First of all I'd like to welcome any new quilters to my blog who found me via Quilters Online Meet and Greet. A huge thank you to Benita for arranging this.
Be sure to visit all the featured quilters ... there are prizes to be won !
Wife, mom, stepmom, sister, grandma (aka beppe), kitchen nerd, quilting addict... that about sums me up right now.
In my 20's I dreamed of making quilts, but work, family and life in general kept me pretty busy until the end of 2011 when my quilting journey began.
I was still working full time, recently turned 50, widowed and remarried to a wonderful man. An empty nester with a husband who loves to do all the yard work...this girl nedded a new hobby!
In December of 2011 my sister-in-law, Betty, passed away. Betty had a passion for quilting and while I was in BC for the funeral I think I read most of her more basic how-to quilting books and thought I really wanted to give it a go.
This picture is from 2015, just before we closed up the cafe where I'd worked for over 30 years. Yes, of course there were quilts on the walls :)
My husband's late wife, Gloria, was also an avid quilter, the appliqued quilt in the background was made by Gloria.
My husband still had all the supplies and a good stash to get me started, so off surfing I went. Books, magazines and the internet were my teachers.
Amanda Jean's Crazy Mom Quilts was such an inspiration for me as I began to learn this addictively relaxing art. I love her use of scraps and her blog is always one that I still refer back to. This is one of my favourite quilts, it's from Amanda Jean's book, Sunday Morning Quilts.
Bonnie Hunter's blog is another one I'm always checking out. I haven't made any of her patterns yet but I've learned many little tips from her...who would have thought you could flip seams?!!
Seven years later, still quilting, still learning. Now semi-retired, with more grandbabies joining the family, life is great.
My 2 sewing spaces are an unfinished basement room with 2 walls covered in flannel sheets for design boards and an unused living room where I usually finish off the quilts since the basement room is generally a creative mess!
My Janome Memory Craft 9000 is my only sewing machine. I've finished all my own quilts, either hand quilting or on the Janome. I started off just quilting straight lines, then tried freemotion, and hand quilting. Free motion is usually my choice if in a hurry, but hand quilting is definitely my favourite look.
This year my goal is to join a local quilt guild. I'm really looking forward to it, but a bit anxious as well as I'm pretty much self taught.
Thanks for stopping by!
