding was machine sewn.

The crocheted doilies are from my mom's collection.

There is a label on the back that documents who made it, when, and why.

Still learning to quilt.

Still like to do it my way.

Thanks to my mom for teaching me to sew and being an example of a great fiber artist.