Friday, July 22, 2011

My First Quilt

My first quilt is finally finished! I started this quilt in November of 2009. I was staying home with my daughter who was then a year old. And I was starting to need something unrelated to parenting to do. I got a flyer from my LQS (the now defunct Country Quiltworks) and decided to sign up for something. The class was called something like "Quilting 101" so I decided to go for it.


I had no knowledge of modern quilting or blogs or even online fabric shops. But I was hoping that this would be some type of updated quilting. I tell you I had to suppress a groan when I got to class and saw the sample quilt was a totally traditional sampler!!  The same class they have been teaching for 30 years or so. (funny side note, my mom had taken the same class ages ago and never did anything with her quilt top)

But, I'm so glad I took the class because I learned so many great techniques, it gave me a lot of confidence. So, here it is, my first quilt:




With the popularity of samplers right now in the blogging world I guess timing is good on this one! The one thing I do wish was that I had known about online fabric shops. Country Quiltworks had a very specific market (they weren't even selling Moda anymore) and I had a really hard time with the fabrics on this one and I'm not thrilled with them. But overall I'm proud of this one.


And what makes it even more special is that I had it hand-quilted. My grandmother used to quilt with our church for many years. When she learned I was doing this, she put me on the wait list with her old friends at the church. After a year of waiting, they were ready for me! They welcomed me to come in and learn too.


They wouldn't let me work on my own quilt, but I was allowed to pose as though I was quilting - haha! They have a beginner quilt for newbies to work on. But I was really excited to learn from the professionals. The best tip I got from them was using a deflated balloon to pull the needle out of the top, it's got great grip!


What's sad is that when my grandmother joined this group there were 11 ladies quilting, now they are down to 4. I hope hand quilting isn't going away! Look at these amazing tiny stitches....



Can't see them? Yeah, me either! Here's the view of the back.


And in case you were wondering, here are the names of the blocks in this sampler.

54-40 or Fight:

Double Churn Dash:

 Double T

Eight Pointed Star:

Courthouse steps:

Ohio Star

Pinwheels and Bear's Paw

Rail Fence:

Snowflake:

Scrap Basket:

Sunrise Star:

Wild Goose

Quilt Stats
Size: 88"x88"
Pattern:  Sampler 
Fabrics: various
Quilted: Wentz's UCC
Date finished: June 2011

21 comments:

Desley said...

Beautiful quilt Becky. You have an heirloom.

Linz said...

WOW!! That is quite a first quilt! Well done! I love the hand quilting! That is amazing!!

Jessica said...

This is beautiful. I love the fabrics and the hand quilting is superb! You must be so proud :)

Unknown said...

This is a great sampler! I love the blocks! And the fact that you got it hand quilted make it even more special! Awesome job!

Katy Cameron said...

Lol, love that they wouldn't let you quilt your own quilt! Great job on all the blocks though. I'm about to try and work out my first sampler quilt this weekend from a bunch of beginner blocks online...

Jessica Kelly said...

wow! This is amazing! Love the hand quilting, what a great touch. Its sad that theres only 4 of the ladies that still do it, I hope I'm like those ladies when I get older! haha

Susanne said...

BECKY!! That is PHENOMENAL!!!

To have your FIRST quilt hand quilted!! And by such a special group. WOW.

Jenniffier said...

Totally traditional, but completely wonderful! Great job!

Sharon Pernes said...

Beautiful! Every part of the quilt is wonderful!

Anonymous said...

Congratulations. It's beautiful and the color scheme is great. What a wonderful story to pass along with your quilt being hand quilted by the ladies.

**nicke... said...

excellent work. what a treasure that your first quilt was hand quilted by the professionals! i love sampler quilts also. i really feel like they stretch you and make you so much better!

Unknown said...

Looks fabulous! The fabrics may not be what you would have picked but it turned out so great and so special that your grandma's quilting group quilted it!

Mad about Craft said...

Beautiful quilt!!!

If you hadn't said it was your first quilt I'd never had known.

Denise in PA said...

OMG, I have the same quilt - LOL! (Well, not exactly the same, I went to Granny's Sewing Den to take Quilting 101, but almost the same!) Mine is *not* finished - it was started in 1997. It's partially hand quilted - by me - and I'm not so good at it - LOLOL! You should be proud o:)

Live a Colorful Life said...

What a precious quilt you have there! I also hope hand quilting doesn't become something of the past.

Andrew J said...

It looks great! I can't believe they wouldn't let you help quilt - that's hilarious.

Monica_C said...

It's so beautiful! the stitches are SO TINY!!! i love it! xoxoxoxoxo

felicity said...

My first quilt was a sampler, too - in only very slightly less traditional fabrics. I wish your grandma had hand quilted it, I tell you. My first attempts at FMQ did the quilt no favours. :(

Jacey said...

Aww, so special! The hand-quilting makes this even sweeter. Congrats on a big finish!

Tricia said...

What a special quilt! I can't believe they wouldn't let you quilt your own quilt though. Too cute!

It turned out pretty darn awesome for a first quilt!

Ellen said...

Your quilt is just wonderful between your piecing and the super special quilting! What a great experience. It is sad to think that their quilting circle has gotten smaller, but your ladies do a beautiful job. Congratulations on your personal WIP too.

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