A Quilter's Journey - My First Quilt

Greetings, Quilters-

Come along on my Quilting Journey. This excursion began some 25 years ago, and will continue well into the future.

Along the way, you will see many of the quilts I have made and hear the stories behind them. I'll reveal the inside secrets of many of these works of art - the quilting mistakes I made that led to the outcome, my thoughts as I was making them, and sometimes you will see who received these quilts.

Before we start, I will share that the biggest mistake I have made is in not keeping good pictures of each and every one of my quilts. I have given many away, and have no record of them. Two of my favorites were stolen with no pictures.

You are looking at the lone picture I have of this, my first, quilt. Cropped off of this picture is my mostly-naked daughter lying on the bottom of the quilt. She didn't like to wear clothes much - now she can't get enough clothes. Before I began writing tonight, I ransacked my house to find the quilt so I could take a picture of the whole, faded quilt. I hope Stephanie took it home when she was here at Christmas, or remembers where I stashed it safely away, along with the one I made for her brother. (It's too late to call Texas tonight- she surely will be in bed and not caring one hoot about that quilt.)

One thing I have done right is sign my quilts - first name and last name, and the year it was completed. A nice label would have been better, but sometimes by the time I finish a quilt, it's all I can do to sign my name with a permanent marker and get it on its way.

Like many quilters, many of my quilts have been made for other people. Lots of babies, and lots of teachers. After our second year at my kids' elementary school, I swear that the teachers fought to get my kids in their class, because they knew there would be a quilt at the end of the year. None were disappointed, and my kids got the best education going. You will see most of those quilts. Some were as amazing as the teachers!

And kids is where my quilting began.

As I was pregnant with my daughter, Stephanie, in 1981, my mother-in-law said she wanted to buy a quilt for the baby. All I had to do was find the one I wanted. Sounded easy. Then I began looking. I had never known about quilts before. I had done some needlepoint and rug-making, but knew nothing about quilting.

I searched unsuccessfully for a quilt to purchase. I wandered into a fabric store, started looking at quilt patterns, and found one I liked. Since I was blissfully ignorant, I knew not what I was getting into when I bought the pattern. It was an applique with mother and baby animals - horses, cats, dogs, and chickens, with a rooster crowing on atop the barn. Looked nice, and perfect for a new human mom and her baby.

Pattern and fabric in hand, I trundled home and began working. Following all directions and being quite careful, I spent hours, days and months on that quilt. It was not even close to complete when Stephanie was born. Since I was fortunate enough to be able to stay at home with her, I had plenty of hours to work on it, and many months after she turned 1, it was complete.

It was an interesting quilt to make. The barn was done in sections. There was a rectangular piece with the horses in it; then another with the hen and chick, and yet another with the dogs and cats (just below the hen and chick). Then the sections were appliqued onto the backing, and the rooftop and rooster were added.

Freezer Paper Applique

I used freezer paper to create the animal shapes with the 1/4" seam allowance folded under.

The freezer paper is cut into the desired shape. Cut the paper so that the right side of the pattern is on the dull side of the wax paper.

The fabric is cut the same shape (right side facing up) with the 1/4" seam allowance added.

Then you place the dull side of the freezer paper against the wrong side of the fabric. Fold the seam allowance onto the shiny side of the wax paper and iron. The heat of the iron somewhat melts the wax on the freezer paper and causes the fabric to stick to it.

Place the piece down on the background fabric, right side facing up and the shiny side of the wax paper facing the background fabric, and iron it in place. Again, the wax will melt slightly and the piece will stay in place - although I still pin the piece as I applique.

After the piece is appliqued to the background, cut a slice in the background, or cut out the background the shape of the appliqued piece leaving a 1/4" seam allowance, and remove the paper.

Back to the Barn Quilt

The biggest challenge was the white gate. It was made of one piece with the triangles cut out of the center, then the seam allowances folded under. Trying to keep it straight and flat, well, I still remember it! And I'm glad it's done.

Once all of that was complete, the rest was easy, simple borders, then batting, backing and quilting. Whoa! Batting - I used polyester. Our town had only chain fabric stores, so I used what they carried. (Now I use only cotton, silk or wool.)

And the quilting. Of course, my stitches were quite large - I thought 1/8" was pretty good. And someone told me to wrap the final stitch about 3 times through the fabric then string a long tail of thread through the center of the quilt; not to use knots (it will make your quilt lumpy!). Talk about an old wives' tale. That was a mess. It didn't look very good, and after Stephanie slept under the quilt once, the final stitches started coming out. With time, they have become more secure (who knows why), but I never did that again. I love knots! Tucked inside the quilt.

I followed every direction very carefully and couldn't even imagine a day when I might be able to make a quilt without specific instructions, let alone design my own quilt.

In retrospect, it was a crazy project. But, I stuck with it, and the quilt is still together today. Stephanie was easy on it - she used it for sleeping under, not dragging around the house and yard, or to practice cutting with scissors (like her brother did on a quilt. But that's a story for another day.) It has faded, and some of the fabric has small holes in it from a dog or cat claw. I kept some scraps of fabric so I could repair the quilt. Interesting - the scraps didn't fade! Why did I ever think they would match?

The quilt has been washed many times. It's had almost everything normal happen to it. And with the exception of the small holes, the fabric has held up well. It may also have to do with the fact that some of the fabric was polyester, too. Way back then, I hadn't discovered the benefits of using 100% cotton (oh - maybe that's why the applique was so difficult, and the seam allowance kept popping out). On the other hand, maybe it's in better condition having been made using poly fabric.

Little did anyone know what was beginning in my life.


Happy Quilting!

Penny Halgren
www.How-to-Quilt.com
Inspiration and Education for Beginning Quilters

www.Rag-Quilt-Instructions.com
Fast, Fun and Funky Quilts

©2005, Penny Halgren
Penny is a quilter of more than 25 years who seeks to interest new quilters and provide them with the resources necessary to create beautiful quilts.

This article courtesy of http://www.How-to-Quilt.com.
You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.