Saturday, January 25, 2014

Grow Your Blog

I found out about this blog hop a couple of weeks ago so decided to join in.  I have been blogging for since 2006.  Sometimes I have been more diligent than other times but I do enjoy it.  I use my blog for keeping track of my projects and especially my students projects. 

I have found that if I skip a few days, someone always asks if I am OK so I try to post most days. 

I belong to three guilds - East Cobb Quilters' Guild, Allatoona Quilters' Guild, and the Atlanta Modern Quilters Guild.  I am a longarm quilter and work at the local quilt shop in Marietta, GA.  I love teaching quilting, especially enjoy working with beginners.

I am having a giveaway with this blog hop. Please leave a comment and tell me about the first quilt you finished. Here is my story.

In the early 90's I lived near Sydney, Australia and decided to learn to quilt. I took a class and it was miserable. Fortunately I immediately took another class at a different shop and made a quilt-as-you-go log cabin which lives in Sweden with my son and his family.  I learned to quilt in spite of my original teacher. 

Leave your story and I will pick a winner on Feb. 15. The winner will get a fabric package to be decided from me.  

Looking forward to learning about your first quilts..

Melinda

49 comments:

  1. My first quilt was a BOM through Craftsy taught by Amy Gibson in 2011. It was a great experience. The quilt sits on the back of our couch and gets used all the time. Our 6 month old has loved to stare at it ever since he was born.

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  2. Hi Melinda! I can't recall the first quilt that I finished but I know that one of them was a wedding gift more than 30 years ago. When I think back I recall all of the mistakes I made but I recently learned that the quilt is used and loved! I see that you are a hexie lover as am I. And I'm making the Hexie Project BOM! If you have time I would love it if you visited my blog where you can see some of my hexie blocks and quilts! Thanks for the chance to win in your give away!
    Karen H
    http://faeriesandfibres.blogspot.ca/

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  3. My first quilt was made in Huntsville, AL. It was a sampler and I learned from Peggy Graham and Lana Lee Miller. This was in the 1980's and quilting has changed lots since then. Lana Lee passed away this year and this has been a tremendous loss to me. I continue her work by teaching others as she taught me.

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  4. I made my first quilt in a needlework class in high school. I choose to do chicken scratch embroidery and lightly quilt. I choose the chicken scratch because there was no piecing. I had tried piecing and hated it. The quilt went in my hope chest and my first child used it. Do girls even do hope chest anymore? I told the teacher I'd never try my hand at quilting again....now look at me...I'm obsessed! Thanks for a chance to win!

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  5. My first quilt was a quilt as you go flannel quilt in a since closed Cincy quilt store. Before that I did make a quilted jacket out of Debbie Mumm. That was about 12 years ago and while I don't get a lot made I'm trekkng along. Thanks for the chance to win!

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  6. Melinda I started quilting eight years ago before my 1st grandaughter was born. One of my students parent taught me and I have been hooked ever since. I hop you get lots of visitors during the hop

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  7. My first quilt was a log cabin baby quilt...I hand quilted it...finally figured out WHY a thimble might be a good idea...bandaids helped until I got to the store to buy a thimble. crystalbluern at onlineok dot com

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  8. My first quilt was a little "boo" banner that I hung on the door. It was three log cabin blocks with some applique. I remember how long it took me to put it together. I laugh about it often. It is fun to look at it and see how far I have come.

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  9. Anonymous7:13 PM

    Hi, I'm Linda from craftygardener.ca and I'm one of the volunteer helpers of the Grow Your Own Blog event. We are stopping by to see links and comments etc work fine. Your site looks great and I hope you get lots of new visitors and followers.

    My first quilt was a Grandmother's Flower garden one and it was all hand made out of fabric and clothing that I had on hand. I still have it today on display in my home. I'd love to be entered into your give away.

    It's great meeting you, have a lovely day.

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  10. been a follower a long time, enjoy your blog

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  11. I made my first quilt when I was 16 but I wasn't in love with the fabrics so didn't use it. I enjoyed learning the English paper piecing though.

