Thursday, December 29, 2005

Back in Quilting Mode

After my pleasant experience reading "The Christmas Quilt" by Jennifer Chiaverini, I decided to pick up the first three books in the Elm Creek Quilts series, which conveniently came in one large book called "An Elm Creek Quilts Sampler." So far, I have finished the first book called "The Quilter's Apprentice." While much of the story was the same as "The Christmas Quilt," it did help to fill in some of the blanks and I am looking forward to reading more.

Mostly, however, the stories make me want to quilt! I have loved quilts for as long as I can remember. When I was nine years old, they were having a book fair at my school and there was this big book with patterns for 100 quilt blocks that I just fell in love with. I begged my mother for the $10 to buy it and for whatever reason, she actually agreed to it. I still have that book.

I didn't actually make a quilt until I was 24 years old however. One of my closest friends and his wife were having a baby and I was so jealous! I wanted a baby so much but circumstances just weren't right for us yet. So, I set out to make a quilt for the baby to give me something productive to do. Knowing them, the quilt has since been sold in a tag sale! But, hopefully it is being loved by someone else. Since then, I made two more baby quilts - one for each of my children, and one wedding quilt for my best friend (picture below). That was my only full-size quilt. I was very proud of it. My stitches and measurements are no where near as precise as they should be, but it came out beautiful. The best part is, when I visit their home and sleep over, I get to sleep under it! Anyway, that was two years ago. I have plans to make a quilt for my own bed, but so far all they are are plans! Hopefully soon I'll have the time to put those plans into action!

Art and creativity are important in our lives, and I'll leave you with a quote from "The Quilter's Apprentice" that echoes that sentiment:

"As far as I am concerned, women need art at least as much as men do, even if no one sees their work but themselves. We all need to give ourselves that time."

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