Humble Beginnings

The mercury has taken quite a dip here recently, which means the family has been burrowing under quilts more than ever. The above quilt was brought out of the linen closet to be added to my youngest son's bed, so I thought I'd show it to you.

This is the first quilt I ever made. It took me years to give quilting a try. I love quilts and I love sewing, but was sort of afraid of the scale of taking on such a craft. I was afraid that I would mess things up or (heaven forbid) not like quilting. Then I decided that I would take the plunge and manage the risk by not buying fabric to make my first quilt. I decided that I would use the flannel receiving blankets I had from my sons' infancy. I had so many - which meant that the fabric was still in great shape. I chose a quilt pattern and got busy rotary cutting strips, squares and rectangles (I skipped attempting the triangles that made up part of the pattern and stuck to four sided shapes).

I used a flannel double sheet for the quilt back and I free hand motion quilted around the polar bear pattern on the sheet rather than something more complex. You know what? I fell in love with quilting somewhere in the process of making this first quilt. I know the quilt itself isn't the most beautiful, that the pattern's complexity is lost in the blandness of all the white flannel and that my machine quilting has stutters in it. It was my humble beginning into a craft that I adore putting my hand to and something I can see myself continuing for years to come.