You Have To Start Somewhere - My Early Quilts #1



I am always sharing my latest quilts and projects; but up until now...my early quilts have not seen their 15 minutes of fame here on my blog.  Yet, it is about time they received a little love...because let's be honest, hideous fabric and poor piecing aside, making these quilts is how I got my start.  I tried things, I failed, tried again, failed again, and eventually I figured it out.

The earliest quilt that I have dates back to 1994, I was 15 at the time.  If you cannot remember what was happening in 1994, Buzzfeed did a wonderful recap "22 Things From 1994 That Will Make You Feel Old". And yes...it does make you feel old.

Untitled, 1994



Not bad for my first quilt, eh?  This is one of the larger ones that I made, it comes in at approx. 46" x 54". What you might notice is how there is no actual "quilting" visible on the quilt.  I did not fully grasp the concept of "quilting" the layers together, and so I chose to tie my quilt.

Yet, it looks like I had some fun and used different colors of DMC embroidery floss along the way.




This next photo is adorable for two reasons.

  • First, the labeling.  
  • Second, the lack of binding.




I learned early on that it was important to label your quilt; but obviously I chose to make a more permanent statement using not only Sharpie; but finding that embroidering on top was an even better idea.

As for the binding, well it wasn't until many years later that I understood what a binding really was.  Most of my quilts were made "pillow-like", meaning I sewed the top and backing RST along the perimeter, leaving a hole so I could turn the quilt inside out.  I would then squish Poly (Yes, Poly) batting inside the hole, spending the next half an hour or so flattening it out.  Tying was next, followed by an off-edge stitch line to secure the whole thing together.

Even after all that, it looks like I was hooked.

So, was your first quilt-making experience similar or did you have a better understanding of things?


Happy Friday!!


**This post belongs to a small series I've created to share some of the first quilts that I made, not only for documentation purposes; but to show that we all have to start somewhere**