The Renagade Quilter

Even though I've been quilting for quite a while now, I still consider myself a beginner. I caught the quilting bug from a co-worker of mine years ago and she gave me some basic instructions on how to quilt. Other than that, though, I've been on my own. But I see this as a good thing, in a way. I'm not the kind of person who likes doing things by the book, so making up my own quilt patterns has been the most interesting part. Anxiety arousing, but fun. To start a quilt, I get a basic idea of what I want from the zillions of quilting books I own, then I come up with my own ideas and start piecing it together. I often find myself changing details as I go. Granted, I haven't strayed much from the basic 9 patch patterns to really challenge myself, but I'm working on it!

These pictures are of the bedsized quilt I'm working on for my oldest daughter. She has the first quilt I ever made. It was a humongous puff quilt I made when I got a little too enthusiastic in the beginning of my new hobby. Poor girl! Now I'm finally getting around to making her a decent quilt. My other kids have baby quilts I made them already and my hubby has a flannel one I finally completed last year. My mother and my mother-in-law also have quilts I made one year when I got a wild hair about giving them each one for Christmas.

Here is a picture of my son's quilt.

The most challenging part of quilting is not buying too much fabric. Since I started quilting, I have collected enough fabric to fill two bags, two wicker baskets and one box. I discovered that if I stay away from Joann's and Ebay, I should be good. At least until they have a sale. Then all bets are off.