My first quilt in pictures.
It was transformative, starting out quite large and ending up small.
This Viking machine is circa the late 1960s and belonged to my Mom. When we lived in California, and before I was born, my mom worked in a sewing machine shop teaching sewing classes, and this was the very machine they let her use in class. When the class was finished, they let her buy it for a discounted price. It still works, occasionallly...and now it belongs to me. I'll cherish it even if it stops working completely. I grew up with the hum of this machine. It brings such comfort.
Some of the fabrics I used were from my boys' old shirts, some fabric from my mom's house, some I bought at JoAnn's. I like color and pattern, obviously!
My squares were not quite lining up. I was just sewing along, not really trying to be perfect. Just sewing something...
I decided to cut my sewn up squares into strips, and made one long continuous piece. Then, I cut then into 12.5 inch squares.
Just cutting and sewing and redo-ing. Not really having a plan.
I laid the squares out on a piece of black, just to give me an idea of what the finished quilt might look like.
I sewed it all together. The quilt top ended up being enormous! Hmmm...
This may be a faux paus, but I started stitching my name on it before I was finished. Does an artist ever sign their work before it is finished? Probably not.
I also have an older Kenmore machine that belonged to my husband's aunt. It's very sturdy and works wonderfully. I have it all basted and am trying to fit it into the machine to quilt it! It's not working too well even with a walking foot and I am frustrated with how big it is. On to plan B, or by this time plan G or so....
I decided to hand quilt it since it would not really fit in the machine. I found some old crochet thread to use. I started with a circular pattern in center. I liked this circle, but after some contemplation, I decided my quilt was just too large, plain and simple. I took out all the hand quilting, cut all the black out, and resewn again to make it smaller so that I could quilt it in my machine.
Much better! I am thrilled with how it F-I-N-A-L-L-Y turned out!
So proud of myself and such a fun process to figure out exactly how I want to sew my next quilt. Try something and if it doesn't work or you don't like it, take it apart and start over until you transform into something you can be proud of.
Metamorphosis
started November 2013, completed March 2014
