What's your best quilt story?

[GuitarGramma]

I just watched this story of a woman's first quilt: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YET0e46mvI

What's your first quilt story? Here's mine, with a bit of musical accompaniment ...

My first quilt took about six years to complete, and it's certainly not as emotional as Karen's. My eldest daughter and I took our first quilting class when she was in 7th grade, and I finished the quilt just before she left for college.

As is our family tradition, I wrote song lyrics to present the quilt to my DD, sung to the tune of "Bye, Bye Miss American Pie." (Note: "Oz" is Australian for "Australia," where we lived for a couple of years. We actually worked on some of the quilt blocks on the plane!)

A long, long time ago
We began a project that should not have taken quite so long.
And I knew if I had my chance, that I could make those stitches dance,
And maybe I could finish this for you.

But years went by and made me shiver.
It seemed that I could not deliver
The Quilt that we had started.
It left me broken hearted.

But then you went to NYC,
And that left one more chance for me
To finish off the Quilt that we
Began in 'Ninety-three.

So bye, bye dear Miss Kimberly C,
First from Roseville, then to Oz, now to USD.
Here's a lovely little gift to help you keep nice and warm
When you're curled up with a book in your dorm.
How long this took should not be the norm.

An old, old habit of mine
Is to give a gift before its time.
You see, I'm not quite finished yet.
But in this box please take a peek,
I'll finish it by end of week,
And you can take it when we go
To school, in San Diego.

So bye, bye, dear Miss Kimberly C,
First from Roseville, then to Oz, now to USD.
Here's a lovely little gift to help you keep nice and warm
When - you're - curled - up - with - a - book - in - your - dorm!

[cv quilter]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

Fun fun fun. Where's the pic of the quilt? lol

[Kgrammiecaz]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

That was awesome. Love that you did a song. My first quilt story is very simple. Went to a Joanns class with a friend back around 2001. The class was a disaster (sorry Joanns, but the instructor was not attentive to those of us that did not know what we were doing). I sewed in highschool, again when my second was born in 1977, and pretty much not again until 2001. So, the seams Ik ew were far from being a quarter inch. I can easily laugh now about it, but I was disappointed in classmates who laughed at me and my friend. I did not take a beginning class because I knew what I was doing.

So, my quilt top came out a bit smaller. No problem. It was for me. It took weeks to finish, but finish I did. And I still have it and use it from time to time. I dont have a pic at the moment. It is pretty for a first quilt, I am happy for the experience. My friend has not yet, to this day, finished hers lol.

It would several years later before I started in again. With working as much as I do, and a few health issues that keep me tired, and I love to travel even if just to go to Jersey to see my mom, I have little time for doing what I truly love. Only 2.7 years to retirement and the sewing room is where I will live. Looking forward to it.

I am looking forward to more stories here.

Great post to start up thank you Toni.

[GuitarGramma]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

Fun fun fun. Where's the pic of the quilt? lol

Oh, thank you for asking!

The blocks were made with templates and were hand sewn. Kim and I chose different color ways for each pattern, so the blocks were half done by her and half by me. I then moved to the machine to join the blocks, to quilt, and to bind.
KimsQuilt2.jpg

[GuitarGramma]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

My first quilt story is very simple. Went to a Joanns class with a friend back around 2001. The class was a disaster (sorry Joanns, but the instructor was not attentive to those of us that did not know what we were doing). I sewed in highschool, again when my second was born in 1977, and pretty much not again until 2001. So, the seams Ik ew were far from being a quarter inch. I can easily laugh now about it, but I was disappointed in classmates who laughed at me and my friend. I did not take a beginning class because I knew what I was doing.

So, my quilt top came out a bit smaller. No problem. It was for me. It took weeks to finish, but finish I did. And I still have it and use it from time to time. I dont have a pic at the moment. It is pretty for a first quilt, I am happy for the experience. My friend has not yet, to this day, finished hers lol.

I have found that there are good teachers and, well, not-so-good teachers. Every teacher should ask about student's backgrounds and experience levels! Glad to know you finished your quilt.

[BarbaraB]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

My first quilt was a baby quilt I made my daughter from squares cut from all my maternity clothes. The batting was an old blanket and the backing was an old sheet. The quilting was plain stitch in the ditch. But that didn't really start me quilting.
About 5 years ago my daughter cleaned out her closet and found that old quilt. It had been torn and the dog had chewed it. It was completely torn up and DD was just about in tears about having to toss it. At the time she was working in the natural gas industry and living in a motel and coming home on the occasional weekend. So off I went to a quilt store in town, purchased all the materials I needed according to the owner of the store. It was made from batik charm packs and a simple border. I surprised her with it a few weeks later. That is what got me hooked on quilting.

