My First Quilt

Quilts are big in the south. I suppose they are popular elsewhere, but here they are huge. My first hint was the very large section in the library stacks devoted to quilts. And the magazines. I grew up with quilts from my mother's family and I love all that they represent.

So I decided to learn to make a quilt. Now I learn better by doing and I prefer to have someone show me how to do something, rather than try to figure it out from a book. So I knew I would need to take a class. There is the cutest, old wooden building on the top of a hill in Troutville. It is the Old Trinity Schoolhouse Quilt Shop. It used to be...wait for it....a schoolhouse and now it is a....quilt shop! They have bolt after bolt of fabrics to make quilts and they give classes. I recently took a wool applique class there with my friend Doris and I convinced her to take a quilt class with me.

Doris has made a number of quilts already, but she was willing to take a beginners class on the assumption that you can always learn something new. I hope she does as I am afraid my ignorance will hold her back. It turns out, we are the only two in the class, so we should get all the individual attention we need!

The first day was devoted to leaning about the different types of quilts and to pick out the fabric for our quilt project. Doris already had hers, so she kindly helped me with mine. I'll write about the class and how I'm doing as I go and then show you the finished quilt. depending on how hard it is and how well it turns out, I will do more. I like the fiber arts and hope this is something I can learn. Not too sure about the machine I have. I'm also not willing to buy a new one until I see if this is something I will continue.

The first thing I have to do is wash the fabric so that any shrinking or bleeding of colors will be done before it is finished and needs cleaning. Then I have to iron it and buy the proper foot for my machine. I'll keep you posted on my progress.




Oh, I also have to keep the cats off it. Right. Like that'll happen.


It's not like they are curious or want to get in the plastic bags...