This is fun!

 


On Saturday I took my first (well, actually my second but it really felt like the first) quilting class with Betty. I was so nervous.  Why?  What if I seemed to be too much of a rookie?  What if the other ladies thought I knew nothing and laughed at me under their breaths?  What if I embarrassed myself?  After all, I do have a degree in home ec (old time word, I know - ummm  Family and Consumer Science) and my girls sewed for 4-H, and I have been making quilts for a few years so I am not really a rookie.  But the finer points?  Yes, I am. 

The other class I took was in Monticello and while I enjoyed the process, there wasn't much of a follow-up or encouragement to do more.  I did what I could with the project we started, but now I am not even sure what it was and I am so happy I didn't cut more of my layer cake fabric into tiny pieces because I can now use it for something else!

Anyway....I drove to Burnettsville on an icy Saturday morning for my class on 9-Patch.  No one else was in the shop except Betty when I arrived, and after chatting a bit, I asked if I were early or when the others were coming.  Turned out---I was the only 'student' of the day!  Lots of one-on-one attention!

She showed me the 9-patch quilt she was using for a pattern, one that she had made several years ago.  It was a large wall-hanging size, or maybe a lap quilt size.  She said I could do whatever I wanted with it.  Just choose the fabric and we would start small to see how I liked it and then decide on my project---or not, if I decided I didn't really want to continue with it.

My goal was to make a quilt for our queen-sized bed because I want to re-do the bedroom in the spring. It is currently pink (which both daughters have said is unfair to their dad, but he really doesn't care) and the quilt is one that I picked up at Shipshewana several years ago on a trip with Barb and Gretchen.  So I selected a gray (because I want to paint the room a light gray) and a coral/peach print for the two fabrics.  Betty cut enough for me to make 17 squares. In the amount of time I was there (which was about three hours) I sewed together three sets of strips, cut them into smaller strips and joined two sets of smaller strips together, ready to add the 3rd small set.    Betty then cut enough fabric for me to put together 5 more sets of 17 squares.  Cost of all of this?  Just for the fabric.  Good deal.

I loved the quilt class.  Betty and I chatted casually.  It was not a forced conversation, just when we wanted to talk, we did.  We talked about quilting some, but we also talked about her dad dying, her niece Lindsey who I had had as a student, my mom and our trips to Ohio, our grandchildren, friends we had in common, her background, why she bought the store in Burnettsville rather than one in Royal Center, and more.  Not an uncomfortable conversation, just casual friendly talk while quilting.

I also learned a few things.  I didn't know that I could use the iron to 'set the stitches' before I pressed the seam open or to one side.  I never knew that.  I did know about chain stitching the pieces, which means pinning everything, then feeding the sets continuously through the feed in one long motion.  It is time consuming to sit and pin everything together, but the stitching time is easy and quick and overall it is much more time efficient.

I liked watching Betty calculate the needed fabric length and width and how many we needed and exactly what to do.  So far, it has worked perfectly.  I have to think about it, figure by adding and multiplying and subtracting and then doing it all over again a few times, just to be sure I am right.  I like that I could stitch the lengths of gray and coral together in three strips, then cut them into 2 1/2" smaller strips and sew those together for the squares.  Saved SO much time and cutting and I would have not thought of that myself. I might have seen in on YouTube, but I need to watch the real thing and do it, then I can remember the process.

Finally there is something about seeing it all come together.  I like starting the process with the strips, then cutting into smaller strips, then sewing them together and VOILA!  9-square blocks.  I like crisp seams, seams that meet and even edges. I like using steam and pressing everything flat.  I like the look when it all comes together.



I know that there is a new interest in quilting, especially with women in my age group.  I keep thinking about Grandma and Great-Grandma and how they quilted so much.  I remember the quilting frame in the living room at the farm and the ladies from the Friends Church sitting around it, hand-sewing those tiny stitches as they quilted a comforter or blanket.  I remember Grandma making a quilt for me, one for Greta, and one for Sherry.  I still have that quilt and a couple others that Grandma and Great-Grandma made.  I love quilts.  They all tell stories. 

Maybe my interest comes from my heritage from Grandma Greta and Great-Grandma Eva.  I remember sewing in the front bedroom on the treadle machine when I was young.  I remember Grandma telling me to press everything and how important it was to take my time and do it right.

As I work on this quilt, I have been thinking of her so much.  I have a feeling that she is smiling down on me as I piece together the gray and coral squares to make a new quilt for our queen-sized bed. And it will be beautiful!