:: How I Started Quilting Blog Hop ::

Welcome to my stop on the How I Started Quilting Blog Hop, hosted by Cheryl at muppin.com.  I'm excited to be a part of this Hop and share some of my Quilt story with you.

As a child I did many sewing craft projects through Girl Scouts and for fun - both on the machine and by hand.  My mom & aunt did cross-stitch and I learned this skill and enjoyed making lots of different projects.  As a Scout I sewed all my badges on my uniform, made costumes for various events and had fun as a kid making friendship bracelets and hair wraps!

first quilted project

One summer in high school I spent a couple weeks with my aunt & uncle and was introduced to quilting - I've never looked back!  My aunt was a quilter and she thought it would be something I'd like to do while visiting.  We went to JoAnn's and looked at their block of the month packets for a fun pattern.  I came out with one of the monthly kits that included all the fabric pieces I'd need to make a 12" block.  We worked together to learn about sewing with a 1/4" seam, how to assemble the pieces into squares and rows and create the quilt sandwich.  I traced cookie cutters into the squares of the block and hand quilted it - my very first bit of quilting.

detail

I turned the block into a pillow that I proudly showed off to my mom after arriving home again!  I talked about how fun it was and how much I wanted to make another block/pillow to my mom over the following weeks that we bought some quilt books, fabric and I got Momm hooked on quilting too!   :)

When I went off to college I didn't have much time for quilting, but Momm joined the local guild, a mini group, took some classes and kept me updated on all the new things she was learning.  My first quilt resulted from being a part of the mini group when I was home on breaks.  We started a group challenge: we chose the Sister's Choice block and the colors had to come from a print that was given to everyone.  So we each made 9 blocks in our chosen layout and traded them around.  I pieced them into a top, machine quilted it and used store-bought binding (gasp!) to finish it.  

my first quilt!

This was finished in 2006 and since then I have been learning lots about quilts, making many tops and discovered the online quilting community.  I've made baby quilts, quilts to donate, gifted quilts for friends and am working to finish up some of the many quilt tops I've made in the mean time.  All told, I've been quilting for 15 years and Momm & I enjoy our quilt time together - constantly sharing ideas and projects and fabric.

fearless FMQ

My love of quilting has also taken me some great places - including my job!  I'm the Education Director at the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, KY!  I'm in charge of children's quilt programs, teaching quilting and bringing in quilt teachers for adult workshops.  

I love sharing my love of quilting with others, being inspired by the exhibits and award-winning quilts in our collection and being able to advance my own skills as I continue to create quilts!

recent finish!

Thanks for reading along and hope you enjoyed my quilt journey beginnings.  Here's the lineup for the blog hop - be sure to visit all the stops on the Hop!

Aug 1. Cyndi Zacheis Souder -http://moonlightingquilts.wordpress.com/

Aug 2. Becky Glasby - http://bumblebzs.blogspot.com/     <- you are here!

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/