Does my blog title, Quilty Chick, imply that I am a quilter? When exactly can you call yourself an "official" quilter? Perhaps it would have been more appropriate to name my blog "novice quilty chick" or "tenderfoot quilty chick" or "fledgling quilty chick"....well you get the idea. I'll come clean right now. I have made one quilt! Here it is...
This is my nine patch lap quilt. An award winner? Not a chance, but I love it all the same! What I love the most about it...the blonde rascal chooses it every time for a snuggle while reading a book or watching a movie. Who needs a ribbon from a stuffy judge when the most important critic in my world loves it!!!! I machine pieced it and then little ol' me hand quilted it. Hand quilting is not gonna be my thing but being that it was my first quilt I wanted to experience it all. Now I must give credit where credit is due, my aunt by marriage...but never-mind that because I am claiming her as all mine... Aunt Gay very kindly and patiently taught me step by step. From picking out the fabric all the way to attaching the binding. Gay lives 4 1/2 hours away so these lessons took place over about 4 different weekend visits. Gay has made countless gorgeous quilts and I am blessed to have her as my very own private muse!I did not grow up in a quilting family. My grandmothers neither one were quilters. My mom taught me how to cross stitch and crochet. It was in college where I learned to sew. Two of my roommates sewed, this was 1991 and they were making some righteous wrap skirts. You know the ones, you loved them too...admit it! What college kid has extra money for clothes? So I called dear old mom and told her I wanted a sewing machine. No doubt relieved that I was asking for something worthy she excitedly said yes. Enter my trusty base model Singer from Best Products. Still humming along today the old Singer is!
I married into the quilts and girls this was the way to do it let me tell you. It was 1995 and my sweet, attentive and romantic betrothed... was a poor police officer. BUT he came from a long line of quilting grandmas and there were stacks and stacks of quilts just waiting to adorn our cute little first apartment! Word of advice to all you young girlies...who cares about money, marry for the heirloom quilts!!!
The quilts you can buy at the dept. store today, sure they are functional and look pretty and all, but where is the love? When you lay in bed under a handmade quilt it is like a hug from the person who made it. The quilts that hubs grandmas' made, some dating back to the early 1900's, were not made for grins or just because the fabric was pretty.
No, it was a necessity to keep the family warm or decorate their simple home the only way they could afford to. There was not a beautiful fabric line by Moda at the store waiting to be made into a quilt, instead there were feed sacks and old dresses. I love these old quilts, whether on the bed to keep my family warm or an older tattered one to gently wrap a glorious new piece of furniture coming home in the back of the pickup. The only sad thing is that there are no labels on these old quilts so the story of who put so much time and love into them is lost. I want to pass on a legacy of love to my family and friends through quilts!I have seen so many talented quilters in these blogs. I'll be watching you, adoring your work and more than likely pestering you with questions as I travel down my beginners road!
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