My quilting experience began when my children were very small. My sister and a few friends, who also had young children all the same ages as mine, decided that there had to be more to life than diapers and bottles. So when the husbands got home, we escaped the daily routine and took a quilting course. The first quilt, which I guess, is the first everyone learns, sonewhat like "heart and soul" on the piano, was the Log Cabin Quilt. That quilt now a little tattered around the edges is still the favorite of my oldest son, now 23. Although he asks quite often if I could fix it for him, my answer is always, "oh, as soon as I finish the one I am working on". Unfortunately by that time I don't want to look at a sewing machine for a while. After that first quilt I had to retire my sewing skills for a while because my younger son, now 22, always wanted to help. His help consisted of attempting to catch the needle as it bobbed up and down. So the material, patterns, and batting found a place way up in the back of a closet, and not to return for another 20 years.
They say you never forget to ride a bike, well I found the same with sewing. Since I stopped working, I needed something to keep my idle little fingers busy. As I looked through book after book of quilts, not exactly finding what was in my imagination, I started to make my own designs. The first quilt I did was the Angel quilt.(see picture). Over 300 tiny 2" squares surrounding the larger inner squares, that was when I knew I was nuts! By the time is was finished, months later, it was for a queen size bed. The fabric shop, where I get most of my fabrics, were continually calling and asking me to bring it in to show some of their clients. Although I did get some sizable offers to buy it, people could not believe that I was just giving it away. I had made it as a gift for a dear friend and was being shipped to India. If you notice in the picture, the red silk on the bottom side was silk I had gotten from India many years ago. During that time another friend in India had just had a baby boy, so I rushed to do a baby quilt and ship it off to little Marcio. That is him on the blanket the day of his baptism. If that weren't enough, my daughter Kelly, got engaged, and asked if I could make her a quilt. So as an engagement gift, I gave them the material, and did manage to finish it before the wedding! Obviously that is the one that says "Kelly and Danny" on the heart in the center of the quilt. The dark green squares and the backing are made with a dark green velvet. The blue baby quilt was made for my nephew's first son, Strummer. He is the first born of the next generation! so it had to be special. The inside of the quilt was made with a new fabric called "minky", which makes it feel like you are cuddling a little stuffed animal. For my last project, I went on ebay and found some antique fabric of the English "Flower Fairies". The Flower Fairies are a series of books written many years ago by an English woman for her daughters. When my sister was living in London, she sent the whole series of books to my daughter, and from there the love of the "flower fairies" began. Although I have each row of squares all sewn , it has been sitting there for about a year staring at me from across the room waiting to be assembled. My jewelry business has somewhat interrupted my quilting talents for a while. My goal is to finally sew all the rows together before Spring. Who knows, maybe I will have a little granddaughter someday - Kelly don't panic if you are reading this! Enjoy my pictures.
oh yes, the sanskrit in the title is Hindi for "My Quilts."
They say you never forget to ride a bike, well I found the same with sewing. Since I stopped working, I needed something to keep my idle little fingers busy. As I looked through book after book of quilts, not exactly finding what was in my imagination, I started to make my own designs. The first quilt I did was the Angel quilt.(see picture). Over 300 tiny 2" squares surrounding the larger inner squares, that was when I knew I was nuts! By the time is was finished, months later, it was for a queen size bed. The fabric shop, where I get most of my fabrics, were continually calling and asking me to bring it in to show some of their clients. Although I did get some sizable offers to buy it, people could not believe that I was just giving it away. I had made it as a gift for a dear friend and was being shipped to India. If you notice in the picture, the red silk on the bottom side was silk I had gotten from India many years ago. During that time another friend in India had just had a baby boy, so I rushed to do a baby quilt and ship it off to little Marcio. That is him on the blanket the day of his baptism. If that weren't enough, my daughter Kelly, got engaged, and asked if I could make her a quilt. So as an engagement gift, I gave them the material, and did manage to finish it before the wedding! Obviously that is the one that says "Kelly and Danny" on the heart in the center of the quilt. The dark green squares and the backing are made with a dark green velvet. The blue baby quilt was made for my nephew's first son, Strummer. He is the first born of the next generation! so it had to be special. The inside of the quilt was made with a new fabric called "minky", which makes it feel like you are cuddling a little stuffed animal. For my last project, I went on ebay and found some antique fabric of the English "Flower Fairies". The Flower Fairies are a series of books written many years ago by an English woman for her daughters. When my sister was living in London, she sent the whole series of books to my daughter, and from there the love of the "flower fairies" began. Although I have each row of squares all sewn , it has been sitting there for about a year staring at me from across the room waiting to be assembled. My jewelry business has somewhat interrupted my quilting talents for a while. My goal is to finally sew all the rows together before Spring. Who knows, maybe I will have a little granddaughter someday - Kelly don't panic if you are reading this! Enjoy my pictures.
oh yes, the sanskrit in the title is Hindi for "My Quilts."
2 comments:
Just a pointer.
Sankrit and Hindi are two different languages though Hindi finds its origins in Sanskrit. They have the same script (Devnagari).
And the Devnagari part of title of your post literally reads 'Quilts Be Me' which doesn't make sense in Hindi.
I guess it should read "Meri rajaiyan".
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