I began my first quilt in 1965 when I was 13 years old. I used a pattern called Roman Stripe, which I found in an old Quilts booklet of my mother's, copyright 1942 by The Spool Cotton Company. I cut the one pattern piece (1-1/2" x 3-1/2") out of sandpaper and replaced it as it got worn. I pinned the sandpaper pattern onto my fabric and cut out each piece with scissors. I pieced the quilt together on my mother's Featherweight, which she had taught me to use when I was eight years old. I used leftover fabric from clothes that my mother and I had made for me - lace, cotton, corduroy, polyester doubleknit, gingham, you name it! I didn't finish the quilt until after I married in 1973. I used a sheet for the backing and just tied it. I don't have the quilt anymore, but my mom just recently gave me the old Quilts booklet containing my pattern, along with patterns for twelve other quilts.
Our author this month, Jennifer Chiaverini, is also a quilter. In her book Elm Creek Quilts: Quilt Projects Inspired by the Elm Creek Quilts Novels, she tells how she first began quilting. She was marrying Martin Chiaverini in June of 1994. She writes, "In the midst of the plans and preparations, I found myself longing for a beautiful heirloom quilt to commemorate the occasion and brighten up the apartment we would soon share. Unfortunately, I had no friends or relatives who quilted and could be counted on to make us a quilt for a wedding gift, nor did our tight budget allow for us to purchase one. Before long, it became obvious that if I wanted a beautiful heirloom wedding quilt, I would have to make it myself.
"At that time, State College did not have a quilt shop, so I bought an instruction book and fabric from a discount store and taught myself to quilt. My first project was a simple nine-block sampler wallhanging, not the elaborate king-size bed quilt I had envisioned, but I was so pleased with it that I wanted to begin a new project immediately." You can see a photo of her first quilt here: http://elmcreek.net/gallery/quilts/my-first-quilt
Now it's your turn. Tell us about the first quilt you ever made. What pattern did you use? How big was your quilt? Did you teach yourself from a book like Jennifer did? Did you learn from your mom like I did? Did you take a class? Inquiring minds what to know! Please answer in the comments section below.
Remember that by commenting, you are also entering your name for a chance to win Marie Bostwick's latest novel Between Heaven and Texas, a prequel to her Cobbled Court Quilts series. The winner will be announced May 1. The more Quilters' Book Club posts you comment on, the more chances you have to win! And if you write about our book club in your blog, please let me know. I will provide a link to your post and will reward you with another chance to win the book!
You might also enjoy reading my previous blog post: April Basket Block
oh my gosh!!! My first quilt..I wanted to make something for my MIL for Christmas this past year, something that would be special that nobody else had thought to give her, something that she would love. I got to thinking about it, and she always talked about quilts, and life on the farm she grew up on. She loves going to auctions and looking at the old quilts, so I thought hey, thats what I'll do, I"ll make her a quilt to fit her full size bed...so I took a quilting class, and it was a lot of fun, and I was addicted, so then I started searching for the perfect pattern, something that was in my skill level, but a challenge at the same time. So, I made a quilt using the water wheel squares, and added a wide boarder, and it came out perfect sized for her bed. Now, let me tell you a lot of blood sweat and tears went into this quilt. First I cut my pinkey finger with my rotary cutter, I cut about half way through my pinkey nail, didn't hurt until it started bleeding, and my only concern was...did I get any blood on the fabric...and then I quilted it myself on my sewing machine, a singer simple...I ended up in the ER over that, I messed up my back, I managed to pinch a nerve, and something else that required me to go on steroids, and muscle relaxers. In the end though, it got done, on Christmas Eve. Her reaction to it was better than I had hoped, and it went right on her bed, and as she said, this will never go on the wagon, I knew I had presented her with the perfect Christmas gift.
ReplyDeleteWhat a journey Brandi. Such a wonderful present with the added bonus of being loved.
