The 'How I started sewing/quilting' Blog Hop

My crafting start was in 1975. I had gone to visit family in Germany and my Aunt Anita taught me how to crochet a shawl.  I still own that shawl.  I also did a little bit of sewing in Home Ec classes.  When I got married in 1980 we bought an el cheapo deluxe sewing machine.  I made some simple kid's clothes, curtains and a whole team of Raggedy Ann's and Andy's.  I don't know if any of those have survived the years.  We bought a van in 1981 and my husband wanted a quilt for the bed.  I remember seeing an article in a magazine, either Woman's Day or Family Circle, about a teacher showing how to make a Trip around the World quilt in one day.  They had torn strips of fabrics into 6 inch squares and sewn them together. (I am pretty sure it was about Eleanor Burns.) Since I couldn't find the article, I faked my way through it.  And for a bonus, I "designed" the back of the quilt using the leftover squares.  I had no idea how to bind a quilt.  I bought extra wide double fold binding and tried to wrap it around the edge and sew it on at the same time.  I am sure the fabrics were poly or poly cotton.

  
I got into knitting and some cross stitch.  I tried to get into quilting.  I had a craft book club account and had gotten some Maggie Malone books in the late 80's.  I made a block from one of the "easy" patterns.  It was awful.  I showed it to my sister-in-law (who is a quilter) and she said "that isn't an easy block, it has set in seams".  I gave up, gave her the books and went back to knitting.  About 1994 or so I was watching Quilt in a Day on PBS. Yes, she is hokey, but she really made it look like anyone could try it.  My husband bought me a quilting book for my birthday and I got hooked.  I joined Quilter's Holladay in Salt Lake and met a bunch of wonderful, supportive women.  Many of whom are still wonderful friends and mentors despite 2 major moves across state lines.  While I was living in Sacramento from 2001-2007 I discovered art quilts. California is so colorful, the shops have color, the scenery has color, the people have color.  I do still love traditional quilts but my heart is leaning towards making art.

1995

2006

In April of 2012, I was invited to participate in an art project at the local Art Center.  Icelandic artist, Huginn Arason came up with the idea of this elaborate two-sided chalkboard.  Quilters to draw quilt patterns on one side and graffiti artists to draw graffiti on the other.  Every week or two the images would be erased and then redrawn by other artists.  With the previous image ghosting through.  I was the first Quilter to draw on the chalkboard.  It was my first time exhibiting in an art gallery!  It was very exciting to be treated as an artist by everyone at the gallery.

Me and my board along with Huginn Arason

And my last photograph is the last piece I have completed. It is hanging at the Springville Art Museum in their annual quilt show.  I will be presenting a trunk show on the 14th of August in conjunction with this show, along with 4 other Quilters.

Little Hampton

I want to thank Cheryl Sleboda for letting me crash this blog hop! It has been a blast and an honor to be associated with all these wonderful artists. If you missed any of the posts, the list is below.
Aug 1. Cyndi Zacheis Souder - http://moonlightingquilts.wordpress.com/

Aug 2. Becky Glasby - http://bumblebzs.blogspot.com/

Aug 3. Cheryl Sleboda - http://muppin.com/wordpress/index.php/blog

Aug 4. Barb Forrister - http://www.barbforrister.com/category/blog

Aug 5. Jackie White - http://jabotquilt.blogspot.com/

Aug 6. Tracy Mooney - http://www.3littlebrds.com/

Aug 7. Lisa Chin - http://somethingcleveraboutnothing.blogspot.com

Aug 8. Laura Krasinski - http://laurakrasinskisartontherun.blogspot.com/

Aug 9. Catherine Redford - http://catherineredford.com/blog/

Aug 10. Sylvia Lewis - http://bunchberrystudio.blogspot.com/ ---->ME!