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  12. My first quilt was a flannel quilt I wanted to make for my bed....................very simple square in a square design...............all was good until I decided to quilt it..................
    NEVER EVER think you should quilt a queen/king size flannel quilt as your first machine quilted quilt.............I did eventually finish it but OMG it was a huge effort................still love the quilt..............................

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  13. I not only remember my first quilt but still have it. I went online asking for the easiest quilt for a beginner and found the rail fence pattern. I then went to Joann's and bought 1 yard of 5 fabrics: it was sale for $2 per yard. The backing is sheeting I bought from a fabric outlet store. It is a small throw that lives on a chair in my bedroom and every day I look at it and think about what that little quilt has done to change my life.

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  14. My first quilt was for a friend's niece who was deployed overseas. Her favorite colors were purple, green & zebra. It turned out pretty nice though my quilting was torturous. Thanks.

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  15. Fun!! My first quilt was a Grandmas' Flower Garden. I thought I HAD to do it all by HAND....and so I cut each flower octagon out and hand pieced it all together for my daughter who was in 4th grade then.....and now she is 43 :)...times flys!....I did not know how to put it together, I had quilted it into blocks with batting and batting....so I figured out some sashing and it did not look that great but it got done!!....I put a ruffle around it to match the sweet curtain fabric that she had picked out in turquoise blue....As she grew up she loved that little twin quilt....she would sleep with it, wrap up in it when she had boyfriend problems....cried into it as a teen girl busy in things in HS....and now it is with her....probably in her stash of "keeping it" things....but I THOUGHT I had to do it all by hand.....NOW I am a longarmer and love every part of Quilting!!.....sorry for the long story but thats' who I am....:) my blog is newly dressed up by my online friend Amy.....inthesewingbasket.blogspot.com.
    I love your Blog and posts!! Keep it up!!

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  16. I made my first quilt in 1998. I took a class at Quilting Lines in Conyers. It is yellow and blue, I still use it, but it has faded a little. That small quilt started a journey that I hope never ends.

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  17. My very first quilt that I ever did was one with embroidered blocks for each of the 50 states with their state flower. That was back in the 50's,early 60's. I was around 10. When I grew up and got married, it was our picnic blanket, I remember using it with my daughters in the 80's and the poor thing fell apart after so much use in the late 80's - early 90's. The first one since I returned to quilting a year and a half ago after 25+ years was a mystery quilt along. thelady at hotmail.com

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  18. I made my first quilt back in the 1960's! My daughter still has that patchwork quilt.

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  19. My first, was a snowman wall quilt and every time I stroll past it a smile comes to me! That quilt lead to 23 years of friendships. I currently am the president of a guild, a member of a Modern guild along with being a professional long arm quilter. That snowman started many things for me!

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  20. I have been quiltiing since 1998! My first quilt was a lap quilt with the dresden plate pattern. I just fell in love with quilting and have been doing it ever since. I love your blog thanks for sharing your quilting adventures with us!

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  21. have a wonderful weekend. hi there. i'm Beth from E. Lizard Breath Speaks - so nice to meet you through the Grow Your Blog get together/party. ( :
    elizardbreathspeaks@gmail.com

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  22. good morning I am visiting from the party, I quilt also. It was never my intention to get into quilting but rather weaving. but when we retired and moved here in the woods in Missouri 10 years ago-our house was a mess and needed to be redone-still not finished-lol and hubby was sick, and I didn't know anyone, and no place yet to set up my loom-my Mom said you can always find a little corner for a sewing machine-so that's what I did-my first quilt was a raggy jean and flannel quilt-I still love those too.
    enjoy the party Kathy

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  23. My first patchwork is a long, long time ago! In the late seventies [last century!], I made at school a apron, embellished with some patchwork. We used the apron at the cookinglessons. Later that year, we made a cushion with patchwork...not quilted.
    I think I was the only student who loved to sew.....I was about 14 years young that time. But....12 years ago, I found a woman who gave patchwork and quiltlessons at her home. She thought me how to sew patchwork by hand, and we made a sampler. I liked it so much... so I made a big quilt...25 blocks. This quilt is my first, and I still love it. Since that day...I'm bitten by the quiltvirus!! My skills have develloped, and I like sewing and quilting by hand and machine...

