Friday, October 29, 2010

Blogger's Quilt Festival Fall 2010 - My First Real Quilt



Be sure to visit AMY'S CREATIVE SIDE for literally hundreds of quilts and their stories, in the Blogger's Quilt Festival for the Fall of 2010.

The quilt I am showcaseing is very special to me!

In 1998 I made my first "real" quilt for my daughter. She had just left home for college and I wanted to make something special for her.



I had always dreamed of making quilts and quilt making was a part of my soul, even before I actually made one.

My first memories of this quilt obsession was when I was about 10. I collected squares of fabric in a box, but never made the quilt. I Don't know what ever happened to that box of squares.

In the early 1980s I ordered Georgia Bonesteel's Lap Quilting book through the mail. I would sit and study this book for hours. I didn't have a quilt frame, so lap quilting was the answer!

So my first real quilt was a Sampler Quilt made from the patterns in this book. The anchor fabric was a "cat" print in blues, browns, and beiges. My daughter liked cats and the color blue a lot when she was young.

Here are close ups of a few of the blocks:

GRANDMOTHER'S FAN



MONKEY WRENCH



PINWHEEL AND CARD TRICKS



CRAZY PATCH



LITTLE DUTCH GIRL/SUNBONNET SUE



SAILS IN THE SUNSET



HOUSE ON THE HILL



THE BACK OF THE QUILT



Not shown is the top right hand block which is a friendship block. In the center is a square that I cross stitched my daughter's name, the date and my name, with love, of course.

19 comments:

Granny said...

I must say that your "first real quilt" is a beauty. What a treasure for your daughter with all the different block styles. I'm sure it's something she will treasure forever.

Mary said...

Beautiful quilt...I can't believe your first try was so good! You must have real talent! I know what you mean about quilting being part of your soul. It was always my dream to do it but I never dreamed I actually could pull it off. After much practice I can. I guess we were born quilters!

Denise said...

Wow, you really jumped right into quilting with your first one! I wish I had taken photos of my first quilt, but thanks for sharing. I do have a quilt that I didn't make but is special to me. Maybe I should share later, I'll add that to the other posts that I am working on, LOL.

Lisa in Texas = ) said...

What a great job you did! I loved the blocks!!
Lisa :o)

Carol said...

A very pretty first quilt and definitely ambitious.

Lindsay @ Me Quilting said...

I love all your squares! Great first quilt!! I can tell you my first one didnt look as good as this!! Thank goodness there is no photo proof of that one of mine!!

Karen said...

Fantastic first quilt! Quilting is such an awesome pastime isn't it? I was reading on one lady's post about the serenity it invokes. So very true.

Rene' said...

Wonderful quilt! Congratulations on your "first real quilt". Thanks for sharing!

Kathy said...

What a nice write up about the quilt you created for your daughter.

Allie said...

Wow - this is so beautiful!! What a treasure!

Molly said...

What a beautiful quilt and a sweet story. Your daughter must have felt very loved while away at school. I made my son a quilt when he went to college too. I think it helped me get through missing him too much.

Angie said...

Beautiful sampler - I like how you added the lace to the grandmother's fan.

mamammelloves said...

I love sampler quilts! This is so lovely! :)

Anonymous said...

I've never seen that dutch girl/sunbonnet sue design before. Thank you for sharing!

Vicki said...

this is a beautiful sampler quilt! I love the colors you used.

Anonymous said...

Your first quilt is great! I'm sure your daughter loves it.

Cynthia said...

How fun! My first real quilt was a sampler too! I love the blue and brown!

Eileen said...

wonderful quilt and a nice story to go with it! thanks for sharing and have a great day

Clothed in Scarlet said...

Hi Debbie;o) Its Sarah, I had emailed you and asked about your sewing machine. Thought I would go back and look through your older posts. So I'm looking at your sampler quilt of course (as this is where I'm leaving the comment hehe) and I see your block little dutch girl or sunbonnet Sue and I get an Oh Wow! feeling. Yours is the only and I mean ONLY place that I've seen reference to little dutch girl and/or sunbonnet Sue. Little dutch girl is what my Granny called them lol! That was the only name I knew that block as until I started getting into quilting. Then the only thing I see is a Sunbonnet Sue. As a matter of fact I tried goggling dutch girl and couldn't find a reference to it as a quilt block. I read under your 'about me' tab that you are from NC, I am too. So maybe it a NC thing? Any way thanks for the blast from the past for me :o)