Thursday, April 12, 2007

Where is spring?



Yet another spring snowstorm yesterday afternoon in Michigan! This is really getting annoying, but what can you do? How about quilt? I have almost finished the 'Bloom Where You Are Planted' wallhanging.

STASHBUSTER QUESTION OF THE WEEK:
How did you come to start quilting? Was it passed down in the family? What was your first project and is it finished? Where does it live now?

I've always done things with my hands, beginning with weaving potholders on a loom that was given to me at age eight as a Christmas gift from my godmother. Some things were more difficult to learn as I am left-handed. In the early 70s, you couldn't find many books or patterns where directions were shown for both hands. I taught myself to crochet and made many afghans, pillows, potholders, and Christmas ornaments over the years. The repetition of crocheting small items took a toll on my hands, though.

My sister, Connie and I attended the Piecemakers Quilt Guild Show and decided to join their guild in 1990. My youngest sister, Judy, joined the following year. Everything seemed to mushroom after that. We were introduced to block swaps, retreats, having a stash, round robins, antique quilts, classes, having a stash, national quilt shows, the state quild, having a stash, etc. In 1992, Connie and I had an opportunity to attend the AQS Show in Paducah. We told our husbands that is was a "once in a lifetime" opportunity. In a couple of weeks, we will leave for our 16th "once in a lifetime" annual trip. We overcame our fear of driving over the 'flying geese' bridge on I-24 in the process.






There wasn't any quilting done by mom or grandmas that we know of except for utility type bed coverings that consisted of stitched squares cut from old suits and pants and tied together. They weren't anything pretty to look at, but they were certainly warm. The present generations of family, however, have many quilters among them. Besides myself and two sisters, my daughter, Kari, and granddaughter, Abigail, sister-in-law, Lori, Aunt Ruth and cousin, Mary are all quilters.

My first project is pictured in my post of March 15th, Oldest UFO. It was to be a baby quilt for my youngest son, JJ. Now it is waiting for him to get married and have a baby. :-) Did I mention that my second quilt is my second oldest UFO?

6 comments:

swooze said...

LOL! That start wasn't too productive. Quilt 1 and 2 are UFO 1 and 2....hmmmm...so what are you going to do about that?

Sweet P said...

I made hotpads on a loom too. Was yours a six-sided loom? My grandpa made mine. I even found it when we were cleaning out my parent's house last summer.

I'm also left handed so I can relate to the difficulty in learning how to crochet. My grandma was able to teach me how to crochet. Sometimes being left handed is so cool though, isn't it?

Libby said...

16th annual Once-in-a-lifetime-trip . . . love it *s*

Quilter Kathy said...

Lucky you going to Paducah 16 times!!
Jeanne...can you email me and tell me how you insert the links to your previous posts??? I'd love to be able to do that.

Greenmare said...

In Wisconsin we got better weather today, hope you did too!
I love the flying geese bridge!

Linda C said...

We have been unseasonably cool down here in NE Central Alabama too--no snow but frost on 4/16??

I have been over that bridge more times than I can count--both from attending the AQS show with the guild I belonged to in IL plus that is on the way back "home" when we return for visits. I never thought about it looking like flying geese though. LOL, I will from here on out though, Jeanne. VBG- 16th once in a lifetime---good one and I bet your husbands give you a hard time about it!