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  24. My first quilt was in 1992 and a Log Cabin done in greens. I attended a class at the local Wal Mart taught by the fabric department manager. It was my first introduction to rotary cutting, quarter inch seams and a whole lot more. I hand quilted it and it currently resides on the bed in the spare bedroom.

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  25. I took a class over 25 years ago, but I never finished that first quilt. Mostly because after I took that class my sister in law taught me the Quilt in a Day method, and I have not looked back since. My first completed quilt was a Log Cabin using Eleanor Burns pattern. I've made many more of her patterns since then. Thanks!

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  26. i was fortunate that my first quilt was actually a class in high school, waaaaay back in 1976.lol school back then offered lots of sewing and craft things, now i don't think they get as much homec studies, to bad because that's what got me making all kinds of things. my quilt was a lovely large patchwork of gold and rose, soooo '70's. i was allowed to machine stitch the patches but everything else was hand done, not alot of quilting, mostly tied it, and it was king sized.lol wish i still had it. i didn't get my first rotarty cutter until 3 years ago, love the modern (machine) quilting.

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  27. Hi Melinda - great to meet you!``
    I decided that I wanted to make a quilt for my mum's 80th birthday so I took classes at my local fabric shop. The quilt stayed on my mum's bed until she died.

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  28. My first was in the 1980's, for a boyfriend. Frankly, my recollection of the quilt is as fuzzy as the guy, I think it was a patchwork.
    It's nice to meet you :)

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  29. My first quilt was made with Sun Bonnet Sue applique for my baby girl 35 years ago. I am self taught quilter (been sewing since I was 10!) and loved applique so I made Sun Bonnet Sue on smaller blocks.. I think there was 16 about 6x6 blocks. It was made for a cradle that I used the first few months. I also made bumper pads for the cradle. Sadly, when someone asked to borrow the cradly and quilt for their baby...they didn't return the quilt,saying I never gave it to them. I was heart broken. But soon as my daughter got older I made her another one...using the fan pattern!
    I am a Grow Your Blog blogger...from www.fabricandmemories.blogspot.com. I will go find your "join" button now!

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  30. My first quilt I made last summer for a relative's first child. I had spent a year doing research to avoid making mistakes. My husband decided I needed a little encouragement. So after I made a couple test blocks, it only took about a month to finish the quilt.

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  31. I had a couple months off work when expecting my child and made a few baby outfits. Without a clue what I was doing, I used the scraps to make a Trip Around the World. You can see the quilt here! http://redletterquilts.blogspot.com/2013/09/maybe-it-wasnt-my-first-time-but-it.html

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  32. Anonymous3:45 PM

    HELLO FROM MONTANA! I'M A RETIRED RN WHO IS TEACHING HERSELF TO MACHINE QUILT>WHAT FUN! I'VE BECOME A FABRIC-SHOPPER EXTRA-ORDINAIRE! HAVE ALWAYS DONE EMBROIDERY AND HAND QUILTING,BUT THIS IS A NEW AREA>LOVE QUILTING! THANKS FOR SHARING

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  33. the very first quilt I ever made was a doll quilt for my sister when I was thirteen...she thought I hung the moon after making it for her...it was not perfect by any means...but was made from my heart for her dolly that she carried around at all times...she was seven at the time...she still has the dolly and the quilt in her cedar chest...the little quilt was about 30inches square...

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  34. Aren't you so glad that you took the other class? I love to quilt! I'm in Ky (USA).

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  35. The first quilt I finished was the second one I started, it is the pattern nash from miss rosies quilt company. I made it using 2 fellowship charm packs, I finished it in November 2013. It hangs in my bedroom and is the first thing I see when I wake up. The first quilt I started was a baby quilt for my cousins child, who just turned two!

