"I Love Kenya"

My husband and I used to live in Austin, TX and we were both teachers at Brentwood Christian School, where we met, became friends, eventually dated, became engaged and got hitched.  This school will always have a special place in our hearts along with the wonderful friends that we made while being there.  One of those dear friends is Michelle.  Michelle and I worked side by side for most of our time there and we became close friends.  We taught together, coached together, went to church together, hung out together, traveled to Russia together and even competed against one another in "friendly" games of basketball.  Then in a whirlwind of a semester she got engaged, married and moved far far away to a land known as Virginia.  I was heartbroken losing such a good friend in proximity, but our friendship has outlasted the vast distance between us.  It has been surprisingly convenient that she lives fairly close to my husband's family in Maryland, so with a slight detour we get to visit with her and her family every time we head up north.

When Michelle called me and told me they were expecting their second child, I knew a quilting project was in my near future.  Michelle was having a little girl and anything girly was out of the question.  I wanted the quilt to reflect Michelle in some way.  One image that will probably always stick with me about Michelle was the car she use to drive.  There was nothing too special about the old green sedan, except for the "I Love Kenya" bumper sticker that graced the back bumper.  You always knew she had arrived when you saw that signature trademark.  You see, Michelle grew up as a missionary-kid in Kenya until her teenage years.  Her life in Kenya will always be apart of her and she cherishes those memories.  With that in mind, I went in search of fabric.  I searched and searched and finally found something that sparked some inspiration...Karavan Marrakech by Valori Wells.

It was colorful and appropriate for a little girl, but it didn't scream baby, or pink.  I spent a lot of time finding coordinating fabrics and had a blast piecing everything together.  I wanted to create something bright, cheerful, fun and engaging.  Here is what I came up with.

I spent several weeks hand-quilting this quilt.  I didn't have any sashing to follow, so I designed out a way to fill in each space of the quilt.  Each elephant is painstakingly hand-appliqued on.  I learned a lot about appliqueing a challenging shape...thank goodness for Fray Check. 

The binding, again, is just the backing folded over.  At this point, I still didn't know how to make my own binding and buying bias tape just seemed like cheating.  

Even though that old green sedan is no more, Michelle now has a new "I Love Kenya" bumper sticker that lives on her new car and a baby quilt the old sticker inspired.

Pinwheels Through Cyber Space

At this point in my quilting journey, I came to a crossroads.  I really wanted to learn more about quilting but trying to figure it out on my own wasn't allowing me to progress as much as I would like.  I took to the Internet and came across this website called Craftsy.  I was instantly amazed!  They offered online classes in quilting and one of them was FREE!  I signed up for the Craftsy Block of the Month 2012 with Amy Gibson from Stitchery Dickory Dock.  I must confess that I didn't actually make the block quilt, but I watched every lesson (some lessons more than once) for the sole purpose of learning.  On the first day of each month, you could always find me curled up somewhere watching the new available lesson for that month.  My husband certainly had a few chuckles just seeing how absorbed I was in the whole thing.  I learned about quarter-inch seams and piecing several different blocks together.  I learned about paper piecing and slashing.  I learned the appropriate way to assemble a quilt and how to baste it correctly.  I learned how to bind and how to machine-quilt!  These are such basic quilting skills, yet this was the first time I was learning them from someone who knew what they were doing and not going on pure instincts.  It was wonderful!  The only downside of this course was it took the entire year of 2012 to complete, so I didn't learn everything all at once.  

One of the first things I did learned was how to make triangles and I decided that I wanted to do a simple pinwheel quilt using all triangles.  I found my fabric at Joann's and went to town cutting and piecing.  I have to admit that I wasn't prepared for how thick it could get at the point where the triangles meet together and you have 8 pieces of fabric all sewn together.  My machine wasn't always happy with me, but we pressed forward.  I put a small border in white around the blocks to help give it a finished look.  I used the backing as the binding and tie-quilted to finish it off.  I was really pleased with how it turned out. 

Sneak Peak!

I've been so busy trying to catch up on the past that I haven't spent much time in the present.  Here are a few sneak peaks that are awaiting their future homes.  I can't post any full pictures since all of these quilts are gifts that have not been given to their recipients yet.  Hopefully, I will be able to make their full reveals next week.

Most paths in life are curved.

After finishing the last 2 quilts, I was starting to gain some, if only a little, confidence in this quilting journey.  I was starting to understand some of the basic techniques used in piecing together the fabric and quilting, but I knew I still had so much to learn.

