My First and Last Quilt

Camille from Simplify and Carrie from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. have started something. They are asking us to show our first quilt and last quilt. Wish the pictures were better....but it's a cloudy day....and I'm lazy.

This is my very first quilt. It was machine pieced and hand quilted. Look at the fold lines and color loss from light damage! I need to lay this "antique" out flat on a bed to give it a rest. The colors really date it don't they?

I worked part-time at a shop called The Saltbox Sampler in Overland Park, KS. in about 1985 until about 1997 or 98. After retiring from Nursing and staying home with my kids I really needed a part time job. You can imagine chasing and cleaning up after 4 kids can really make you want a part-time job. Anything really, to get out of the house for a bit was great. Quilting was my passion...so I thought about teaching. I made this project and asked Gloria and Karen (the shop owners of the Saltbox Sampler) if I could teach. I'm surprised the faith the shop owners had in my ability to do this...but maybe after they knew I taught Lamaz Classes they thought, if you can "teach" a woman to have a baby ...you can teach her to quilt. (I'm not pretending to do either very well here. Really....all that breathing is pretty hard when a baby is on the way....and maybe supporting a woman through childbirth is the better term here.)

This was my first applique quilt. One of my friends, Rodene Newman taught me the applique stitch and she changed my life. I immediately went home and cut out shapes and safety pinned them to the background fabric. By the time I finished this quilt I had the applique stitch down pat. I think applique has been my favorite since. I think this looks a bit like a cross stitch sampler. Although I really didn't cross stitch at the time I designed this quilt. The house....initials ...the date and the border would really be great cross stitched don't you think? hmmmm

This was the last quilt I made....it was completed last summer. I have done some small projects and some cross stitch....but no quilts. This is Barb's design and we both made one for our last book "When The Cold Wind Blows" published by the Kansas City Star. I loved making this quilt. The large shapes made each block easy and fast to sew. It gave me a chance to experiment with the use of blue for all of the leaves and stems. I loved experimenting with the large rick rack border too. Sometimes when I finish a large applique quilt the last thing I want to do is another applique border. The rick rack gives an easy scallop finish to the quilt.

There you have it! You can join the fun too. Go to Camille's and Carries blog and post your first and last quilt!

Until later.

Alma