Glad you stopped by. Relax and enjoy!

I consider myself to be a beginner quilter, as I have only been
piecing and quilting since 1994. I grew up with a love for quilts, but never thought
I would ever want to put one together. The reason being, I couldn't understand
why anyone would want to take different prints of fabrics and cut them into little,
tiny pieces and then sew them all together. That just seemed like a never-ending task
to try to accomplish.
But......in the summer of 1994 I had the opportunity of going
with my mom and aunt to see a presentation of piecing quilts by strip-piecing and
other easier methods.
Well~~the woman who was giving the presentation was
Patricia Knoechel -- Eleanor Burns' sister. Of course at that time, I had no
clue who Eleanor Burns was!! I was totally fascinated with what she was
showing all of us ladies. She showed us methods for the
"Winning Hands" and
"Bits 'N Pieces" quilts. At the end of her presentation, I just knew I could do
that too!!! I bought both of these books and was ready to go fabric-shopping!
I decided my first quilt would be for my son's twin bed. He
liked the "Winning Hands" pattern and we went together to buy the fabric so I
could get started. In no time at all, I had that top pieced together. I had never
quilted before, so I had to learn how to use that itsy, bitsy needle! I wasn't sure
I could even hold onto it, let alone try to make stitches with it!!! I have sewn
about all my life from teenager to the present; but I had never used a thimble.....
I can remember my mom showing me how to put the little knot
at the end of the thread and proceeding to make these little, wee stitches. I guess I
was so busy watching her make these little stitches that I didn't pay much attention
to her thimble. After I got home, I wanted to start practicing. I had started this
quilt in August and planned to have it finished for my son by Valentine's Day of
1995. I got my sewing box out, got the needle threaded (Mom was so kind as to
give me some needles too!), and looked at the thimble. Then I looked at it a little
more. For never using a thimble before, I have no clue as to why I had three
thimbles in my sewing box! Probably somewhere at sometime, someone had given them
to me thinking that I needed them. I really don't know. I started trying the
thimbles on to see how they fit. I couldn't remember which finger Mom had it on;
and since I had never paid attention to anyone using one before, I just started
trying different fingers!!
I decided on a finger (I don't remember which one I started
out with!!.) It's been just long enough ago, and I sorta have a tendency to "block
out" or "forget" experiences that cause me pain or embarrassment.) I was ready to
start practicing the small stitches. I kept jabbing my finger, so I thought I must
have the thimble on the wrong finger, so I picked another finger!! I tried making a
few more stitches and I just couldn't understand why I kept jagging my fingers so
much. Mom hadn't said too much about that part to me. To make a long story
short--- before I was finished practicing, I had all three thimbles on different
fingers! (Go ahead and laugh!!! I know you are anyway!!! hahahaha)
I called Mom later that evening because I just had to know
which finger I was supposed to be using! I didn't want to admit that I had been
using all three of the thimbles and was getting nowhere because it made it almost
impossible to even hold the needle!! I was so embarrassed! After I told Mom
what I had been doing, we both got a really good laugh out of it!! Now that I
knew where to put the thimble, I had to get the knack of quilting without jabbing my
finger so much 'coz it was sooooo sore!!
Between quilting, housework, laundry, and all the wife and
motherly things we are supposed to do, I decided to try to sew the top together for
the "Bits 'N Pieces" queen-size quilt. You know, I don't think I ever became
addicted to anything as fast as I did to piecing the quilts. I was living, breathing,
and working on sewing the blocks together. Within two weeks I had the top
finished..... I had to start another one!! I borrowed Mom's book for the "Log
Cabin" quilt. I do remember seeing my family between blocks!! For those of you who
love quilts and quilting---I know you can relate to me totally!!! I kept sewing like
there was no tomorrow! I had the queen-size "Log Cabin" top all sewn together in
about four (yes, 4, days.) I know there are alot worse things in the world I
could have been addicted to....but at the time, my family couldn't think of any!! I
had to try to get away from the sewing machine. There was all the cooking,
cleaning, etc. that needed done too.
I just want you to know that I did slow down! And
I also got Ben's quilt finished--for Easter 1995. I have pieced quite a few quilts
since then including mostly queen-size, a couple baby quilts, and several
wall-hangings. I had developed some numbness in my right hand so my quilting
really slowed down, but I found an answer to that slight problem. When my cousin
was up from West Virginia for a visit, we got to talking about quilts. She is a
beautiful quilter. From that time on, she has been doing most of my quilting for me.
My home is very small so I don't have the room for the quilting frames, but I do
use a hoop and hold it on my lap.
In my opinion, it is the greatest thing to pay the
small cost and have someone machine baste the quilts on a quilting machine. You
don't have to worry about any pins, or getting small holes in the fabric, and the
different layers shifting. I think is really a wonderful thing!!

Well, now that I have told you a little of my
"quilting history", I guess I should move along to some more (but maybe not quite
as funny!!) things including pictures of my quilts, links to quilt sites, and whatever
else I come up with. Through time I hope to have many things for you to see or
read for your enjoyment.

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Created February 19, 1999.


 

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