Quilt.... from the beginning!

Bonnie Hunter, of http://www.quiltville.com/ and http://www.quiltville.blogspot.com/ is an amazing quilter and quilt designer.  She has a loyal following among the quilters of the world.  She generously posts dozens of free quilt patterns on her blog.  She donates her quilts to good causes.  She is like the neighbor across the street; real, tangible, funny, friendly.  She is a 'green' quilter.  She likes to recycle fabrics from clothing into her quilts.  She has created a system for fabric storeage and usage, so not a piece gets wasted. ' If it's still ugly, you just haven't cut it up enough! ' 

She has posted on her blog, yesterday, about her first several quilts, and posted photos of some of them.  She put a call out to her 'groupies' to do the same.  We'll link them up to her blog with Mr. Linky!

So I dug through my cedar chests and old steamer trunks to find mine.  I actually found them, which is amazing in itself.  I made my first quilt in the summer of 2000.  It made my mom cry.

Not because it was that bad, although it almost was, but because I was quilting.  She is an incredibly gifted woman with crafts, she can make anything!  She has quilted, knit, crocheted, painted, anything you can think of!  She designed and made a Bicentenial Quilt which hung in the Philadelphia Art Museum for a year.

I was the (only) daughter who wanted to play football and hockey.  The last thing I wanted to do was sit and quilt, sew, crochet, etc., ANYTHING! 

So when I  told her I was going to make a quilt, she just about keeled over.  And I did! And she cried!  And now, I've made dozens.  I don't think I am near the 100 mark.  Maybe 50?

Here is my first quilt I pieced... a railroad fence pattern.  It's about 42" x 42".

Here's a shot of the front/back.  I handquilted it (yikes) and did the back of the binding by hand. To this day, I dislike bindings immensely!

This is my 3rd quilt.  Made of Thimbleberries fabric, which I love.  I made it for my (only) daughter, who - by the way, has inherited a lot of my mother's skills and my talent for football.

This is my most recently finished quilt!  It is Bonnie Hunter's Smoky Mountain Stars.  (see a post a few posts down about this and the design)  I have attached the binding to the front, now to the back. I think I am going to have to do that by hand.  Ugh.... anyone for a binding party in the Vegas area? 

I like to think I've improved a little bit.  Still not one for the smaller details.