My First Quilt!

I owe all of my love of fabric, yarn, and art to my mom. I learned to sew on her 1965 Singer sewing machine and I learned to crochet when I was five. I was forever making barbie clothes for my little sisters. I was never denied scraps of yarn or fabric, never denied a trip to the library for craft books, never denied 4-H for home arts. Because of my mom, I learned to sew my own clothes in high school. I took Home-Ec all four years. I was president of the FHA (Future Homemakers of America) both my Junior and Senior years in High School.

For my Christmas present the year my son was born (1988) my mom gave me quilt lessons through the local recreation district. Twice a week for 6 weeks, we met in the library at the local high school. I was the youngest one there at the age of 21. As a single mom, it was one of my few social outlets. My son Brady, would be asleep in his car seat. If he was fussy and I was stitching, one of the ladies would pick him up and cuddle him. It was awesome! The following quilt was my first ever. The points in my card tricks don't match. I am okay with that. This quilt wrapped my son and 4 years later, my daughter. I love it.!

I was talking with my hubby about this post and I cannot believe my first quilt lessons were 21 years ago. My hubby and I will be married 19 years in November. I would like to know where all that time has gone, because it doesn't seem like that long ago.

Peaking out from under my first quilt is my second quilt. I would like to show you my second quilt. It is well loved and a lot tattered! I made this double wedding ring around 1995. It is lap-sized. I have used it as my everyday quilt from the day that I made it. It is hand pieced and hand quilted. I entered it in one of the local county fairs in 1995 and won 1st place in the hand pieced/hand quilted category. Curved edges have become one of my obsessions. I love to do curved edges.

And here is my latest quilt. It is hanging on the wall in my bedroom as my headboard for my bed. I used to have a fantastic log cabin style 4 poster bed with matching dressers. Our landlord changed her mind in regards to us buying it from her. I thought I would be really sad about losing it, but found out that I am not. I am in the middle of redoing our bedroom and am quite pleased with the results so far. It is not close to being done and I am okay with that. I have a tendency towards OCD, so this is huge for me to not be stressed out about things being partially done. I am in the process of making a new quilt for our bed. The one that is on there now is an antique one that I inherited from a great-aunt while I was still in high school. But that is a story for another post.
I would like to thank Carrie http://lavieenrosie.typepad.com/lavieenrosie/ and Camille http://camilleroskelley.typepad.com/simplify/ for asking everyone to share. I can't wait for Monday!

Have a great day!

Donnelly

Bedroom Redo

I have been redoing my bedroom. Rick traded an old radio for a small dresser that I turned into a vanity. All it took was a little elbow grease, 2 coats of primer, 2 coats of paint, a little crackle medium, Vinyl covered fabric by Sandy Henderson (her Ginger Tile line) for Michael Miller Fabrics, some fabric ric-rac by Michael Miller Fabrics and new porcelain knobs. I think it turned out great, if I say so myself!

Being a vanity, it had to have a chair. I redid the bottom of an old chair that I had gotten for free years ago. I used a Soiree honey bun. Soiree is designed by Lila Tueller. The colors in the honey bun were the inspiration colors for my vanity. I used Jen Duncan's "Sweet n Shabby Woven Pillow Cover" for my inspiration in covering the chair bottom. You can find the tutorial on http://modabakeshop.com/ or on Jen Duncan's blog http://jenduncan.typepad.com/

I will be making a queen-sized quilt with the same fabrics and another Lila Tueller line called "Woodland Flowers". Both lines have a lot of the same colors in them, so I think they would match pretty well. I have yet to get started on that but I have lots of ideas and inspirations that I have found in blog land that I want to try. As soon as I get the quilt done, I will post what the whole room looks like. I have yet to rearrange the photos and art or anything like that. I am also on the hunt for a smallish book shelf for a little nook by the door.

Have a great day.

Donnelly