First Quilt

Last year, I completed my Education Specialist degree (YAY!!). By the end of my program; however, I was absolutely, totally, without a doubt, sick and tired of “reflecting.” After each assignment, reading, etc. I would have to reflect on what I read/learned, how it applied to me, how it applied to my students, my cohorts, my learning community…UGH!!! I really hated the word, and could not say "reflect" without sarcasm in my voice.

Well…fast forward to the present.  When I returned home from last weekend’s retreat, I had a Happy waiting for me. My sister, Beverly, had sent me some quilting magazines, beautiful summer, beachy fabric, and a …

So, once again, I find myself…yep…reflecting.

I began my journey into the world of quilting almost a year ago, thanks to the encouragement of my sister Rene’. Last July, she came to visit and to give me my first lesson in quilting. The weekend didn’t quite turn out as we had planned. If you have a moment, take a look at Rene’s blog post of the quilting lesson that never was J.

What Rene’ didn’t mention in her posting was that, at the time, I.did.not.sew…AT ALL. If my husband needed a button sewn on a shirt, he did it. If he needed his pants hemmed, he did it. In fact, the only 9^th grade home economics unit I failed was, you guessed it, sewing! Needless to say, I wasn’t quite sure how long this journey would last. I wasn’t very optimistic.

However, with lots of encouragement from my sister, as well as links to YouTube videos and the blogs of experienced quilters, and many, many phone calls to my sister, I found myself quilting…about a month later, with a passion!!

My first quilt was, of course, for Rene’. The pattern was Yellow Brick Road, which I understand is a great first quilt to make. I quite honestly can’t remember anything about the fabric other than it was the softest material I have ever felt.

Rene’s quilt was the first, and only, one in which I basted with safety pins. Whew!!! You talk about lots of pins, an aching back, and bruised knees. I never realized just how hard a tiled floor was.

After pinning it, I used masking tape to mark the lines for quilting. I wasn’t about to even think about trying FMQ!! My lines ended up pretty straight, considering it was my first effort.

 I spent quite a bit of time in front of the computer while learning how to hand stitch the binding.

Somehow I missed getting a full shot of the completed quilt, but maybe that's for the best ;)

Well, judging by the length of this post, I guess reflecting on my quilting journey is much more enjoyable than reflecting on school work!

As always, thanks for taking the time to visit my blog.

Michelle