Thursday, September 24, 2009

7 years ago......

Way back in 2002 I told my husband I wanted to make a quilt. Mind you, up to that point the only other time I even sat behind a sewing machine, let alone sewed something was in 1985 in 8th grade Home Economics! So we proceeded to the local Sears and bought a Janome model that was made for Sears at the time. It was some quilter's edition in that it came with a walking foot and some quilting guide bar (that I've never used!). But basically, it's just an average regular sewing machine. We paid a whole $270 for it. So anyway, I went to the local Walmart and bought some fabrics that I liked at the time to make a basic patchwork quilt. I assembled the quilt top and then that was it. I had no clue how to finish it. I didn't know about blogs (if they were even around way back then!), I never even considered taking a quilting class. I had some books, read about quilting and was completely lost. Had no clue how to do a binding or even quilt it for that matter! I shoved the quilt top in a drawer and it was never pulled out again. The machine was put away and wasn't used again until March 2009! Now that I'm quilting, I realize how bottom of the line my machine is and how a better machine would probably make quilting a bit easier, but I'm use to this machine now. I know eventually I'll get another one. But that is rather intimidating to me. Which one do you get? What's the best machine? Do I really want to spend thousands of dollars on it? So for now, this will do.

Yesterday I was rooting around some stuff in a closet and low and behold I come across that very first quilt! I don't really care for the fabrics, they are very cheap and not "quilt shop" quality. BUT the funny thing is is that the past few days I've been thinking about making a quilt for our camping trailer. I've been looking online at different fabrics and just really haven't found anything that I want yet. #1, I don't want to spend a whole lot on the quilt since it's just going in our trailer for when we are camping. #2, I really want something sort of rustic looking. #3, this sounds crazy, but I don't want to be super in love with it because I'm afraid if I am, then it won't go or stay in the trailer! ANYWAY.....after coming across this sort of ugly 1st quilt, I think I now have a quilt for our trailer! Luckily the bag it was in still had some fabric in there. So now I need to make it a bit bigger and finish this sucker up!


3 comments:

  1. That sounds like a perfect way to use your first quilt! I don't mean that first quilts should be banished to campers...I mean you'll have so many good camper memories with that quilt!

    I remember many things about the camper days of my youth and I wish I still had some of the blankets/games we used to use all the time. Once in a while my brother and I will come across something from our childhood and we'll laugh and reminisce.

    I hope your quilt will someday be a lovely reminder of fun camping days.

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  2. Pretty good quilt for your first time! I'm impressed! Perfect for camping too!

    My first machine was a hand-me-down from my sister. I finally bought a janome last year. It was under $500 and it has a ton of stuff that I love for quilting. I would love to spend thousands.. but it's really not necessary. (but it would be nice)

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  3. Just goes to show that everything has a use somewhere. And I agree...that doesn't look like a first quilt! I'm sure it will be well used and well loved.

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