I finished my first quilt.  Finally!  I was chatting with my hair stylist and mentioned I had just taken an introductory class at Joann's.  She told me one of her clients was a quilter and was going to offer a class soon.  I took the class, along with two other lovely women, June 18-22.  Jean R is a fantastic teacher, very skilled, and extremely patient.  I finished the top, and Jean helped me assemble the layers before I did a simple "stich in the ditch" quilting on it.  She also taught me how to attach the binding.  It took me until last night to actually finish the binding.  It required hand work that I had never done before.  (One of my weaknesses is actually starting things, especially when they are a new skill.)  I apologize to Jean for not following her guidelines when selecting the fabrics.  Once the quilt was done, I understood how my choices affected the look of the rail.  I have a lot to learn.

My intention was to donate this quilt to the Children's Place here in Aiken, but Ted says I should keep it, because it is my first quilt.  If I do, I will make another one to give away.  I haven't decided yet.  I chose the colors in this one for a little boy, not for me.

By the way, Jean and I belong to the same guild, the Carolina Pine Quilters, and I took a second class with her.  We made a wall hanging.  When I get it done, I'll share it with you.  Here's a teaser.  I, again, did not follow her color suggestions.  Big mistake.

As a new member of the Carolina Pine Quilters guild, I received a kit with basic instructions on how to make my badge.  Since I am new to all things related to quilting and sewing, this was another challenge.  Paper piecing for the tree.  Cross-stitching on aida that was skewed.  Stich in the ditch around the borders.  Poking the corners out (total fail).  Hand closing the opening once I turned the badge right side out.  Whew!  Although the tree and the cross-stitch square below it are centered relative to each other, I somehow messed up when I sewed the borders on.  Since the fabric was fraying quite a bit, I had a good excuse to not rip out the seams and try again.  I went with the adage that sometimes done is better than perfect!  I'm still deciding which one of the three ribbons to pick for my neck strap.  I'm not sure, but I am leaning toward the one in the middle.

I needed to find a way to organize my sewing machine needles. The packages they come in just were not working for me, and my eyes are too old to search through the teeny numbers on the needles. I couldn't find anything online meant for needles.  However, as a former science teacher, I thought of vials.

I found these 5mL vials at a good price on Amazon, and they are the perfect size for my Singer needles.

If you are a sewer or quilter, Id love to hear how you you manage your needles.

I bet I took some of you by surprise, if just for a nanosecond!  I wish I could tell you I was coming along with my quilting skills that quickly, but that is not the case.

When I mentioned to Kathy M, a lovely lady in my community, that I was interested in quilting, she talked to her friend, Pat Jones, who just happens to be the current President of the Carolina Pine Quilters, here in Aiken SC.  Pat invited me to their March meeting, and I am very happy I decided to attend.  There were about 50 members there (including one man), and they were very warm. welcoming, and enjoyable to chat with.  The meeting began with some personal shares, followed by business and a guest speaker, and ended with a  "show-and-tell" of current projects by the members.  The larger quilts had been hung around the room, and I fell in love with this french roses quilt.  I can't explain why I find it so beautiful, but I do.  I found the pattern for it, French Roses by Heather French and bought it to make when my skills are equal to the challenge.

The evening's speaker was Cecelia Reed, who gave an absolutely fascinating and fun talk about feed sacks.  Who knew?  She shares and continues her mother's passion for collecting and documenting feed sacks and has a collection of 18,000 two-inch feed sack swathes that began with her mother's collection. The fabric from feed sacks was used not only for quilts, of course, but also for items like shirts, sleeping gowns, skirts, curtains, and tablecloths.  She was so pleased to have visited Aiken, because she had a hunch and bought an old quilt she noticed in one of the local stores.  Upon opening it up, she found a quilt from the 1800s!  If your club is looking for an interesting speaker, you can track Cecilia down through Pat's Sack of Titusville, Cocoa, FL.  

So, where I am I in my quilting adventure?  Not too far.  I made my 2nd square today, an X-block, the match to my O-block.  I did everything "right." I measured carefullly.  I cut carefully (but I still tend to bow with that rotary cutter).  I felt for those seams and pinned carefully.  I did my best to sew 1/4 in seams, using my new 1/4 inch seam presser foot.  I set the seams with the my iron.  I ironed the seams in the right direction, pulling a tad to make sure I didn't get a fold.  I let the pieces cool before removing them.  The result was a square where almost nothing lined up right and also had puckering in it.  I am a teeny bit frustrated right now.  Thank goodness I hate my choice of fabrics and have no real intention to use these squares for anything.

I did set up and learned how to use my sewing machine - bought in 2015 -  this week.  So, I am including a picture of some of my practice stitches.  Now that was fun!

I went to a "Learn to Quilt" workshop this week, and it has taken me two days to decide that I am willing to share my product.  I had to work up some courage, especially since I am proud of it, despite its many imperfections.  Our instructor kept reminding us that we were doing this to learn techniques, not to create a perfect square.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to create this again on my own, so I took some pictures along the way, mostly to help me remember in which direction to press the seams.  Linda Williams, our instructor at Joann Fabrics, told us to press toward the dark.  OK.  That made sense to me, because you won't see the seams as much under the dark.  However, later on, she told me to press some seams toward my lighter color - for construction purposes.  We don't want our seams going in directions that work against each other when we press them open once the block is finished.  Unfortunately, my brain just doesn't work that way.  How did she know what that was going to be?  Will practice help me be able to predict, or should I purchase a few extra seam rippers?

Here are some of the photos I took of the process, incuding the back side, where I discovered that my 1/4 inch seams were anything but that!

I learned many things in this workshop, including the importance of being very careful with your fabric selection!  I thought the fat quarters were really pretty in their little bags and would be perfect for Easter, but I now know that I will not be using my left over fabric for anything else but practice.  I should try an X square, since we were given instructions for one.

All in all, it was 2-1/2 hours well spent.  There was only one other student in the class, so we both received a lot of personal attention.  Cheryl P lives in the same town that I do to boot.  So, we exchanged information and will try to find a way to connect.  How lovely!

A friend was generously sharing knowledge and experience with me as she shared her expertise on quilting, something I want to try.  As I was reporting my progress back to her, she suggested I blog about it.  So, here I am, post #1 of my new blog, Pursuits and Endeavors.  We'll have to wait and see if there are posts yet to come, but thanks for the suggestion, Linda B.

I retired.  I moved.  I organized my new home - well, sort of.  I relaxed.  I floated in the relaxation. After 40 years of teaching and non-stop activity, I felt like relaxation was my new major.  Then...I was done.  Although I still had some activities that connected me to my old professional life, I needed to add some new ones.  I tried classes - all sorts of arts and crafts.  I joined a book club.  I pulled out my telescope and joined the local astronomy club.  I joined the local gem and minerals club.  Now, I am going to try quilting!