My First Quilt

The other day I read an interesting blog,called Cinnamon Sticks. She spoke about a first quilt that was put on the shelf for years and the maker pulled it out and finished it. I was moved to do the same. Here is my first quilt. It's a miniature pineapple quilt. It was not foundation pieced. I cut each little strip individually. If I'd only known now what I didn't know then...is that the correct way to say it? Well, you know what I mean. How dumb was I? The craftsmanship involved in making a miniature quilt is more for an advanced quilter, not a first time quilt maker. Constructing a quilt with larger pieces is generally easier. While constructing a miniature quilt, if you sew a fraction of a fraction of an inch off the seam, you can mess up your quilt! If you really want a challenge, try a miniature quilt. Back to the beginning of my quilting life. I had been sewing clothes for a number of years. Having made some for myself, but, mainly for my 2 daughters. You know, the frilly dresses for pictures and Easter. Back then it was economical to sew, not so much today. Sewing today is more about enjoying the process and making something with your hands that looks nice and is complete. First of all, I took a beginning quilting class at our local quilt shop in Houston, Texas, USA, called Creatively Sew. It was great at sellingbeautiful fabric, but, fell woefully short in the education of a first time quilter. All we did was one block, the Ohio Star, which we were encouraged to make into a pillow. This was 30 years ago and the pillow has long since gone by the wayside. Ohio Star, by the way, is one of my all time favorite blocks, maybe because it was the first one I made. Being a person who usually dives in head first in any endeavor, and now finding a new obsession, I saw a pattern for miniature quilts and I thought that looks easy...it's small...you know...small and easy...HA! But, I learned so much from making this miniature quilt, that it was worth the experience. I have to say, though, unless you have sewn a lot, don't try a miniature quilt for your first quilt, especially if there is no teacher to guide you. Here's a picture of my first time quilt, as you can see I did use high contrasting, yellow and green fabrics-albeit old fashioned calicoes(no offense to the cat...smile...) -but, you know, they worked. Let me begin by saying, foundation piecing a pineapple quilt is the easiest way to go. You have the stability and the sewing lines to guide you and this makes constructing this block much easier.

About 20 years after I made the first pineapple in miniature, I next made a twin size foundation pieced, machine quilted pineapple quilt. I like Stitch and Tear better than paper, for foundation, because it's easier to tear. I probably could have left the stabilizer on, since it's so light, but I removed as much as I could. This is one of my favorite quilts. This fabric is not as high contrast as my first quilt, that makes for a softer effect with the pineapples, but I like it that way...smile. Again, having little or not instruction, at that time, I think Georgia Bonesteel was the only thing going for teaching. I really probably thought I knew it all anyway and thought, oh Osnaburg, it's cotton...wrong...as you can see from this picture, the threads are large and quilting through it and the many seams in a miniature pineapple block, it's no wonder I didn't finish quilting it. Notice the lovely quarter inch stitches...ugh...we live and learn....smile. Now I machine quilt everything, using my Brother 1500s on a Hinterburg table, and I like it that way...

How was your first experience with your first quilt? Why did you continue on? What is it with women and fabric and our love affair with it?

For those of you interested in my silk batting, mentioned on an earlier post, I'll be putting it on my African coin quilt next week and will begin machine quilting it soon. I'll let you know how that goes. My favorite batting, so far, is wool batting.

Happy Quilting...smile...