It’s been a while

And, oh, so many things have happened! But mostly, this little guy has been taking all my project time and then some!

But that’s not all! I’ve been trying to tidy up my project closet, and found some treasures. My very first quilt was the quilt I started in my first quilting class twenty-something years ago. A pinwheel and single Irish chain.

Now, this quilt is in daily use and while my fabric choices would be different today, I’m still fond of my first quilt. I was absolutely determined to not have a UFO. It took a couple years, but I made it! So the treasures I found were the tools and items of process in making it.

My design sketches.  The teacher of the class had us make up prototype blocks. I’m not really sure why except maybe to give us a sense of the scale and how our fabrics look together. In retrospect, a good idea, ha!

And my little plastic templates. The pencil lines give evidence to how often the pencil slipped. Oh, if only Inklingo existed then! And inkjet printers! But it worked and my quilt isn’t too wonky.

This was my mini test-quilt where I practiced certain techniques before applying them to the “real” quilt. Techniques practiced: Mitred borders, hand quilting, binding.And finally, my Winding Ways quilt.

This is four rows sewn together, the last seam is the one that joins four rows to two rows, but I need to press first! I figure it’s easier to press the smaller pieces separately than to try to press the whole top in one go. I might see if I can get to this point today! Maybe even have that last row sewn this week! We can dream!