Emily over at Mommy’s Nap Time has just started up a new link party. The concept behind this party is to get to know quilting/sewing bloggers more than just what the make, but back stories on who they are.
This week’s questions is:
When did you start sewing? Tell us a bit about your sewing history. When did you realize you were really hooked?
I was 14 the very first time I turned on a sewing machine. My high school still had home ec. It was the good old fashioned home ec too, full of cooking classes, decorating classes, and sewing classes. You better believe I took them ALL! In fact, my senior year, Mrs. Curouse had me give her first day of class speech. I even took it upon myself to use the cooking classroom as my own personal kitchen for lunch time, and it was always stocked with diet coke!
Oh yeah, you asked when I started sewing, not about my high school experience….anyway. My sophomore year I took the sewing class. We started with sewing on lined paper to get straight lines and ended with a pair of pajama pants. (how typical)
I enjoyed the class. My mom sewed off and on so there was a sewing machine at our house. I got it out and continued to make pajama pants, and some more pajama pants and eventually some pajama shorts. And that was that.
Fast forward through the rest of high school and college to Christmas. On a whim my mom got me a sewing machine. It was nothing special, just your average Singer starting out machine. Thanks to my mom, I knew all about Anna Maria Horner and Amy Butler, but that was it. So I set off to the quilt store, found some fabrics and went home to try out this new gift. I made some bags and little things. I was really enjoying all of the fabric, but wasn’t satisfied with the bags, and aprons and cozies. Fun yes, but I knew I was missing something.
Now, if you know me, you know that I have a strange attachment to pillows and blankets. It’s bad. I cannot let anyone lay on my pillow and I have always had some special blankets that I just couldn’t share with anyone. The rest is simple math.
love for blankets + love for fabric = QUILTER
I didn’t know if I could make a quilt. But I wanted one. So I found a free pattern by the wonderful Amy Butler and this time went to Joanns to get some fabric. At this point I had no clue if I could even do this, so I was afraid to invest a lot of money.
I did it, cutting out all the little rectangles by tracing a cardboard template and using regular scissors. I did what I guess you could maybe call stitching in the ditch quilting (although I didn’t stay in the ditch very well!) But I did it, and was so proud of it. Laying under a quilt that I had done all on my own was all it took. I was hooked! So much so that I made 3 quilts from October to December(these all hand quilted) to give as Christmas gifts. And from that day on, I have been a quilter.
So, are you a sewing blogger? If so, write up your own Sew Thinky Thursday post and link it up! I am now going to curl up on the couch and get to know when some other bloggers started their sewing adventures!
I love your story! How crazy is it that so many of us tried out that same brick style pattern when we were first starting out?! (did you notice Sara / sewsweetness’s first quilt was the same pattern?). Your math is absolutely correct too, I’d add “always cold” to my equation.
Thanks for linking up!
Sewing on paper, eh? That does seem like a smart idea, I should try that with my niece, whom I’m trying to teach sewing long-distance via Skype, because much like when I was a kid, her mom doesn’t sew but her aunt does! I fully agree, love for fabric and blankets is definitely enough to make a quilter!