Q is for Quilts

Q is for quilt. 

I enjoy piecing quilts -- finding fabrics that match, planning the pattern, and then putting it all together for a quilt top. I have done some hand quilting and have learned to machine quilt but my favourite part is the piecing.

I remember cutting up scraps of fabric and sewing them together. It has a bit of an old fashioned feel because I look at it and remember that was a skirt or that was a dress. I don't think that ever got finished as a quilt.

One of the first quilts I made and finished was a baby quilt for a friend. I actually bought a McCall's or Simplicity pattern. The things that I have learned since that quilt.

I took a quilting class with my mom and a friend. We made sampler quilts which is just a quilt with various blocks and you are learn how to make the different blocks. It was in that class that I learned to use a rotary cutter and that has totally changed my quilting. My grandmother had an Amish friend,  Anna, who did the quilting on a number of my early quilts. My grandmother would then sew the binding on for me. I was spoiled.

One of the easy or maybe I should say easier ways to make a quilt is using charm packs which are five inch squares pre-cut in coordinating fabrics. You can use a few packs and make a quilt or even with just one pack you can make a nice lap quilt if you add some extra fabric.

Buying a fat quarter pack gives you a number of fabrics that coordinate and again it is amazing what you can do with just a fat quarter pack. I think this fabric was called California Dreaming. I love the bright colours in this quilt. I still have some scraps from that so maybe I need to make something else with that fabric.

This is one of my husband's favourite quilts. It is in our living room. He told me yesterday that he wants to adopt that quilt. I think he likes the coffee theme as well as the colours. That was just a simple square with rectangles around the edges. I had someone machine quilt it for me. 

I have a box of fabric for more quilts. Sometimes the hard part is deciding what pattern to use for the fabric and then that first cut as you are committing to that pattern. It is hard to visualise what it is going to look like. I recently made a quilt top and didn't like it that much until I saw a photo of it.

Quilting is my creative outlet.

Beth
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