My Quilt Guild

My local quilt guild is the Columbia River Gorge Quilters Guild. It was formed in 2007 and I was actually one of the first few members (I even have a certificate to prove it). There had been a quilt show going on for several years but not one that had much organization behind it - it was kinda thrown together by a group of women who wanted to do it. I took a hand quilting class at the last pre-guild show in 2006. Since the guild was formed, I've been helping with the publications - the quarterly newsletter and the show booklet. I'm almost done with this years book. I'm really excited about our feature teacher this year. She makes wholecloth quilts with vintage linens. I have wanted to make a whole cloth quilt ever since I learned what they are! Check out her website. I also just joined The Portland Modern Quilt Guild today. Some of the members are quilters who have blogs I read so it's a little like I might get to meet a celebrity if I go to a meeting! You won't be able to see much on the website unless you join, but I'm excited to see that there are quilters closer to my age. Don't get me wrong, I love my "quilter ladies" at the local guild. They take good care of me. But I would like to find people who are similar to me in life who also appreciate quilting. This has been hard to do in Hood River. The Modern Quilt Guild idea apparently started in LA and there are branches developing all over the country. For more, check out the Modern Quilt Guild Blog.

I don't have much in the way of pictures to post today. I've been working on gifts so I can't post the pictures until they have been received. But, I am excited to say I made a button hole for one of those gifts yesterday. Most sewers will know this is not hard but I didn't until yesterday. So, here it is:

Baby Quilts

These are the baby quilts that I made in between the first nephew's quilt and the twin cousins quilt.

this quilt was made in 2005 for one of David's college friends (and later groomsman) first baby. they've had number 2 but those poor second children get the shaft. it's awful. it was very loosely based on the book Goodnight Moon, the first time i based a quilt on a book. if you look really closely, you can see that i quilted moon and stars in the light blue blocks.

this was made for one of my best college friend's baby girl. i used a pattern from a baby quilt book. this was the first time i pieced something that really made a pattern that worked. and i think i quilted tulips into it. i think it was my first label too - called springtime sunshine since she was born in may.

first applique! made for a long time friends first baby (she has also had number 2 and again this poor second child got the shaft).

eventually i will get on to posting my current projects. i guess i felt that i needed a little history. i also have issues because i have always given everything away so i can't post about it til it's done and been gifted!

Where to begin . . .

I am not someone who does change well, and I don't like resolutions. But the older I get, the more I try to focus on appreciating new beginnings when they come along rather than running away screaming which is what I would like to do. At the beginning of 2010, I thought, "I should really get back to that quilt blog I started a year ago. Maybe it would help me focus on my projects." It's only taken me three months to actually follow through!

My story: I started quilting about 8 years ago. I have two older sisters and the oldest was getting married. The middle roped me to helping make a quilt. We used a children's quilting book and hand stitched every piece of it. That was before digital cameras entered my life so I know I have a picture somewhere but I will have to scan it before I can post it. Quilt number two was for that oldest sisters first baby, which I cut and sent blocks off to my mother and middle sister to work on. I cut every strip with scissors, which truly makes a rotary cutter a thing of beauty once you discover it.

The second quilt I ever made: unofficially titled "Looking out the Cabin Window" because this is before I realized I was supposed to put a label on the back. This is also before I learned about binding.

The rest is history, I guess they say. I have discovered a deep satisfaction in creating a quilt. I machine piece now-a-days, but I still only hand quilt and hand applique. It feels like a connection to the past and it's very soothing. It is also portable and I love not having to be tied to the machine.

That first baby led to several other baby quilts for friends, and eventually to the quilts for my next niece and nephew (the twin cousins, born 6 days apart). Those quilts were my first real applique work that I was quite proud of and led to the storybook idea. I had made other quilts vaguely inspired by the book Goodnight Moon, but decided to be more focused and specific. I made one based on One Fish, Two Fish, and the other based on The Hungry Caterpillar.

Made out of the same fabric, we have The Hungry Caterpillar and One Fish, Two Fish. I am most proud of the fruit.

Labels! I wish I had a machine that did letters so I could sew them but those handy fabric pens will have to do.