Earlier this summer, a friend of mine encouraged me to start a quilt. At first, I dismissed the idea thinking that it would take forever and essentially become an unfinished project. She brought it up a few times. I asked her if she sewed her quilts by hand. She said no, she just uses her machine. Hmmm....that got my wheels turning. I'd never considered quilt making with a machine. Maybe I should. Maybe that would make the task more successful for me. So we decided we would get together and do some quilting. I helped her get started with the cutting. I learned about the cutting board, the roter cutter, the straight edge ruler, and ironing. Suddenly, after watching her get started, everything seemed more doable. It was just the push I needed. Soon enough, I was off to Joanne's gathering my supplies. I stayed up until the wee hours cutting fabric and then sewing. I finished the top piece of my quilt in about two weeks. Once I got started, I just couldn't stop. I found the repition to be really relaxing and of course I loved playing with fabric squares mixing and matching until I found just the right contrast of prints. I have to say I'm very proud of my efforts.
I did do a little cheating though. I had my quilt machine finished by this company. I discovered them through my local quilt shop here in Austin. Three weeks and two days after biking my quilt over to the shop to have it shipped away to California, I got the call. "Your quilt is ready to be picked up." Yeah!!! So here it is. We've all been enjoying. Blackie, my cat, was the first to test it out. I didn't get a picture of him yet as it was his chosen spot to sleep for that night. He loves anything clean and soft!! Sandy, my golden, thought I was, obviously, laying it down on the floor just for her lay on. Honestly, both of them have seen and rested on this quilt before - before it was sandwiched and stiched with soft cotton batting. Now they are enjoying the finished product. And so am I! I am officially ready for autumn to arrive!
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