DeleteMy first quilt: I started it in 1976. I had always been a sewer since about age 6 but my sewing ran mostly to clothing. I loved fabric though. I took a series of weaving classes in my early twenties and longed to make that a career, but it wasn't the plan for my life. Then I decided to make a quilt. Quilts were not part of my heritage and my family didn't own any. I can't remember why I got the idea to make one. It was made from polyester/cotton blend fabric in white and green solids. There was embroidery involved. I have embroidered since I was young as well and it is my first love. Otherwise I don't remember a lot about the quilt. I had made a number of blocks - maybe fifteen or so. In 1978 just after my hubby and I got married the teepee (yes teepee - did I spell it right?) we were living in burnt to the ground. We weren't in it at the time. We were "down south" and our friend was staying in it. She went to sleep with an uncovered fire in the pit and woke to the whole place in flames. She escaped unharmed but we lost everything we owned including my quilt. It was okay. I was tired of it anyway. :) I didn't take up quilting again until about 2004 or 2005. I bought The Giving Quilt as a download for my e-reader. YAY. Now I just need to read it a chapter at a time so as not to stress my brain too much.
ReplyDeleteMy first quilt was made at my grandmothers using her scrap basket. It is a log cabin all hand sewn and then I sewed the blocks together using her treadle machine. The year was 1976 and I still have the quilt although I want to try to fix it somewhat as some of the fabric has shredded especially in the middle. Of course now I know so much better how to care for my quilts then I did then. I never quilted again until 1995 and haven't stopped since. It is in my blood and every time I pick up my rotary cutter and ruler I think of what my grandmother would have done if she had the tools that we now have to use. Her quilts were awesome Double Wedding Rings and Dresdan Plate were a couple of her favorites that she made all the time. Wow what I would do to have one of her quilts that she made.
ReplyDeleteMy first quilt was a Trip around the World...a kit from either Good Housekeeping or Better Homes. It was sometime in the '80's. It would have been so much easier using todays methods, and a design wall sure would have saved time. I tied it at every intersection. That less than beautiful quilt held up very well for years. A favorite for a sick kid, and so large it made a pretty good tent. Sadly, I don't know where it ended up.
ReplyDeleteI taught myself to sew in my teens and haven't stopped loving to work with fabric.
ReplyDeleteMy first real pieced quilt was a pattern called Ribbons and Pinwheels that was in an old Quilters Newsletter magazine. It was for an advanced quilter but since failure was not in my DNA I jumped in with both feet. It took me about 8 months to finish it. I hand quilted it.
I still have it.
i didn't start making quiltsuntil i was 54--quite the late bloomer i was! the first top i made was a fall mystery by cal over at quilttalk. i'm not sure i have one point on the whole top but i love it!!!! the first quilt i finished was a couple months later. a baby quilt in red, white and black. a nascar themed d9 patch. bright and the parents to be loved it. and since then, there has been no stopping me! i have years and years of patterns to make. i plan to make one of each before i am done. lol.
ReplyDeleteMy first quilts that I made were baby quilts for friends - simple four patches or nine patches, machine quilted. Then I made table topper Christmas quilt, which was the first one that I had quilted. My first bed size quilt was a Star sampler with brands on it for hubby. That was in 1999. My family didn't quilt at all, though I have a crazy quilt pillow sham that was in my grandmother's belongings and it was dated 1896. It has my great, great grandmother's and my great grandmother's names stitched on it, so I believe one of them made it. It is now framed and hangs in my home. On the other hand, hubby's family all quilted. I had one sewing lesson when I was about 11, then I just dove in and taught myself to sew clothes for myself and then my family. I've altered prom dresses and made wedding gowns, but my true love is quilting. I love to hand quilt, but am learning to FMQ and am enjoying the challenge. If I made all the quilts that are in my "head" I'll quilt for a hundred years!! LOL My favorite quilts are two color quilts in traditional patterns, but love scrap quilts made from fabrics from old clothes and previous projects. I've only made one quilt that all the fabric was from a "collection". I've never bought a "kit", and have never made a quilt "exactly" like I've seen. I can say that entering blog land almost two years ago has totally enriched my quilting life!
ReplyDeleteBlessings to each and every one of you!!
I suppose the quilts I made for my dolls don't really count as quilts. When I came to Japan in the early 60's, we lived in a small apartment with no heat and poor insulation. I somehow got hold of some wool scraps from a place where they altered men's suits, and sewed them together with a bit of red wool scraps someone else had left over from some project and was getting rid of. I stuffed that quilt mighty full and it had to be tied. It didn't look like much but it kept us warm for many years until it wore out. I remember our dog, starting the night curled up on our feet and waking up in the morning to find her under the covers with her head on the pillow. We used that quilt until the moths finished it off.
ReplyDeleteMy first quilt I made when I was 12 back in 1976! My best friends mom taught me how to make the signature block and I did and several more blocks later it turned out to be about 55" x 55". Still have it today in 2013.