For this next quilt I decided to keep the same design as the previous 2 quilts, but alter the quilting.  This time I used hand-quilting thread and I used curved lines instead of straight ones.  I made small little marks along the sashing to measure my meeting points of the 2 threads I was weaving along each strip.  I was really pleased with the pattern and how it all came together.  Unfortunately, I didn't do a great job of basting my quilt so the back wasn't as tight as I would have liked.  I didn't really know how to baste, but I knew that I needed to layer the fabric.  I didn't know about taping down the edges of the bottom fabric, or pinning the layers together to keep them from moving around and shifting.  I just smoothed out my fabric on a table and did my best to keep smoothing as I quilted.  I'm so glad I know better now.  Fortunately, the precious little girl who received this quilt could care less.

All I want for Christmas is my Bernina

The dilemma of not having a sewing machine quickly came to an end Christmas of 2011 when my Grannie, Idotha Poling, gifted me with one of two machines she had on hand.  She was moving and only wanted to keep the smaller of the two.  This is how I came to own a Bernina 1030.

 

I was elated to have a machine even though at the time I had never heard of the Bernina brand.  She also gave me her sewing cabinet and all her miscellaneous sewing tools and thread.  My mother-in-law gave me two rotary cutters and a cutting mat for Christmas.  Goodbye 12-inch ruler!  I was all set to start my next set of quilts and so I did. This time, I was making 2 quilts at the same time over Christmas break for two dear friends of mine, Lesli and Molly.  They were each pregnant with their second child and were both expecting boys.  I Google searched "simple baby quilt" and found an easy 6-inch squared quilt pattern that looked promising.  I spent lots of time on fabric.com and found fabric that I thought was suitable.  Lesli and Molly both have very specific tastes in decor and I tried to make something that would fit in their homes.  I had no idea what their nurseries were going to look like, but I knew how particular they could be.  I stalked their Pinterest pages to try and get some ideas. I wanted to make the quilts look similar, yet different at the same time.  Some of the fabrics in each quilt are the same and some are unique.  I did baste these quilts, sort of, and ended up using the backing as the binding by folding over the edges.  I knew the pillow sewing technique wasn't appropriate and needed to change my approach.  I used embroidery thread again to quilt, but was quickly learning how challenging it was to pull such a thick grouping of threads through the material over and over again.  Another trend I was finding online was the idea of creating interesting backings for quilts.  The idea that the back of a quilt could just as easily stand alone as its own quilt was an exciting challenge, so I decided the backing wasn't going to be one piece of fabric.  I also wanted to try my hand at hand-applique.  My Grannie was a master at hand-applique and I thought it was only fitting that I not only use her machine to make these two quilts but I also take the time to hand-applique a piece on each quilt.  I think they turned out pretty well.

Here is Molly's Quilt:

Here is Lesli's Quilt:

Such a handsome little guy.

Push the Pedal Down

My first quilt was a HUGE learning experience and I decided that each quilt I made would offer me the opportunity to learn something new.  Since my first quilt was hand-pieced, I wanted to machine-piece my next one. 

Sitting behind a sewing machine was not completely new to me, but it was still an uncomfortable place to be.  My grandmother taught me how to make a dress when I was 12.  I flew to Amarillo, TX, by myself and stayed with her during the summer for a couple of weeks.  During that time, we went to the fabric store, picked out a dress pattern and fabric and started on the journey of learning to sew.  I learned to cut out my pattern and cut the fabric with all the notches.  I learned to piece each part together and rip apart seams when I did something like sew the arm sleeve closed.  I didn't truly appreciate the lessons she was teaching me at the time and I walked away from the experience proud of the dress I had made, but lacking any real interest in trying it again.  Why make clothes when you can purchase them so easily?  I still kinda feel that way. More recently I sat behind a machine a couple of times making things for my babies before they were born.  My friend, Erin, helped me make the bedding and curtains for my daughter's nursery.  I'll be honest in saying that she did most of the work.  My friend, Mary Catherine, helped me sew together bumper pads for my son's nursery.  Again, I was mostly a spectator.  I did make half-a-dozen receiving blankets for my son and I did that project all by myself with a couple of YouTube videos instructing me on how to wind a bobbin.  Those receiving blankets are still holding strong and my son has been dragging them around for over 2 years now.

Alright, back to the next quilt.  I only had 2 weeks before my next friend's baby shower and I didn't have 3 months to finish a quilt by hand again.  All I needed was a sewing machine, but I didn't have one.  Luckily, I know people who do.  I called up my friend Mary Catherine and asked if I could come to her house and use her machine.  She willingly opened up her home and I spent 2-3 evenings closed off in her upstairs room sewing like a mad woman.  I was determined! Here is the finished product:

This is bigger than a baby quilt, but it will grow with the child.

