Parade of Quilts.....

Camille over at Simplify got together with a friend, Carrie of LaVieEnRosie and cooked up this marvelous idea for quilters everywhere to show their first and last quilt. I am game, are you???

My first quilt was made around 1998. It was a Quilt-in-a-day that turned into a Quilt-in-a-Month or longer. I took a class at a local Technical School and knew no one in class. I didn't know anything about rotary cutters or mats or rulers and showed up with the bare minimum of supplies. Somehow I managed to finish it and get it to a long arm quilter...

I think it's always best to show quilts in their natural habitat. I could have taken this quilt outside and hung it precariously on a nice wood fence and draped it just so. Instead here it is...



So much blue and I am not a blue person. That little red square kept me going. I love red still. Here is a close up of one block. Can you see that every piece of fabric has a star of some kind in it? I thought that was clever back then.



Yes, my son uses it every night. Even in 90 degree heat, it is on his bed. He has had it since 1998 so it is well loved. And frayed. And he is finally requesting a new one for Christmas this year. BUT...he wants it as soft as this one and the batting in this one feels like flannel now. I might need to make it now and wash and dry the heck out of it until Christmas to get it soft.

And here is my last quilt. Well, not my LAST quilt, cause I have a few in the planning, drawing, sewing stage... But it is the last quilt that is almost finished. It needs the binding sewn on yet. This was a Mystery BOM with my quilt guild. Bev found the pattern and each month would give us our instructions for the month. We always had multiple blocks to make. It was supposed to use up some scraps and I must say I like this one and it is the first mystery quilt that I like and will keep. I have always donated the others to my Aunt's church for them to finish, quilt and raffle. We are supposed to have it to "top stage" by the August meeting. Mine of course is already quilted and will have the binding on by then. I know I won't be the only one that is finished. We have some Type A people in the guild... I am not a Type A, but I did want this one finished so the August deadline worked well for me. This was a free pattern by Claudia's Quilt Shoppe. It's not free anymore, but there are other free BOM on her web site. Bev did write and get permission to reproduce it as a mystery for our guild. I can't wait to get it bound and send her a photo.



And here is the label. I put it on the front instead of the back using one of the blocks that was supposed to have a heart star in middle and used some Bubble Jet Set to print it out on my computer right onto the fabric. My son loves to use desktop publisher so I gave him the wording I wanted and he designed the label. Pat (no blog) quilted it for me and I just got it back Wednesday... Didn't she do a good job. I usually let her decide the quilt pattern (she knows NOT to use any hearts) and it always turns out perfect. (I also got to use my 20% off Christmas gift coupon!)



So that is my first and my last quilt. Of course remember I have a couple in the planning stages. Here is a sneak peak of one...



See I even got a little red in this one....

Have you guessed my birthday yet? It could be soon.... I'm just saying....

If you are commenting as No-Reply then you better leave me an email address. If you are logged in and I can email you, I will tell you whether your guess is correct or not. You can guess as many times as you want until you get a right answer...

Happy Sewing,
Nancy