The Story of my First Quilt
Often I am asked how many quilts I’ve made over the years and the answer is “I HAVE NO IDEA”. I know someone that has always numbered their quilts but unfortunately I never even thought of doing that. I’ve given away a lot of quilt over the years, how many? “I HAVE NO IDEA”. I’ve also been asked many times, how many quilts do I have in my house? Can you guess the answer?????? “I HAVE NO IDEA”.
As part of my dog and pony show when I visit guilds I do a trunk show of lots and lots of quilts and each time it’s a different collection depending on which lecture and depending on which quilts I pack. There’s always a big variety but I almost always start off with my first quilt.
I’ve decided that each Thursday I will post a quilt from my trunk show and in the process maybe I’ll figure out how many quilts I have, although I really doubt it.
So here’s my first quilt. Not only the first quilt of the trunk show but my very first quilt.
![1st Quilt 1st Quilt](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcReKx3e3Vdl1cdPXQ3JIhZFesICLsvD2tYnEICrUdts1LkdE8vssFwvJNfvobcDjx-QH0KNcgdfYXNoB6ooQwa1Wn6uy-gD3YwigAo_wgp21ZygrcYEgag3qY-eaP_UZe8JV3I93bfzg/?imgmax=800)
It’s all my sister Melinda’s fault. She lived the other side of the country from me but manage to convince me over the phone that I could do this. After all I’d been sewing most of my life but had never been interested in making a quilt. In fact, I was afraid of making a quilt. All that stuff about 1/4” seams really intimated me. Well anyway she talked me into it so I headed out to my local JoAnn’s and bought this book.
![Alex Anderson Alex Anderson](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjK0umozUseJPY-natweZ9V6ZHEaJQTlxWEfecbFzLxXYtAHKSxBmQHWaAQElCd2hNNzJ4e5adEna_vgK9cm_kdI9P4T2zWIuRwX297ihjU1E0r0YVWSoxbbpyl4hQAelypHW5JwDhjXMU/?imgmax=800)
I had absolutely no idea what I was doing and no imagination at all. I opened the book and found the quilt I liked the best.
![IMG_2964 IMG_2964](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTSgvUef8UC7jZcTWiv4fLFs4m8_IrUBeAsHfkN_w21ZsenF6r88Etw_k7Lb9_5QrDKh-OM9YdPhTJ5ERulW6T8ywPfdHRSGyQx23EHJkNJ9Ov68of3-TkK6douoTmYVII-3DDUX5YDZc/?imgmax=800)
Notice any similarity? I told you, I had a no imagination. I took the book and wondered around the store until I found almost exactly the same fabrics. I managed to get it made but then I had to quilt it. In the book they had just done a cross hatch in the center, so guess what I did. A cross hatch of sorts. Then it was time to do the border. The book said to free motion quilt in the border. I had no idea what that was so I decided to do what I knew how to do best, absolutely nothing, no quilting at all.
I will tell you this, I was so proud of this quilt that it hung in my family room for years until………..the owner of a quilt shop came for a visit to talk to me about teaching in her shop. She was very nice and even complimented me on my wall hanging. She said it was a very “friendly quilt” it was waving to her. I was so embarrassed because sure enough, since I hadn’t quilted anything in the borders it didn’t lay at all flat it just waved and waved.
After that the quilt came off the wall and became a feature of my trunk show. I like to think I’ve come a long way from that first quilt.
Enjoy,
![Signature Signature](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsdtfBRQi_K4YxYrpEyl__9UXm6h1AiofRWGsN2e1UdbOAuM5ZBChnM12ulRPjbATh5_aX7VHqFQxXDe9Al8FOva1Au9it064W75Az-2RVVspI_EJtBmyZuznP9X5tHQ581ncLkTE18sM/?imgmax=800)