[201 Treadler]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

love your story, love the rhyme
my first finished quilt was a half hexie e pattern by Deonn Stott
a sheep quilt, was great fun to do, learnt to line up the seams, was a lot of un-sewing 'before got it', was a steep learning curve. remember fondly, then the researching to the next step, the free motion quilting, good grief, will never forget the 1st free motion, watched a few you tubes, then started treadling, keeping rhythm, moving fabric, keeping the fm design, keep breathing, keeping moving, keeping treadling, you know am proud of that quilt.
my first quilt pattern purchased was the sewing room but that took a few years, to put it together, then decided wanted to use all ufo blocks so un-sew rejigged , and made that quilt. am proud of that one too, a sampler of techniques.

Of course there was the quilts in between,
two were sewn with solar power in the garden, one free motioned on a sports field, while on vacation, so it was finished in time for nephews birthday.
fond memories

[GuitarGramma]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

@201Treadler: What a fun journey! You speak of treadling and, of course, that's your handle; then you speak of solar power. Do you sew without electricity???

[CraftyJnet]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

What a fun thread! Thank you, Toni, for starting it.
My first quilt was just a few years ago. Basically sewed 10 inch blocks together side by side. It was so shocking in color choice that it was hard to say anything nice about it. My MIL cut it up to use for baby quilts but no one wanted it and off to goodwill it went. I hope someone liked it.

[201 Treadler]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

Hi Guitar Gramma

@201Treadler: What a fun journey! You speak of treadling and, of course, that's your handle; then you speak of solar power. Do you sew without electricity???

the short answer is yes sort of solar panel, charges the battery which runs the inverter, which changes 12volts into electric.

the longer answer
Love treadling but that is too heavy for moving out door x uphill into garden on level part to sew on own,
quickly learnt hand cranking was a no no for me, so use a featherweight, because it was light easy to move, cute, does not use much power, but then the electric is not an quick easy connection to home, due to the flatter area being uphill far away from a socket, (plus the other reason read on)
so solar,12 volt battery and inverter work just as well for me. Its nice to stitch outdoors hearing the wildlife, enjoying weather.

how this all came about is
in 2013 got a lovely new to me electric sewing machine (thankfully not a fabulous many stitches expensive one like a janome 6600), to recover a chair (actually undid all the staples made patterns and sew, please blame youtubes for giving me the idea could do it, hahaha perhaps a story for another time).

While sewing the upper right wing cover a massive electric surge happened, The sewing machine suffered, other white goods washing machine, oven, and dishwasher, fridge. these were all plugged in at the time, the dishwasher went bang scare the whotsits out of me, my back was to it, same moment while was sewing at kitchen table the sewing machine stopped, the fridge just did not restart.

it was an expensive time and an expensive lesson, thankfully only the fridge and dish washer got replaced, the motors we replaced in the washing machine and oven, thank goodness for those online parts suppliers with youtube tuition.
the lovely sewing machine went back in its box till could resolve.

a treadle human power sewing machine was sourced to finish the chair which was sat on a cover on kitchen table. Needing the table for meals.
the treadle started a love of vintage, the learning, researching which went into using, looking after, engineering, re finishing the french polish aka shellac, (well makes me happy,)
some collecting happened now down sized.

everything is now plugged into the rcd's, surge protectors, and disconnected straight after use, even though the power company rewired (they forgot to turn the street back on, it was funny had been treadling most of the day was providing the gents with hot drinks as the weather was bitter outside, the kettle was on fire, later on we had connected up but were isolated from the power lines, to the solar battery inverter so were lit up, others were wandering around by candle light)
The fridge is unplugged when we hear thunder. in fact the electric pole round corner was hit with lightening so unplugging was a good thing.
then last year during the storms we saw a main line cable was shorting across the way
the led lights still flicker, go duller in winter when everyone else uses electric, having the costs of the surge, do not want really want to buy a fancy machine to have it broke again
this is why prefer human power or solar power, plus it makes me happy knowing can make small amount of electric power anywhere if needed.
there are solar panels on some roofs in England, but the way they are wired up, is they give power to home only if electric is on, so when there is a power cut they do not have power ( its to save the folk working on the lines not getting electrocuted ).

hope above makes sense and answers.
T

[Caroline T.]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

Not my "first" quilt story, but it's my best: Prior to my Mother passing away, I was tasked by her to complete her UFOs for her. Mom was an avid quilter, and at that time I was a dabbler, but that quickly changed .....

This is the letter that went with one of Mom's completed ufo's to my sister:

Dear Joan,

This is the third of what I have come to refer to as the Mother/Daughter quilts. Julie received the first one in celebration of Mom's birthday this year, and George received his for his birthday.

As I have been working on Mom's various quilts this one in particular that she was hand quilting, was the most difficult, not just in skill, but emotionally as well. When Mom first showed me this quilt about twenty years ago, she called it her "lifetime quilt" as it was going to take her a lifetime to finish it. And she even prophesied that I would probably have to finish it for her.

As I worked on it, my stitching was so terrible and was nowhere close to her skill that I ripped out my work several times, and eventually succumbed to tears. I kept thinking about Mom telling me once how after Grandma Dyches passed away, Mom took possession of Grandma's African Lilacs and they slowly one by one died and how she felt that she had disappointed her Mother. That's how I felt.

