I've been dying for some sewing time as of late. As I pass by the sewing room on my way upstairs, my sewing machine and I glance at each other for just a minute. We both sigh. And then I return to whever crisis is screaming loudest. With S in and out and the boys' end of the school year activities I just haven't been able to fit any sewing time into the schedule. I promise old friend...soon.
Carole, one of our mentor moms from our MOPS group is an amazing quilter and bag maker. We share a love of vintage table cloths and I often joke that I want to be her when I grow up. She made me the quilt in the photos above. When I found out she quilted I immediately dropped to my knees and began begging for a lesson. I was in the middle of the Virtual Quilting Bee and full of questions about seam allowances and which side to press to, etc. That was over a year ago.
I finally wore her down and we were able to coordinate schedules. We started work on a collaborative bowtie quilt. I can not share our project yet - its a big secret. Shhhh!
But I can show you the quilt Carole made for me (above). Wyatt has dubbed it "the bird quilt" around here as there are two fabrics in the quilt with birds. Carole picked out the blue and green colors even before seeing our house. She is good like that. And the blue and purple print there in the corner is a vintage table cloth she cut up. Love that so much!
Things I learned so far in quilting with Carole:
- Use quilting thread
- Accurate measurements are important. But having the right tools to help you measure accurately is just as important.
- If you are piecing squares you can sew multiple squares without stopping and cutting the thread until you have sewing several pieces together - this is called strip piecing.
- Use what's in your stash. This forces you to put together fabrics that you might not usually choose. And it makes for a more interesting quilt in the end.
Thanks Carole, for the quilt. Thanks for the quilting lessons. And for the quilting confidence booster.
See you next week for another lesson.