The Early Days

Mary Fons recently came to our guild as a guest speaker.  (If you get the chance to go to one of her presentations, go.  She is delightful.)  She said most people come to quilting in one of two ways... either through a joyful event or through a painful event.

Mine was painful.  And, in my pain I went to visit my Aunt Nyla, who took me to my first quilt show at the Buggy Barn in Spokane, WA.  I was hooked.... 2009 ? ish.  I bought my first kit there.  It's still a UFO.... ha ha ha... isn't that just like a "true" quilter?

Here is my very, VERY first quilt.  A simple 4 patch of various chili pepper fabrics.  Which, for some forgotten reason, I had on hand.  I quilted it myself on my old, old Kenmore machine, quilt-as-you-go technique.

Matt's Wall quilt - 2009

Graduation Quilt
I saw this pattern in a quilt magazine in 2013 (?) and thought it was very cute.  My daughter's sister (not my daughter...I'll let you figure it out...) graduated from high school that year.  She had more pairs of flip flops than any person I ever knew.

 This was a fun quilt to make.  A good way to use up scraps.



One for the Daughter

Started in about 2011 and finished in 2013

I made this quilt, Mostly Monochromatic, for my daughter, Ana.  It was a class at Pioneer Quilts in the Portland, OR area.  I was still pretty green and it was a difficult one because of the curves.  The first four blocks were completed in the class.  I cut out all the remaining pieces right away because I was SOOOOO EXCITED... then I stalled....

The Accidental Quilt

This is what I call an "accidental quilt."  If you are familiar with Bonnie Hunter (Quiltville.com) she is a "scrap quilter." I would cut my scraps into squares and make these half square triangles.  Then I made it into a quilt.  I gave it to my great nephew.

This is one of  my very first quilts.  Stairway to the Stars.  It was a charity, wall quilt for Cat Adoption Team in Sherwood, Oregon.  They have an auction every year, Whisker Wonderland.  This one was for 2010 and sold for $350.  I cringe every time I think of how sloppy it actually was.  I hope the person who bought it still likes it.

The Second Charity Quilt for CAT

Honestly, I don't remember much about this Quilt except the cats were all hand appliqued onto the background using a blanket stitch.... from hotel rooms, as I was traveling a fair amount as part of my job. 2011

I made this lap quilt for my dad from the Yellow Brick Road pattern for Father's day, 2011. 
He use to fly radio-control airplanes. 

I put minkie on the back so it would be soft when he's sitting in his chair. 

It is also the first quilt I quilted on a long arm myself.
The Yellow Brick Road is a good pattern for beginners.  This one is on point.

Quilts for Times of Joy

Another 2013 quilt.... Bonnie Hunter's Zig Zag quilt.
Honestly, at the time I made this I didn't even know it was a Bonnie Hunter quilt.  I saw one on Pinterest and decided to make it...again, using scraps.  (It's amazing to me the mounds of scraps we create while we are creating!)

Wedding Quilt - 2013