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| Old Faithful-made in England-I love this machine |
When I married at 21, I went on to make a lot of my husband's shirts (in calico of course because it was the 70's). I also started to make applique pillows. They were my own design and were really "art" pillows. I also designed a wall hanging done in my rather funky style and gave it as a wedding gift. In the late 70's I took an Eleanor Burns "Quilt in a Day" class and made hand tied quilts for everyone in my family and me too. I recently saw my son's quilt when I helped him move last year. We used a lot of sheets for backings at the time-I have not saved any of those treasures (and neither did anyone else except my son and I don't think he saved it on purpose) but I do still have the first pieced quilt I made:
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| Faded and wear weary but still special to me |
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| Hand quilted hearts |
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| Appliqued hearts |
I went to college about then and didn't fit quilting in again for almost 20 years. Two years before I retired from a career in education, I took a class at our high school and made my first granddaughter a pink flannel baby quilt in the Irish Chain pattern and have been quilting ever since. My favorite quilt so far is this one:
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| Middle of quilt pattern by Janice Ellertson |
I loved the challenge of making this quilt and changing the materials and pattern to make it my own.. I had to completely dismantle the checked border (that I designed) to make it hang right.
I can't wait to see where my quilting journey will take me. I feel as if I have just begun this experiment in fabric and only wish I were 30 years younger so that the ride would last longer-however, that could be dangerous:) Quilting has become such a part of my life, I know I could never put it down again-it would be like losing an old friend.
I wrote this story because I love to read stories and I subscribe to Quilting Arts magazine and they are running a contest-you can check it out Here. if I were fortunate enough to win the contest, I would want the Quilting Arts TV Series Premium Collection Download.
4 comments:
Loved reading your quilting story, Elaine, and seeing the hand pieced quilt. No telling where your quilting journey will take you. :)
Elaine, your sewing machine brings back memories. My mother's, which I think was brown, was in a cabinet. I don't think I used it much. She was a wonderful seamstress. I remember the box more than the machine - ha! I'm amazed you still use it.
Fun to see where you started and where you are now. Quite a legacy! So much history in those stitches. Thanks for sharing.
I enjoyed your story so much. Your journey reminds me of mine. My grandmother sewed and knitted but my mother did neither. However we had a Singer in a cabinet, and in junior high school I took my first sewing class at the local Singer store. I made a horrid yellow dress that I never wore, but it taught me enough that I was off sewing everything I could. My parents paid for all my fabric purchases but store bought clothes had to come from my allowance, so I sewed everything I could imagine, made a lot of mistakes and learned a lot. I got into quilting many years later when a patient (I'm a retired dentist) came in wearing a beautiful jumper with an intricately pieced square on the bodice. My assistant and I raved so much about it that she volunteered to teach us to quilt. I have to agree with you. I love quilting and wouldn't want to give it up.
What a lovely story! But amazing how styles change over the years and your work it breathtaking! It isn't just a quilt, that is art.
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