Why a blog.....

So I've decided to start a blog of my quilting and sewing projects - past, present and future. It's a bit overwhelming to decide where to start: my first quilt or my most recent creation, why I started quilting or how I find time to quilt with a two year old. I guess I'll start with a little background and go from there.

I have been sewing off and on since I was a kid. My mom sewed clothes and costumes for us growing up and I always enjoyed sewing with her. Every summer we would work on sewing projects for 4-H - up until the wee hours trying to finish something in time to get it entered in the county fair. Once I became a teenager I would ocassionally sew a skirt or something for myself, but lost interest for a few years. Then my mom gave me my first sewing machine of my own (a Pfaff Hobby 301 - more to come on that little machine later) for Christmas in 1994. I dabbled with it a bit here and there, making pillow cases, curtains and the ocassional dress - bridesmaid dresses and I wasn't very good at it and frequently found myself back at home having mom walk me through the hard parts. I realized I didn't really like making clothes. And since then have only done it if I have absolutley had to.

So my machine sat in the closet most of the time. I would sew a few times a year and everytime I moved (which was frequently back then) I would make new curtains for the house or other such things. I made baby quilts (clueless about it now that I look back) for a nephew and a couple of good friends and then in the fall of 2003 a new quilt shop opend up around the corner from our house. I had always admired quilts, but felt I didn't have the skill or patience to do it right. I mentioned to Cory a few times that I would love to quilt, but would need to take a class or two to get started. Well, he was paying attention and for Christmas that year he signed me up for a beginner quilting class at the shop around the corner (Fourth Corner Quilts - Bellingham, WA) and he even talked to the owner (Julia Menkee) and picked out a few basic supplies that I would need - cutting mat, rotary cutter and acrylic ruler. I was thrilled with the gift and I could tell he was proud of himself. Little did he know then that quilting would become a minor obsession of mine.

So I started my first quiting class in January 2004.

Ok, tht's it for now - naptime is over.... Next installment will be about my first real quilt.