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  36. GYb visitor here. Love your header quilt!
    Im following along now and must thank you, I had no idea there was a Hexi Blog yeahhhhhh
    Am following that too now and joined the yahoo group.
    Id like to make the hexis and assume your making a block a month is that right?
    Anyway, liked browsing round and am here to stay : )
    Lyn

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  37. Oh fiddlesticks!
    The first quilt I made was a simple 6 block sampler wall hanging, the blocks are 12" and I enjoyed the Dresden block best of all back then.

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  38. My first quilt was a super sized king made out of microfiber suede and burlap!! SO not kidding. Quilted it myself on my domestic machine, it was a Nicchi and it had a 6" throat space!! Um yes, there are a few pleats on the back LOL That was 9 months ago and 20 quilts later! I do better now - I'm still a rebel though :)

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  39. I was part of a quilt group until I had more babies. But, babies grow up and mommas have more time for crafting again. Looking forward to more finished projects!

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  40. The first quilt I made---wow! That was a long time ago. It was actually a doll quilt. I didn't know anything about quilting so I tied it with yarn. It was so cute that I wanted to make more, and eventually I tried my hand at quilting them. Now, I love to hand quilt.

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  41. My first quilt is still on my machine. I think it might take a while.

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  42. it's funny how a different shop and a different teacher can make ALL the difference in the world! so glad you kept at quilting, yours are splendid! visiting via Vicki's GYB party and loving your quilts.

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  43. So nice to meet you and see your beautiful quilts.

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  44. Greetings from St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada. Very nice to meet you. My first quilt is in Chicago on my daughter's bed!

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  45. I made my first quilt for my Barbie when I was very young.

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  46. I crochet a quilt once when I was 23 and mostly liked making crochet butter fly magnets. I tried all kinds of crafty niches and now at the age of 53 I got gift a cuttle bug for my birthday and a Robo craft because I want to make a box. And then my world exploded. I loved it. I started studying about glues and paper and got inspired by youtube and then the blogging world open up. Before I knew it here I am in the quilting and stitching blogs. I still working on paper crafts But,I like all things creative n thrifty and I found you from the GYB party.
    I don’t have a lot of blog time in for I just started blogging when I joined the blog party it was my New Year resolution. 600 entries and I am Reading my 477 blog and more to go. Whew a lot of good read and great giveaways too. I know the importance of having blogging followers so I dropped everything and doing the web work. My site http://overboardcreations.blogspot.com/ and contact info is ovr_brd@yahoo.com I believe inspiration comes from all facets of life even knowing the great people out there with wisdom and knowledge the do's and don'ts and even the wonders of life from a personal point of view. And loving the crafting networks. following you on the Bloglovin and the goggle network. Oh yes thank you for letting me be part of your give away.

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  47. Hello Melinda from the NSW Central Coast via the GYB party. I began my first quilt in the mid 1980s. I had redecorated my bedroom and I wanted a quilt for my bed with some of the fabric from the new curtains in it. There were no classes, no shops, no books to speak of, yet somehow I knew about quilts & decided on a log cabin (centre = curtain fabrics). I bought the fabric in Bondi (miles from home) and set to from a picture. After making about half the blocks I laid them on the bed. Disaster! Overall colour was green, and the curtains had a blue background. So back to the shop, bought more fabric (blue this time) and made the blocks. But then I had no idea how to finish it. I finally finished it about 10 years later when a shop opened nearby. By this time I had sold the house (with the curtains in it) but I still had the bed, so I was happy.
    BTW The quilt in your banner is stunning!

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  48. The very first quilt I worked on was in my 3rd grade class. The teacher had us all make a block by hand and then she put them together. If we finished our school work early we could do extra sewing and I suddenly became a very fast worker. Mrs. Nyswaner went on to encourage me in high school to pursue my own career in teaching and later came to my wedding. I know I can trace my love of quilting back to her influence.

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  49. Thank you for sharing your beautiful work with us. I love your quilts. Your blog has been a delight. The one and only quilt was made for my son many years ago - he wanted dinosaurs and there were not any in the stores - so I made him one --- after reading so many quilting blogs in this hop I am tempted to try again.

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I would love to hear from you. Make sure I have a way to contact you if you have a question.

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