My First Quilt

Happy 4th of July!

I hope you have a wonderful day and enjoy the freedoms of our great country.  I wish our country was stronger and kinder.

Today is the beginning of SAMAS Trucking. I am pretty proud of my husband. He has worked hard to get the rig prepped and stocked for this big day. Today he is hauling equipment to Texas, then pipe from Texas to North Dakota. I am sure this is the first of many runs. Any extra prayers would be appreciated since we are a bunde of nerves hoping this venture works. 

I set a goal for today. Finish my first quilt. I am here to report that I have accomplished that goal. 

My friend Lisa opened a fabric shop Apricot Stitches. She held a class to make a piece pillow. I took the class excited to learn something new. It was a wonderful class. One huge perk was I won a charm pack! 

A charm pack is a selection of a fabric line pre cut into 5 inch squares. They are perfect for beginners! I can promise that. I then purchased another charm pack and the white fabric and the important Charm School book. I read this book from cover to cover, devouring each word and every instruction. I learned a lot. But not everything. 

I cut out the fabric and started sewing blocks. Then I took another class at Apricot Stitches. This one was a class on gingham quilts. I sewed a quilt for my husband using the nesting techniques I learned at the class. I finished that quilt. My husband has used that quilt every day since I gave it to him. It is on the big rig right now.

I went back to making blocks with the Christmas charm pack when the Christmas season arrived

Christmas 2019 was really good to me. I yielded several quilting supplies and notions. This set me up to be able to quilt with ease. 

I sewed more blocks and then sewed them together making the awesome 'on point' design you see in the picture. Then I set the project aside for a few months while I focused on another quilt. After I finished the Vintage Farm Girl 2 quilt I pulled this out and sewed a border of red grunge. Again. I set the quilt aside and went back to work after 6 weeks off for COVID-19 shutdown. I since completed a different quilt with my favorite Modern Farmhouse fabric (more on that later). 

Back to my first quilt! Today is the day I sewed the binding on and finished this quilt. It is far from perfect but each square shows I improvement. I learned so much doing this quilt and had such fun. And while it took me months to accomplish I did it! 

Thank you to Lisa who quilted it with red, green, and white thread. I love it so much! The flannel snowmen on the back and binding make me smile and I am drawn to the chandelier effect this patten-which is called Chandelier- gives. 

I am happy happy with this quilt. I am happy with SAMAS Trucking. I am happy with this holiday. I hope you have a wonderful one! 

Quilting is fun!

Hello world. It has been a long time since I have written. There are copious reasons, distractions, interruptions,  procrastination and side tracking as to why I have not written. 

Fast forward to today.

I have developed a new hobby. Piecing quilts. Cutting fabric, sewing fabric, pressing fabric and arranging blocks which then get assembled into a quilt. It is tedious and completely satisfying! 

Here I am pressing a seam open 

More pressing

Followed by more stitching and assembly

This square is a sample of the several I have completed. I have many more to finish before the quilt will be done.

I am excited about this quilt. I am a huge fan of the fabric! Modern Farmhouse is the name of the line. It was love at first sight! The floral, the black, the plaid, oh my heart had no chance! 

This is the second quilt I have made from Modern Farmhouse. I consider myself very lucky!

How are you? Are you handling the world? 

I  found myself unable to work for 40 days in March and April. The dental office I work at was shutdown due to COVID-19. At first it was unsettling. I had never been out of work in all of my adult life and suddenly I was home and not able to go anywhere. I did go to the grocery store and was shocked to see the hoarding of food and supplies that was taking place. When I saw my first empty shelf it was eerie, almost spooky and ominous. I went home not purchasing a single roll of toilet paper. Being at home is a comfort to me. I am safe here. I was prepared to stay at home and self quarantine or social distance or shelter in place-whatever you want to call it....I mostly sat at home. I liked it. I am a loner and enjoy my own company. Even as I type this and I know it is true I still remember some very unsettling thoughts during this time. So much information was being sent out and yet so much was unknown. Life changed in a matter of hours. 

Today my life is almost back to normal. I miss the shut down. Life was simple for those 6 weeks. Is that weird to say? Work has been very busy and I feel lime I am always behind and never caught up. My housework is suffering aka not getting done completely. This chaos is mentally draining to me. I am trying hard to keep up with life and find myself lacking. I miss the simpler days of shutdown/quarantine.  

That is my two cents.