006

{Because of my upcoming 10th quiltiversary, I'm reliving the quilts of my past.  The goal is to remember the how and why of the quilts I've made over the years, eventually trying to nail down a total number made.}

Fall/Winter of 2005:

This quilt represents quite an undertaking in my young quilting career, mostly because of the size.  I don't remember the exact dimensions, but it was meant (and it does) cover a queen sized bed.

I made this quilt for my mother and father in law for a Christmas present.  My husband and I often find it difficult to buy gifts for them and so - needing another project, I'm sure, and solving the problem of not knowing what to give them - I embarked on making this quilt on nothing else but my domestic sewing machine.

Even though this was late 2005,  I still remember that I searched online for a fabric line that I thought my mother-in-law would like and ordered it.  I also searched the Quilter's Cache site for a pattern that'd be appropriate for the fabrics, keeping in mind I wanted some negative space... I was premeditating those feathered wreaths. :)

Because I was pressed for time, because I had limited tricks up my sleeve, and because I was quilting this big quilt on a domestic machine, I started with stitching in my ditches all over the quilt and then went in and quilted the feathered wreaths over and over and over again.  

I just have to highlight one other "first" for this quilt, the borders are mitered!  (Way to go, Jess! I didn't know you tackled that technique so early.)  :)

It's sweet, my mother-in-law redecorated their bedroom based on this quilt, I wasn't ever expecting that.  If I'm not mistaken, they might still use it on their bed.  

I look at this quilt now and think that I can do so much better.  But, I think that's missing the point.  I wouldn't choose the fabrics or pattern again, but times change, styles change, abilities change, and for that one moment in time, it all came together and I was able to show my love and appreciation for them using those materials and burgeoning skills. So? Worth it. :)

005

{As I approach my 10 year quiltiversary, I'm taking stock of the quilts that I've made over the years, counting them up and remembering the how and why.}

Fall 2005:

It looks like someone found herself back on the Log Cabin wagon!  I scaled down the log size for this baby quilt.  I also used the same exact print for all of the light portions of each block.  I think it made a greater impact on the overall design.

I particularly like the light green centers of each block and how I repeated that same fabric in the inner border.  Verdict: I'm still proud of this quilt! :)

I used another new-to-me technique as far as the quilting goes.  This quilting pattern is a really traditional one called Baptist fans.  I remember that in order to achieve this quilting style, I drew the arcs onto a disposable plastic plates and cut them out.  I then tediously traced around the four arc templates onto the quilt top with a water-soluable pen.  Keep in mind that I had to repeat this process four times for every single repeat on the quilt.  It took awhile!

I used a variegated thread for the quilting for the first time.  I've always been quite "meh" about variegated thread.  To this day, I don't use it on a customer quilt unless the customer insists on it and then place a special order for the particular color they're wanting.  

Like quilt 004, we gave this quilt to one of my husband's co-workers.

004

I'm revisiting the quilts of my past, and I'm still in the fall of 2005.  This baby quilt was completed just two weeks after quilt no. 003. 

My husband and I were invited to a couples baby shower for one of his coworkers at the time.  Quiltmaking was still so new and exciting to me that I couldn't bear to pick a gift from their registry - I had to explore a new idea, a new pattern.  Lord knows I needed a break from the log cabin pattern!

I could critique my fabric choices now, but I see the progression in learning as I look back and that is a precious thing.  I was growing and evolving with every new project.  In present-day quiltmaking, that's still my goal.

I cross-hatched the background, but what I was trying to feature in this photo was the "E" I quilted in the middle of the star block.  The baby's name was Elizabeth and I wanted to personalize the quilting.  It's not highly visible, but again, I tried a new thing and I learned from that experience.

I used stencils to pull off the butterfly border and I also see that I hand-tacked the binding down on the back side of the quilt.

Life is life.  People come into our tiny corner of the world and then leave it, sometimes it is us leaving them.  Honestly, we were not very close friends with the family this quilt went to and in a few short years, we lost touch with them completely.  Job changes, moves, life just happens and we move on.  It's a touch sad, mostly it's just a reality.  This situation is not unique, in fact, there will be a lot of quilts on my list that will bring back memories - only memories - of a passing friendship.  But not a single regret. 

