All Went Well

Wednesday marked another first for me; I had the privilege of giving the lecture at "Bayside Quilters of the Eastern Shore." I had a really good time talking to a room full of friends about my "Quilting Journey." The quilt I am holding is the most recent quilt I have made and it is for my nephew and wife who are expecting a baby girl. Right now it is on display in my shop because it is made out of a line a fabric that I have in stock. I made the quilt that I am standing in front of for my oldest son's 15th birthday in March 2000. I designed the Mariner's Compass using a book by Judy Mathieson.

This quilt is very special to me. It is made from fabric that I bought the first time I went to visit my sister in Washington State. In 2004, my mom, my youngest sister, my daughter and I flew to Seattle to visit another sister. From there, my mom, two sisters, niece, daughter and I drove 6 hours to Sisters, Oregon for the "Sisters Outdoor Quilt Show." All of the fabric in this quilt was purchased at The Stitchin' Post in Sisters. This was my first trip to the west coast and it was a major turning point in my fabric preference. It literally opened my eyes to color and large prints. The really exciting thing about this quilt is that most of the fabrics in it are from Amy Butler's first line Gypsy Caravan and it has been rereleased; but the most exciting thing is that I have 6 bolts from this line in stock in my shop. I think it is funny that I loved Amy Butler fabrics before I knew what an Amy Butler fabric was.

We had a pretty good turnout at Bayside on Wednesday.

Teacher, designer, and author Susan McKelvey is a member of Bayside Quilters. When she began working on the book, Baltimore's Country Cousins, she asked our Baltimore Album Bee if anyone wanted to make a quilt for the book. I said I would do it as long as I could machine applique it; not hand. This quilt is pictured in her book. I also longarm quilted the quilt that Susan made for the book.

This quilt is a block of the month from The Quilt Show. I believe it was from 2008. Of course it is fused and machine appliqued. I would never get it done if I had to do it by hand.

I had to take my wedding dress along to show them. Crocheting was my first creative outlet. I actually began crocheting when I was 7 years old. It took me 7 months to make this dress and this year marks 30 years ago that I made it. My husband and I will be celebrating 30 years of marriage in February 2013.

I had tried quilting a couple of times earlier in my life, but in February of 1998, when I first sew Simply Quilts on HGTV, the quilting bug really bit. I saw Debby Mumm on with Alex Anderson and she showed how to make this heart quilt. I took notes and then went and made this little quilt.  That was the beginning of what has become my passion and addiction and now my career.

This was a mystery quilt I made in the first class that I ever took. The class was taught be Peggy from Peggy's Sewing Center. This quilt was made in 1999. It is the last quilt that I hand quilted and it is yet to be finished.

I made this little quilt in the Baltimore Album Bee of Bayside Quilters. It is from Mimi Dietrich's book "Baltimore Bouquets." This one is actually all hand appliqued. I really can do nice hand work but it just takes too long. I like to "git r done."

This string quilt was made in a class at Bayside. The prints are all fabrics that I did not like. I think any fabric can look good if you cut it small enough.

This pink and brown cake stand was a block exchange that I participated in with my mom and 2 of my sisters.

This Pat Sloan table runner was made in a class at Bayside with Pat Sloan.

This is just a small sampling of some of the quilts that I talked about on Wednesday. Thanks to Bayside Quilters of the Eastern Shore for inviting me to speak and many thanks to the ladies that helped.