Jack & Quilts

This is a picture of two of my favorite things -- I have many to show you, but these are two of my favorites: My kitten, Jack, and my major hobby: quilting. We'll talk about Jack in a later post, but here's what I learned about making a quilt.

My grandmother, who's still cantankerous and kicking at 94, taught me how to sew when I was 7 years old. She sat me down on phone books to reach the height of the table, and set me loose on Mom's 1960 Singer, which I ruthlessly stole when I left home for college at 18. I loved sewing, and I was a natural...She taught me the basics of reading patterns and buying fabric, and off I went -- first learning to make clothes, then becoming the family mender.

When I was 13 and visiting a friend in the family at college, I saw a quilt she and her Mom had made for her before she went to school. Made of plain squares, I took one look at it and said "I can do that". So my first quilt was turned out round about 1980 for my brother as he went to college -- longer and thinner than it should have turned out, but full of Dad's shirts, sister's skirt and a bedspread for a backing. Over the years I've made quilts for everyone in my immediate family -- for friends' babies, and the like. The one below is a recent one I made for my sister.

Quilting is a unique art -- one that requires you to do math (yes, you have to remember some of that geometry like A2+B2=C2), be creative, have an eye for color, and well, a fair amount of patience. You also have to be willing to make mistakes. But people I know who have never sewn before can be taught -- it's all really a matter of taking the time to try.

Favorite quilting web site: www.equiltblocks.com

What have you done that's creative lately?




Meet Jack