Mike in his wisdom and compassion pointed out to me that my work wasn't suppose to look like Mom's. After all, these quilts are a joint effort between a Mother and Daughter, and the quilts should represent the love of two people for each other and for the recipient of the quilt.

With that realization and acceptance, and knowing that Mom eventually did learn how to successfully grow African Lilacs, I have been able to continue with her projects with joy and the knowledge that although my skills may never match Mom's, she'll always be inspiring me.

Mom originally had planned on this quilt having 16 blocks. She had completed the hand appliquéd and quilting of 8 of them, and there was one more that she had completed the appliquéing of, but not the quilting. The rest are in various stages of appliqué, and the fabrics are so stained and damaged with age, that I decided to keep this quilt smaller that she had planned. So with that, I finished the 9th block by machine quilting it, and sewed all the blocks together. Maybe someday I'll go back to those last squares and see if I can revive them, but I believe I'll definitely wait until my skills have improved.

Joanie, as I have worked on each quilt so far, I wanted to keep each and every one, Julie's because I loved the colors and George's because of the vintage fabrics, and the one that is planned for Jamie I'm sure I'll go thru the same thing. But this one... this one was the toughest, because of what this quilt represented to me. I thought the quilt itself was Mom's gift to me, but I was wrong. The quilt represents the legacy I received from her, the love of the craft, and the expression of love for those that we create these quilts for. For that reason, I wanted you to have this quilt, since to me, it represents Mom's lifetime love for her family and for her craft, which I'm proud to carry on in her honor.

The love that Mom and I share for each other and especially for you, is forever woven into the threads of this quilt. Think of us both every time you wrap yourselves in its warmth.

With all our love,

Hawaiin Quilt.jpg

[cv quilter]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

201 treadler….You are true pioneer woman! Oh my gosh, how I admire your determination and persistence. Admiration from me.

[GuitarGramma]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

@Caroline: What a beautiful story! Thank you for sharing the importance of a legacy project. You've motivated me to pull out the afghan my grandmother was making for me when she died. I really ought to finish it, as that would honor her so.

@Treadler: My hat is off to you! What ingenuity!

[shermur]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

Back in 2012, my daughter's competitive softball team was hosting a poker tournament and silent auction to raise funds for the comp softball season (game fees and equipment expenses). Halona and I decided to make a quilt for the silent auction...something simple, yet appealing. I was hand quilting the project hours before the evening event. The head administrator of the team complex was amazed how quick the quilt was created and it was the only quilt submitted. Halona seemed devastated that the quilt would go to someone else's home other than our home.

The winning bid of $55.00 was from a former coach of the team organization. Halona was almost in tears at that point. I gave the folded quilt for her to present it to the winning bidder. When she held it out to the gentleman, she told him that she was glad the quilt was going to a good home. The gentleman saw that she was teary eyed and told Halona that he would donate the money and she could take the quilt home with her!

softball quilt.jpg

[SuzanneOrleansOntario]

Re: What's your best quilt story?

What a beautiful thread. So many inspiring stories and heartwarming memories, it definitely shares everyone's love for quilting.

I was especially close to my maternal grandmother who quilted. She used whatever fabrics she had, turning old clothes, coats into wonderful crazy patch quilts, embellished with embroidery. I spent summer vacation time with her, and remember falling asleep, stroking all the fabrics, velvety, satins, and ribbons. I wanted to quilt like my grandma. Unfortunately she died when I was 10, so she never taught me to piece. She did teach me how to sew basic pieces, knit and play yooker. My mom didn't sew or quilt. I later learned from my older cousins that she made a quilt for them when they got married. I had a lot of cousins. I did get the pieces of the last quilt she was working on for Canada's centennial. Mom had it finished and I have it. I digress.

Spring of 2015, I signed up for a class at LQS to make sampler quilt, 12 blocks. I picked purple and blue fabrics I loved. I was, what the teacher called a zealous over-achiever. I soon realized that I did not have purple in my house or need a lap quilt, and besides I have a king size bed. By the 2nd class, I was searching for more of the same fabrics at LQS to make larger. Not easy as this was a popular line. Eventually I had enough and I had drawn out a symmetrical pattern of 49 blocks. A far cry from the 12 blocks. I kept up, sewing extra blocks at home and 6 weeks, I had the top and sashing finished. I needed the last class to know how to square up and add border. A week later it was finished, and off to LAQ. I learnt a lot, got acquainted with Jack the Ripper and mostly, always buy more fabric than needed. I appreciated having a teacher who was patient and very particular about proper techniques. Oh, did I mention that 2 other students in the class followed my lead by making their quilt larger. I joined a guild in the fall and put it on display at the spring quilt show. I was hooked. In my first year, I made 14 quilts, 5 which were King size and the others lap-twin. The Kings were quilted by LAQ but the other I did on my DSM. I look back and think, that was insane.

image.jpg

My goal is to make quilts for family and friends. I also have a healthy stash of quilts I haven't parted with. The right moment will present itself for the quilt to be given.