My Interview by Willow

1.  I see from your blog that you are very much into quilting. How did you get started and what is your favorite quilt pattern?

I started quilting in the summer of 2006 when my aunt came to visit me and taught me how to use a sewing machine. My neighbor had just had a baby and I thought it would be a great idea to make a baby quilt since my aunt is a quilter and a quilt teacher (I actually thought she would say, "Oh, I can whip up a baby quilt in no time...here you go!"). I HAD NO IDEA how difficult and time consuming it can be!  All the measuring and cutting and measuring and cutting and measuring...  But, it is very rewarding to create something that may last for a few lifetimes!  

My favorite quilt pattern is called Falling Blocks and it is gorgeous. I saw it at a Quilt Show in Roanoke, VA and I was amazed at the optical illusion it created and the labor that went into making such a beautiful quilt.

2.  What is your greatest accomplishment?

My thirty-two year marriage to my college sweetheart.  We eloped with $ .37 in our pockets when we were 21 years old and we've had lots of fun and heartache along the way, but he still makes me laugh every day.  It has taken a lot of discipline on my part not to smother him with a pillow while he slept at certain times in our lives, but I'm glad I didn't give in!  He is so funny and has been a wonderful husband and father.  And he says I'm his best audience.

3.  If you could chose anywhere in the world to live where would it be and why?

 

Shelter Island, NY.  I miss Long Island and I miss the quick accessibility to the water.  Where I live now is nice, and I'm grateful I live in such a lovely town in NJ, but I do miss being near the water.

4.  Other than your loved ones, what is your favorite possession?

 

Books.  I have a few favorites and they are like old friends I have spent time with over the years. I couldn't ever give them up or give them away.   

5.  Before blogging, what, if any, was your main mode of personal expression?

 

My big mouth.

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OK, folks.  That's my interview.  Thank you Willow!  If you would like to be interviewed by me, please follow the directions below.  Thanks!

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."

2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. (I get to pick the questions).

3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.

4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.

5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.

Time to Get A-Quilting

Because my Aunt Gerri is a wonderfully gifted talent when it comes to color and construction, she inspired me to allow myself to think that I could quilt. She is a terrific teacher. Three summers ago, while she and Unk were visiting from Florida, she taught me how to sew on a sewing machine and helped me create my very first baby quilt. I was so enthralled with my new talent that I attempted to create more baby quilts. Unfortunately, my Aunt was not present for the next three. The lack of experience reared it imperfect head and I barely got through the second and third quilts. The last one I recently completed was a much better example of Auntie's tutelage. Herewith, the photos:

Quilt No. 1

created with guidance from my aunt

Quilt No. 2

I don't know what I was thinking with all those crazy fabrics,

but the recipient really liked it.  She is an art teacher, so she 

may see what I do not. I see a hot mess!

Quilt No. 3

I tried to keep all the colors together so that they could 

flow into each other.  I don't think I was very successful, and there 

are a lot of blocks that don't square up.  Oh well, the recipient loved 

it anyway, which is all that really matters.

Quilt No. 4

This is my favorite because I chose the fabrics, planned the 

design myself (which took me DAYS to decide!) 

and sewed it all up.  I loved working with this fabric, 

it was so cute.  And there aren't many mistakes in this one ;~)

So, I show and tell you all that to tell you this...I am going to start a new quilt this month.  I am going to visit a friend, whom I've never met, in April.  She lives in AZ and we've never been to AZ or anywhere in the Southwest.  I "met" her online through ebay about 10 years ago and we have emailed and called and sent photos and cards, but have never met in person.  She is a coffee queen like me so I purchased some Moda fabric a few weeks ago that has a coffee theme. I am so NOT a theme person for anything but once I made that cute bunny quilt I thought it would be nice to make a coffee theme quilt for my friend; sort of a friendship bond quilt since I purchased a vintage coffee pot from her all those years ago (which still gets daily use).  

The most difficult part of quilting, to my inexperienced mind, is the hand sewing of the binding. It just KILLS my fingers.  Plus, I stink at hand sewing.  If I were a little girl in the olden-days there would be NO WAY I would have made one of those samplers.  No way... they would have high-button shoe kicked me right out of Miss Abercrombie's School for Girls in a heartbeat.