010

{I'm writing this series of journal entries about all the quilts I've ever made.  In order. Over the last ten years. Thank you for joining me, we're up to quilt No. 10!}

Summer 2006:

Log Cabin: I just can't quit you!

For this quilt, I used the leftover fabrics I had from making quilt No. 9.  

I was invited to a "personal shower" for a childhood friend and bride-to-be. I honestly didn't understand the concept of a personal shower, it was the first I'd been to.  It was a pre-cursor to the bachelorette party, so a lot of panties and unmentionables were given as gifts.  My oblivious self made a quilt for the occasion. :)

So, let's recap: 

I had just turned 25 years old.

I had one 14 month old baby.

I had one 1 month old baby.

I'm invited to a personal bridal shower for a friend.

I don't buy the gift, I make the gift.  A quilt.

Makes total sense to me! :) I love how obsessed with quilting I was back then, excusing away all rationale and going for it. 

Oh yes, I remember now that I changed up the quilting slightly in the different colored "logs". I do love the look of the dense but consistent quilting.

I do remember my friend loving the quilt so much, making it all so worth it! 

009

{I'm currently writing a series, counting up and journaling every quilt I've made over the last 10 years of quiltmaking.}

Spring 2006:

This quilt.  We're talking pretty grown up stuff here. :) A big departure from the last two I had made.  Really - different from every quilt I'd attempted at this point in time.  And speaking of "point" - the blocks in this layout are on-point.  That was new... and tricky in execution for a first-timer, if I remember correctly.

I designed this quilt to have a large negative space in the center to play up some fancy quilting I was just itching to try.

I had devoured two of Diane Gaudynski books and was totally inspired by her elegant quilting and awesome instructions.  That's why I could pull off this fancy quilting in only my 9th quilt.

I stitched an "M" in the center medallion.  One important lesson I learned from this quilt was that fancy quilting on patterned fabric doesn't show up the best.  Solid fabrics are really best for showing off the quilting.

I had to majorly play with the photo edits above to get the stitching to show up - this is the back side of the quilt.  I didn't have great photo equipment back then nor an eye for photography, a dangerous combination indeed.

We gave this quilt as a wedding gift to my husband's cousin and spouse for their wedding.  I wish I would have been able to keep up on giving wedding quilts to all newly marrieds, but I had to give up that ideal.  Too much time and too much money required, especially for our single-income, baby-having selves 9-10 years ago. 

008

I'm counting up the quilts I've made over the last 10 years of my quilting lyfe.  

Winter 2006:

The name of this game was simplicity and speed. AKA: I had a boy who was just about to turn one and I was 8 months pregnant with by second baby boy.  Oy.  And I had time to quilt?!  Priorities, I guess.

With this quilt there isn't a whole lot to explain, I found a coordinating group of fabrics and let them do the talking.  I kept the quilting also really simple.

This quilt went to my husband's first cousin and his wife who were having their first baby.  Judging by the look of these fabrics, they didn't know the gender of the baby.

You could say this quilt set a precedent: every cousin that had a baby thereafter got a quilt from me. :)

007

If you're just joining me, I'm chronicling every quilt I've ever made.  Seriously. Lucky no. 7 is my first finish of the year 2006.  It kind of feels like I'm getting somewhere with this list!

This quilt was given to my friend for the birth of her first and only daughter.  My sister, being close friends with the mama-to-be told me that her nursery colors were brown and pink.  At the time, in my sheltered existence, this news made me very nervous.  Because color schemes cause unease in many people.  And brown and pink was just starting to be a popular combo.

Anyway, I set out to nail this brown and pink quilt thing.  I chose two traditional quilt blocks and alternated them in the quilt - a first for me.  Also, it should be noted here that I started designing my quilts very early.  Quilt 006 was the first one I came up with the layout and border design using an existing block.  

For the quilting design, I used a star stencil with feathers for the alternate "chain" blocks, a cute daisy chain stencil for the border and free motion stippling to fill in the other areas.

And last but not least for the little baby mama who loves stars, I added this quilting to the corner border squares:

006

{Because of my upcoming 10th quiltiversary, I'm reliving the quilts of my past.  The goal is to remember the how and why of the quilts I've made over the years, eventually trying to nail down a total number made.}

Fall/Winter of 2005:

This quilt represents quite an undertaking in my young quilting career, mostly because of the size.  I don't remember the exact dimensions, but it was meant (and it does) cover a queen sized bed.

I made this quilt for my mother and father in law for a Christmas present.  My husband and I often find it difficult to buy gifts for them and so - needing another project, I'm sure, and solving the problem of not knowing what to give them - I embarked on making this quilt on nothing else but my domestic sewing machine.

Even though this was late 2005,  I still remember that I searched online for a fabric line that I thought my mother-in-law would like and ordered it.  I also searched the Quilter's Cache site for a pattern that'd be appropriate for the fabrics, keeping in mind I wanted some negative space... I was premeditating those feathered wreaths. :)

Because I was pressed for time, because I had limited tricks up my sleeve, and because I was quilting this big quilt on a domestic machine, I started with stitching in my ditches all over the quilt and then went in and quilted the feathered wreaths over and over and over again.  

I just have to highlight one other "first" for this quilt, the borders are mitered!  (Way to go, Jess! I didn't know you tackled that technique so early.)  :)

It's sweet, my mother-in-law redecorated their bedroom based on this quilt, I wasn't ever expecting that.  If I'm not mistaken, they might still use it on their bed.  

I look at this quilt now and think that I can do so much better.  But, I think that's missing the point.  I wouldn't choose the fabrics or pattern again, but times change, styles change, abilities change, and for that one moment in time, it all came together and I was able to show my love and appreciation for them using those materials and burgeoning skills. So? Worth it. :)

005

{As I approach my 10 year quiltiversary, I'm taking stock of the quilts that I've made over the years, counting them up and remembering the how and why.}

Fall 2005:

It looks like someone found herself back on the Log Cabin wagon!  I scaled down the log size for this baby quilt.  I also used the same exact print for all of the light portions of each block.  I think it made a greater impact on the overall design.

I particularly like the light green centers of each block and how I repeated that same fabric in the inner border.  Verdict: I'm still proud of this quilt! :)

I used another new-to-me technique as far as the quilting goes.  This quilting pattern is a really traditional one called Baptist fans.  I remember that in order to achieve this quilting style, I drew the arcs onto a disposable plastic plates and cut them out.  I then tediously traced around the four arc templates onto the quilt top with a water-soluable pen.  Keep in mind that I had to repeat this process four times for every single repeat on the quilt.  It took awhile!

I used a variegated thread for the quilting for the first time.  I've always been quite "meh" about variegated thread.  To this day, I don't use it on a customer quilt unless the customer insists on it and then place a special order for the particular color they're wanting.  

Like quilt 004, we gave this quilt to one of my husband's co-workers.