first quilt, etc.

Hi,
My maternal grandmother made loads of quilts. I, my siblings and cousins grew up seeing her working on quilts. I think most of us experienced going to a Bee with her and being yelled at to not run with the scissors. :-) She often had her quilt frame up, either in the 2nd bedroom in their house or sometimes even in the front room! She made each grandchild a quilt which we all treasured. I know my mother made quilts but I don't really associate her with quilt making. I do associate Grandma with quilts though.

As a teen, I took Home Ec and made most of my dresses for High School. With all those scraps tempting me, I decided to make a quilt. I asked my grandmother for help but she didn't live very close to us. She showed me some patterns which quickly discouraged me. I can't remember if she or my mother finally suggested I just cut squares and put them together. I remember my mother was the one who suggested tying with yarn which we had on hand. I didn't have much help. I think the adults in my life were pretty busy then. I still have the quilt. It LOOKS like I didn't have much help. LOL Oh well. I've done better since then. And it's sort of fun to have that sorry looking quilt around.

I made a couple other small quilts when I was in my 20's. I hand quilted one and decided that wasn't for me. Then in 1982 I took my first class, a Log Cabin class. I made a bunch of Log Cabin quilts as gifts then graduated to Trip Around the World. Since then I often try a new pattern any time I need to make a gift quilt.

I tied the early quilts then did some stitch-in-the-ditch quilting. I think I started sending out to the machine quilter around 1999-2000.

I'm not sure how many quilts I've made but it's been quite a few. I'm not a great quilter though. I do strip sewing and am usually drawn to easier, straight line patterns. Hand work is not relaxing for me. And since I was working when I really got into quilt making, I've always wanted things to go fairly quickly. I have a tendency to be impatient and am MAJOR math challenged. Making quilts is something I do for fun. I like picking the fabrics, deciding what colors, prints then patterns to attempt. Some have not been wonderful but they usually turn out okay. Most quilts have been gifts which means they are out of the house as soon as they are finished. I try to do as many as possible for charity as well.

I've made all sizes of quilts, the first being twin size. I've made some king size but that challenges my level of patience and wanting things done sort of fast. :-) I went through a phase making pot holders to try different block patterns. I'd like to make table runners but other things have been calling to me so that's still on the 'to do' list. And like everyone else, I'll need to live to maybe 200-250 to use up the stash and make all the quilts I want to try. :-)

Fun subject. Thanks for starting it.

Mary in Oregon