I still didn't baste the quilt.  I still used the cuddle mink fabric and I still put it all together like you would if you were recovering a pillow.  I hand-quilted using embroidery thread and followed the pattern of the quilt.  I now know this technique is called echo quilting, but I just thought it was a neat idea at the time.  It was a adventurous pattern for a newbie since I didn't have traditional blocks.  This was also a challenging quilt since it's for a girl.  My friend Jessica wanted a navy and white nursery for a baby girl and I was determined to make something in her color scheme that was appropriate for the baby.  I feel I succeeded...at least no one has told me otherwise.

A year and a half later, this quilt is still thriving.  It's been used to provide warmth, used as a safe place for the baby to lie on the floor, used to bring family together and used to give comfort with a good snuggle.  This is the best compliment a quilter could ever receive.

A grandmother with her grandchild.

Hangs nicely on the crib.

I like to do this with my quilts as well.

She's a cutie!

Thanks Jess for the pictures!

The Journey Begins

Quilting has always been something my grandmothers did.  At an early age, my twin bed had a quilt on it that my Grannie, Idotha Poling, made for me.  When I graduated from high school in 1998, my other grandmother, Jorene Kirkland, made me a twin-size quilt to take with me to college.  When I got married in 2005, she made me another quilt as a wedding gift.  When I had each of my children, my grandmother made them each a baby quilt.  This past fall, she also made them each twin-size quilts.  Each quilt is unique and made with so much love.  These quilts are apart of my everyday life.  My husband, children and I curl up under these quilts on a regular basis.  They are soft and their bindings are worn.  I always took for granted the amount of work and time that went into each quilt.  I took for granted the artistry and talent that went into each piece sewn and the quilting binding everything together.

Back in April of 2011, my grandmother, Jorene, wanted all her children and grandchildren to gather together for her 80th birthday.  So, I loaded up my daughter, 22 months old, and my son, 6 months old, hopped on a plane, and flew to Amarillo, TX, to celebrate together with my family.  Jorene called all her grandchildren together and gave us each a quilt that she had made.  When she got to me, she handed me a quilt that was unique and different from the other ones.  My quilt wasn't new.  My quilt had a legacy that started well before my grandmother started quilting.  The front of my quilt, named "Peeled Orange," was hand-pieced in the 1930's by Sarah Frances Morris Taylor Faught, my great-great grandmother, in Shawnee, Oklahoma.  My grandmother, Jorene, hand-quilted the quilt in 1985.  I knew then she gave me a treasure.

After I got home, I spent a lot of time studying this quilt and the other quilts I had received over the years. Thoughts started going through my mind that told me I could do this if I wanted to.  The only problem was that I didn't have a sewing machine.  I didn't have any fabric.  I didn't have anyone around who could help me figure it out.  My grandmother was back in Amarillo, TX, and I was in Memphis, TN.  

A few months later, I was walking through Hobby Lobby and passed an end cap with pre-cut fabric.  A jelly roll caught my eye.  I grabbed it and threw it into my cart as an impulse buy.  When I got home, I grabbed my sewing kit my grandmother gave me several years back as a Christmas present and sat down to formulate a plan on what I was going to make.  I had a couple of friends who were pregnant and a baby quilt seemed like the most logical thing to put together.  I knew I needed to make blocks and I drew out a quilt using graph paper.  With a pair of fabric scissors, a 12-inch ruler, a needle and thread, I cut my fabric based on what I had drawn.  I didn't take into consideration quarter-inch seams...I knew nothing about seam allowances.  I just started piecing and trimming to clean it up.  After diligently sewing for 7 weeks, this is what I had:

It wasn't fancy, but it was done.  I then went to Joann's fabrics and bought batting (I don't even remember the type) and cuddle mink fabric for my backing.  I didn't know until after I was trying to put my layers together what a mistake that was, but I managed and pushed through any difficulties I faced.  I didn't baste my quilt.  I sewed it together like I would have a pillow cover.  Again, I didn't know any better.  After that, the idea of quilting this blanket I had just spent 2 months putting together by hand seemed daunting.  I remembered a quilt my parents had that was tie-quilted and decided that was probably the easiest and most practical way to go.  Here is the finished product:

Did I forget to mention that I also didn't have the foggiest idea how to take a picture of a quilt either? I folded it up, put it into a gift bag and gave it to my friend, Erika, as a baby gift for her daughter.

She was thrilled and surprised.  I wasn't one of those people who made gifts for my friends.  I was also thrilled and surprised that the quilt didn't fall apart the first time she started using it.  I knew I had started something that was going to impact my life.  I knew this was just the beginning of a quilting journey.