The Pattern that Changed My Life

Blogger and Sewing Designer Abby Glassenberg is hosting a series of interviews around this question, and it was the theme of the day for the #sewphotohop on Instagram today (organized by @houseofpinheiro).

Day 6 – The Pattern that changed my life

I considered highlighting my first quilt, but then I decided that this quilt set the course for my creative business.  

The pattern in Nancy Chong’s Crumb Quilt. I took her class at Quilt Camp in the Pines back in 2005. (She is better known for Hawaiian applique…visit her website here.) She even complimented me on my fabric and color selection!

I had the good fortune to teach her methods when I got home from camp. But the life-changing aspect of this quilt was the quilting.  I had an idea for the quilting design – circular Chinese symbols in the focus squares and something watery to fill the rest of the quilt. (Hopefully you can click on this picture to see the gold thread on the back of the quilt.)

 This was the last quilt I quilted on my domestic machine, and it really cemented my desire for a longarm!  I remember feeling like I could not see where I was going with my stitching, and I was so sore from pushing the quilt around.  Thanks to a supportive husband, I got my wish for a longarm back in 2006.  What an amazing journey!

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

Enter the contest by commenting on this post.

Are you wearing green?  As a kid who always wanted to express my individuality, I embraced my Scottish heritage and wore orange instead!

This is a quilt I made very early in my sewing career.  I think it was the first time I set blocks on point.  Limited palette of calicos and that funny squash print…what was I thinking?  But I love the green polka dots for the setting triangles and smaller border.  My mom quilted it with straight lines on her domestic machine.  I think we finished this one in 2004.

A pieced back!  Always a fun way to use up leftover blocks, and it makes a reversible quilt.

Today is National Quilting Day!  SeamedUP is hosting a sew-in, look for the #NDQSI tag on Twitter to join the fun.  I am ready to time myself on my jelly roll race…if I can get my daughter to amuse herself for an hour.