As October draws to a close, I am reminded of the start of my quilting journey in October 2010. It had its beginnings in 1982, when I had just been diagnosed with liver cancer (it turned out to be another type of liver issue, and I am still alive and healthy!!), and I wanted to experience as much of life as I possibly could. My Granny had been a quilter, I still have half a dozen or so of her hand-quilted quilts, so I decided I wanted to learn to quilt and signed up for a hand quilting class in Plano, TX. I learned to hand-piece each cut-with-scissors piece as well as hand-quilt the block. Sadly I no longer have that block, but I remember the rust, blue, and cream colors of the fabric. My children were 5 and 10, and I had to wait until my husband got home to drive to the night class, about a 15 mile drive from where we lived at the time in Richardson, TX. I remember driving to class at night blasting Michael McDonald songs - lol!
My sweet Mom at her 96th birthday party
It was October 2010 before I did anything else with quilting. My Mom passed away in September at age 98, after living with us for eight years, and I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. I decided to take a basic quilting class at Oklahoma Quilt Works in Oklahoma City. I made a 4-block wall hanging featuring four traditional blocks. The teacher was a stickler on "points", and I sewed and picked apart blocks until mine were perfect! I finished the four blocks, but it was a long time before I put the wall hanging together and quilted it. It ultimately became a Christmas table topper in 2014.
I still love the fabrics I chose in the Oklahoma City quilt shop - all from Basic Grey Fruitcake.
I know Mom and Granny would be thrilled that I finally picked up the quilting bug! It was one of the best decisions I ever made. You can read more in depth about my quilting journey and the table topper history here.
You can see quilts I have finished, as well as other projects, in the tabs below my blog heading.
Beautiful history of your journey in quilting.... glad you are enjoying it.... your Mum and Granny would be proud!! Christine xx
ReplyDeleteThank you Christine. :)
DeleteI’m glad to know more about your quilting history, Linda, and the connections to your Mom and Granny. Yay for you finishing that quilt over time. I’m sure it’s a reminder of your quilt journey every time you take it out to use it. I remember lots of striped fabrics from those days, and especially like how the stripes in your blocks look like string piecing.
ReplyDeleteThey do look like string piecing! I'd never noticed that before. :)
DeleteIsn’t it funny how a serious illness can cause us to move in new directions. My second bout with cancer is what caused me to start a blog. It was something that I always wanted to do, so I just tried it to see if I could. That was eight years ago. I need to take a quilting class. I always enjoy seeing what you do, and reading about your quilting journey. Lovely post.
ReplyDeleteGosh Pattie I had no idea! Seriously we should be neighbors. I hope you do get an opportunity to take a quilting class. :)
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