003

I'm revisiting the quilts of my past, one by one [for now].  There's a strong to quite-strong chance that no one else will be interested in this retelling of history, but dang it - it's my journal, and I really want to know a number.

The year was still 2005, it was the fall and another friend of mine was having her first child.  Judging by the color scheme I chose, they didn't yet know the gender of the lil one at the time. 

This quilt marked a turning point for me, and an important one. It was the first quilt I solely machine quilted.  I took a domestic machine quilting class just prior to piecing the top and I COULD NOT WAIT to apply the techniques I'd learned to make this quilt better than my last two quilts.  The information I learned in the class  was such a difference maker!

Ready for the worst quality pictures in the history of the Internet?

Yeah, I can't even believe I just published those. :)  Let's just let that be a commentary on the times (again, it was 2005) and my enthusiasm for moving onto the next quilt and not caring about the photography. (Okay, I do wish I had cared a little bit about the photography.)

002

Part of me is thinking, "You're not really going to go through your quilt pictures and blog about them one at a time, are you?"  The answer is: I'm not sure.  Maybe?

What's this? Another log cabin quilt thanks to Eleanor Burns's Quilt in a Day book?  Guilty!  Why mess with a good thing?

This was made for a childhood friend of mine who was having her first baby - a girl.  And our school colors were purple and gold - did I really purposefully choose our school colors?  I honestly don't remember.  It's a good combo, nonetheless. 

Another thing I keep saying to myself: "Bless your heart, Jess".  I don't know if that translates well, but I'm so proud of my beginner self trying new techniques, even if they aren't executed that well.

Maybe you can see from the photo above, I both tied and machine quilted this baby quilt.  I had a little pucker in the machine quilting, but I wasn't too worried about it. :) I also see that I did a binding instead of turning it like a pillowcase.  Again: points for trying, young one.

I totally remember being thrilled with finding the most appropriate, fitting backing fabric.

Baby quilts are my favorite thing to make.  It's because of the size mostly.  Being able to try out a new idea on a smaller scale without the same time/resource investment as a full size quilt.  But still the act of giving a gift for a new life - it just doesn't get better in my opinion. 

001

This was my first finished quilt.  Not the first one I started - mind you - the first one I completed. :)  The one I first started is still a UFO.

In the spring of 2005, I gave up working an office job I really liked.  I left for another job I ended up really liking too - it was a working from home gig called M-o-m. :) One of my former coworkers-turned-friend got married in the fall of 2005.  At the time, I was just discovering patchwork and becoming enamored with fabrics and pattern - I couldn't wait to finish my first quilt.  I saw my friend Josh's wedding as an opportunity to gift a quilt of my own to the happy couple.  Having a deadline definitely helped me see the project through to completion.

Following Eleanor Burns's Quilt in a Day Log Cabin book, I made the blocks shown above and really had a good time arranging them into different configurations.  I landed on the layout shown and sewed the top together.  And then I honestly looked at it and thought -- okay, why isn't it a quilt yet?!  Why doesn't it look like the one my sister made for me?  I hadn't actually considered that the quilt I'd made was really just a quilt top.  I had no idea how to finish it, so I called my sister who I knew had pulled off a finished quilt at least twice before.

I found a flat sheet on sale at Bed, Bath & Beyond and used it for the backing fabric.  I bought one of the standard polyester high-loft batts from Joann's.  I sewed the three layers together around the perimeter and left a hole to turn that mother out, pillowcase-style.  It worked!  For the finishing touch, and to add much needed stability, I tied embroidery floss through the layers all over the quilt.

It's funny that I don't have any pictures of the finished quilt.  The only two pictures I do have look exactly like the one above.  I didn't care about photography, that's for sure.  And honestly? I was probably in too big of a rush to finish before the wedding that I didn't have time to stop and take more pictures.  That sounds more like me.