my first at thirty-nine
I finally did it.
I made my first-ever quilt!
Funnily enough, I've always had sewing machines that were considered "quilting" machines, chosen because they tend to have the most basic stitches. My first machine was a 1934 Singer featherweight (I still love sewing on that dear one!) and next was my Bernina Virtuosa 153 QE (now vacationing at my Mama's house). Then along came this dreamy machine thanks to the folks over at The Sewing Republic. But I have to 'fess up--I've never made a real quilt. Patchwork projects, sure, but the thought of putting together and maneuvering all of that fabric for a quilt was just too intimidating.
Lately, I've been inspired by Erin's and Daria's wonderful loop-de-loop quilting and some gorgeous new fabric collections. So when my fabric purchase from said collections arrived and they all looked so pretty together in a bundle, I thought to myself, "please Kathryn, throw that agonizing perfectionism to the wind, and just give the damn thing a try!" So I did, and I put it all together in a quilt.
I had no plan or pattern other than to base it on the Floral Columns Quilt I had seen once in Kaffe Fassett's Museum Quilts, quilted up in those wonderful loop-de-loops. And it had to have linen in it, too. I fought that nasty perfectionism the whole time, worried that my loops weren't all the same size. (Thank heavens for that dandy BSR--at least the stitches were even!) Yet when I finished each row of quilting I would hold up the quilt and think "I love this!" in spite of all of the wonky loops. I finished hand-sewing the binding last night and I threw the whole thing in the washer with a scoop Biokleen with my fingers crossed; then a bit of magic from the dryer. It's comfortably soft and crinkled, warm but cool, and to me, just perfect. A project that I think I so desperately needed to coincide with my (yikes!) thirty-ninth birthday. About time, I say.
I took these photos this afternoon, determined to get them taken in spite of a slow, chilly drizzle outside. Now I'm warm and cozy, curled up on the sofa with my new quilt, a plate of take-out from one of our favorite neighborhood restaurants, with a kitty and my laptop on my lap. Gary and I will be watching a movie as soon as the kids go to bed.
Thanks for letting me share my little milestones!
