I Quilt, Too

Quilting has become my favorite form of needlework. I love the look and feel of antique pieced quilts and decided if I started making them now, someday they would be antiques for my family. So about 10 years ago, I took a beginners hand quilting class and immediately fell in love with it. I love the feel of the fabric in my hands, and hand quilting, while slow and laborious, is really relaxing and rewarding for me.

My first project in the class was a wall hanging of three 12-inch pieced squares. I finished those and decided a wall hanging was not what I wanted so I decided to make more squares to create a small blanket. But then, my husband suggested I make enough squares to make a quilt for our bed -- king size, by the way. So I did. And then, after I pieced all the squares together for a quilt to cover the top of the bed (did I mention it's a king size bed?) I decided that it needed to drop down the sides of the bed so we could use it and when we roll over we would still have plenty of quilt covering us, so I added an 18-inch drop on the sides and one end -- on that king size quilt. And then, of course, I started hand-quilting it. Yes, the whole project took me about 3 years, but it was a true joy to make and every night, when I climb into bed and snuggle under that quilt, I smille and drift off to a very peaceful sleep. Well, ok, not every night is a peaceful sleep, but you get the idea.

Since then, I've made several smaller quilts -- for grandchildren, for my parents and for friends. I just invested in a basic sewing machine because I'm not good at hand applique and decided it's ok if I machine stitch those and also the piecing of the quilt backs, but I'm still going to hand piece and hand quilt the designs because that's just fun for me. And if you divide the hours of pleasure I get into the cost of the fabric, I really get my money's worth!