I was asked once "What was the one Christmas gift as a child that inspired you?" The first thing to pop into my head was my first needlework kit. I think I was around 10 years old when I received it. The kit was filled with colorful threads, yarns, and fabric. I couldn't wait to start working on it that day. From that time on, I always had some sort of needlework project in progress - embroidery, cross-stitch, and a little crocheting.
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| I couldn't stop even for a picture. |
More than 30 years ago, I finally got up enough nerve to make my first quilt. There were no classes or quilt shops that I was aware of, and of course, no internet to surf. But, I had a strong desire to make a quilt and a couple of the “QUILT” magazines. I started out machine piecing and hand-quilted in a hoop. It took me three years to finish, but I was hooked and could not wait to start my next quilt. I wish I had a photo to share of my first quilt. I was smarter with the second one.
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| Grandmother's Flower Garden |
My second quilt was a more difficult pattern. I wanted to make Grandmother’s Flower Garden with hexagons and I decided to do it all by hand. All the pieces were hand-marked with templates, scissor-cut, hand-sewn, and hand-quilted. I found this method to be very soothing and very portable.
My husband of 45 years was career military (Air Force) so we and our two kids did a lot of traveling. As soon as he told me we had orders, I would immediately start planning my next traveling-quilt kit. You might say I sewed my way around the world! (That was before 9-11) We did three overseas tours so I had plenty of time to quilt away the hours while waiting in airports, on long plane rides, waiting in temporary quarters, and well, you get the idea. My traveling projects kept me sane and relaxed.
Photos From Our Overseas Tours
Philippines
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| K-9 Handler - Philippines '78-'80 |
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| Want to go for a swim? |
Germany
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| Idar-Oberstein, Germany |
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| A trip to Paris |
Turkey
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| Ephesus, Turkey - our daughter's graduation |
It took me over six years to make this Wedding Ring for my daughter using all traditional methods right down to marking fabric with templates and cutting with scissors. It did a lot of traveling too. I started it in Turkey and after moving to three different assignments in the States, the quilt was finally finished.
I was a traditionalist until I joined a Project Linus (PL) group through my work place. I found out that I would have to speed up my process so I started taking a few classes on rotary cutting and machine sewing.
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| Project Linus |
In 2009, we decided to take an early retirement, sell the house, and travel around the country in our motorhome. Why do such a crazy thing? We dreamed of a cabin in the woods or on a lake, but we could not decide on where we wanted to retire. Our son was the only one living near us. The rest of our family is spread out across the United States. Plus, we were so use to moving that we could not see ourselves sitting in one place for the rest of our lives.
The motorhome has become our cabin on wheels. Our cabin has been on lakes, along the coasts, in the woods, and on mountains. I couldn't ask for a better view from our front window. Now I am quilting my way across the country and back again with three cats and Hubby.
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| Starting our new adventure |
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| Quilting on the hoop |
I have been accused of being obsessed with quilting, and I plead guilty! I love quilting. Eat… Dream…Talk….Read….Quilt! I love being able to share my quilt obsession with others.
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| Quilting with a view in Key West. |
With time, I have improved my skills and my stitches have become smaller and more even. This is my most recent project and I am trying to finish this for my granddaughter’s next birthday in March. The quilt top is from a year long class I took in Albuquerque called Saturday’s Sampler.
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| Close-up of stitching |
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| Sampler quilt for my granddaughter |