ReplyDeleteThe first quilt I made was a quilt sampler class I joined. It would be a graduation present for my son, Grant. I made it with masculine pattern fabric and he loved it! It turned out to be 60" X 84" and a beauty. It was the best graduation gift I ever gave and continue to give for special occasions to the special people in my life!
ReplyDeleteThe first quilt I made was in a beginning quilt class in 2001. My mother had recently passed away and had always wanted to learn to quilt. She was a nurse and worked full time. When she retired, she developed Alzheimer's and never had a chance to realize that dream, so that influenced me to learn. It is a queen size quilt that still is waiting to be quilted.
ReplyDeleteMy Grandmother Terry made a quilt for me when I was a child that was a rail fence (same pattern but a different name).
ReplyDeleteSo when I was an empty nester I wanted to quilt. I used the left over fabric from when I made scrubs for myself because it was cotton. The only pattern that I could understand how to make was the same one as the quilt on my bed. Yes my child hood quilt is falling apart but still much loved.
I actually made 4 tops before and older lady and friend who quilted showed me how to stretch the quilt on a frame and pin it for quilting. She needed the money and I needed the quilts so she quilted four of them for me. Yes I love them and still use them.
Dorothy
I truthfully have to say that I'm not sure which quilt was my first. My first bed size quilt was a sampler with 12 x 12 inch blocks for my daughter that I made in pink, green & cream fabrics. That was almost 20 yrs ago.
ReplyDeleteThese days I take photos of all the quilts that I make & file them in a quilter's album but back then I didn't make a record of them or label & date them. How much I have learnt in those years since.
My first quilt has never been complted as I really dont like it. I took a class at a local Patchwork shop to make a "Stack n Whack" quilt. The fabric chosen for the project wasn't really my choice and the teaching methods weren't very good. The quilt was supposed to compose of nine 12" blocks all from one book. However, the last block, turned out to be from another book and the instructions given my the tutor, didn't mention that you need to reverse some of the templates, so that the wrong side of the fabric wouldn't show. Being a complete beginner, I just followed her instrutions to the letter and so cut one of the pieces for the last block incorrectly. It has sat in a box now for about 6-7 years. Writing this post has made me think that even though I dont like this quilt, due to the fabric, I should complete it. This will require some shopping and colour matching to find a plain fabric that will blend in, so that I can replace the pieces that have been cut out in reverse (I don't have any of the original fabric left)
ReplyDeleteIt was fun to see that old quilt magazine on your blog! Never made any of those, that I remember, but had lots of dreaming about doing one.
ReplyDeleteMy first quilt is about 13" square. I took a class from a lady at church. She made us make the whole quilt by hand, no machines. I lost some of the pieces, when I took the quilt on a trip, and the hotel maids showed up early, and moved my quilt and pieces that I had laid out. That quilt sits under my radio, by my hand quilting frame.
ReplyDeleteI first learned about quilting in my 50s. I had gone to a store 20 miles away to look for a new sewing machine. The rep was there and used me as a guinea pig to demonstrate new things to the employees. The rep was so funny, and we all had a great time. Well 2.5 hours later, after "bonding" with the employees, I signed up for my first quilt class. I don't remember the name of my first quilt, but it was split rail, 4 patch, and basic squares. I've had many more classes in the last 7 years!
ReplyDeleteMy first quilt project was a Snail's Trail pattern block in a Woman's Day magazine that we were to make into pillow. It was a kind of quilt as you go pattern. I made 2 twenty-inch pillows. My second project was a queen size quilt made from cardboard templates - I don't remember the name of the block, but looks a bit like dove in the corner. Twenty-two years later, I'm still hand quilting it.
ReplyDeleteThe first quilt I ever made was one I designed myself, a lap quilt, 50"x50". In fact, I just finished it last month. It began quite innocently with the purchase of a tumbler template that was designed specifically for charm squares. Well, I had 2 charm square packs from Me & My Sister designs for Moda, called "Good Morning". I cut one charm pack into tumblers then randomly sewed them together in a strip. Hmmm, cut more tumblers out of a white-on-white for another strip of tumblers. Then cut the next charm square pack of "Good Morning" into "coins"...sewed them together in strips, then pieced it all together. I'll have a picture posted on my blog soon.
ReplyDeleteMy first quilt was a sampler quilt I made about 22yrs ago when I was pregnant with my son... unfortunately, it is still not finished.
ReplyDelete