Hi all, I am new to this forum. I learned to quilt right after I got married in 2003 when my new hubby saw me cross stitching and asked if I knew how to make quilts. I spent the new few months gathering and learning and not accomplishing much of anything. Then we had our 1st son and twins followed before he turned 1. So obviously quilting pretty much completely stopped. My hubby would occasionally send me upstairs for a "craft retreat" lol. The only thing I did during that time was a block swap (more on that in a minute) where I made a total of 6 blocks a month for 8 months. I also found an amazing discount fabric store that I visited when hubby would send me away from the baby chaos. I collected novelty fabrics which I later used to make the kids and my niece & nephew I spy lap quilts.
When my kids started prek & K and K & 1st the next year I found a local quilt shop and became a regular at least a couple days a week, many days arriving after I dropped kids off at school and staying until it was time to pick them up. During that time I completed at least 15 quilts (that I can remember-I should have taken photos!). The kids each have an I Spy lap quilt and a twin size, I have a twin size and hubby has a double, and we all use them daily on our beds. Best advice I ever got from the quilt shop days was to have two quilts on your bed so you don't fight for blankets with your hubby - and twin or double size are easier to manage than calking size! My Grandma got one, which I recently got back after she passed and my brother got one at his wedding. There were a couple more birthday & grad quilts in there as well.
Then we made the decision to homeschool, which I loved but sadly all things quilting came to a grinding halt again. Now that my kids are done with school this year and are planning to attend a STEM school in the fall I decided it was time to organize my quilt area again and get back to it. The accountant in me needed to start with a detailed inventory (no way am I sharing that info with hubby!!!).
I counted 10 projects that I had started, including that first block swap from 12 years ago. The rest are all BOM classes that I started and are now in various stages of completion. Including 2 that are ready for pinning, and 2 that the blocks were done and only needed sashing added. In total I have enough fabric, for at least 30 projects and that includes 11 projects that I have everything including the batting and backing. I will be busy for a good long while! I will be starting with replacing our 5 bed quilts because they are all getting pretty worn, and the dog chewed through a couple spots of the boys quilts.
Anyway, I started with the two projects that only needed the sashing. The project class a BOM called something like B&W/Crayon. Basically you chose a black and a white fabric as your main fabrics then each month you were given a random crayon and had to match that color with fabric. There was an alternate method where you could pick a black & white fabric then your crayon color plus a shade darker or lighter to coordinate. Of course I couldn't choose and decided to do both options. At the time thinking it would give me two lap blankets for me & hubby but when I finished the tops a couple days ago I decided that I needed to replace my old worn quilt so rather than add borders to make them big enough for lap size (my least favorite thing to do) I joined them to make one larger twin size quilt. Now all I have to do is quilt it.
In the photo you can see my 2017 temperature blanket peeking out. I completed that project at the beginning of our lockdown. Then because I had given up knitting 15 years ago (I was doing it wrong but didn't know how to fix the twisting) I taught myself how to knit continental style so I could make dishcloths. Yay for Youtube Tutorials!!! I have been a busy bee and enjoying all the time at home lol
Next project is to do something with all those blocks from that block swap I did about 12 years ago! They are batik kitties and my daughter loves animals so it will be hers to replace her bed quilt. I only had 65 blocks so not nearly enough for a twin size. I would have to add several large borders (my least favorite thing to do) or make more kitties. She decided I needed to make more kitties, so off to the quilt shop we went. I laughed all the way there thinking that with all the fabric I have stashed I didn't have the right fabric to make more batik kitties!
So there you have it. If you have made it this far in my mini novel then you must be entertained LOL and if you remember the BOM Ginger Rose project from about 2012 and still have the Step 6 pamphlet I desperately need a copy!
When my kids started prek & K and K & 1st the next year I found a local quilt shop and became a regular at least a couple days a week, many days arriving after I dropped kids off at school and staying until it was time to pick them up. During that time I completed at least 15 quilts (that I can remember-I should have taken photos!). The kids each have an I Spy lap quilt and a twin size, I have a twin size and hubby has a double, and we all use them daily on our beds. Best advice I ever got from the quilt shop days was to have two quilts on your bed so you don't fight for blankets with your hubby - and twin or double size are easier to manage than calking size! My Grandma got one, which I recently got back after she passed and my brother got one at his wedding. There were a couple more birthday & grad quilts in there as well.
Then we made the decision to homeschool, which I loved but sadly all things quilting came to a grinding halt again. Now that my kids are done with school this year and are planning to attend a STEM school in the fall I decided it was time to organize my quilt area again and get back to it. The accountant in me needed to start with a detailed inventory (no way am I sharing that info with hubby!!!).
I counted 10 projects that I had started, including that first block swap from 12 years ago. The rest are all BOM classes that I started and are now in various stages of completion. Including 2 that are ready for pinning, and 2 that the blocks were done and only needed sashing added. In total I have enough fabric, for at least 30 projects and that includes 11 projects that I have everything including the batting and backing. I will be busy for a good long while! I will be starting with replacing our 5 bed quilts because they are all getting pretty worn, and the dog chewed through a couple spots of the boys quilts.
Anyway, I started with the two projects that only needed the sashing. The project class a BOM called something like B&W/Crayon. Basically you chose a black and a white fabric as your main fabrics then each month you were given a random crayon and had to match that color with fabric. There was an alternate method where you could pick a black & white fabric then your crayon color plus a shade darker or lighter to coordinate. Of course I couldn't choose and decided to do both options. At the time thinking it would give me two lap blankets for me & hubby but when I finished the tops a couple days ago I decided that I needed to replace my old worn quilt so rather than add borders to make them big enough for lap size (my least favorite thing to do) I joined them to make one larger twin size quilt. Now all I have to do is quilt it.
In the photo you can see my 2017 temperature blanket peeking out. I completed that project at the beginning of our lockdown. Then because I had given up knitting 15 years ago (I was doing it wrong but didn't know how to fix the twisting) I taught myself how to knit continental style so I could make dishcloths. Yay for Youtube Tutorials!!! I have been a busy bee and enjoying all the time at home lol
Next project is to do something with all those blocks from that block swap I did about 12 years ago! They are batik kitties and my daughter loves animals so it will be hers to replace her bed quilt. I only had 65 blocks so not nearly enough for a twin size. I would have to add several large borders (my least favorite thing to do) or make more kitties. She decided I needed to make more kitties, so off to the quilt shop we went. I laughed all the way there thinking that with all the fabric I have stashed I didn't have the right fabric to make more batik kitties!
So there you have it. If you have made it this far in my mini novel then you must be entertained LOL and if you remember the BOM Ginger Rose project from about 2012 and still have the Step 6 pamphlet I desperately need a copy!
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