Year One - Mapping My Quilting Journey

Instead of making a new quilt for the current challenge,

I have challenged myself to travel back 

to the beginning of my personal quilting journey 

and document  a few key quilts from each year 

along with my rationale for choosing each of them.

I'm curious to see how my process has evolved.

Even after writing a post for this first year,

I can see that it will be an interesting approach

if for no other reason than to see how

my photography has changed through the years.

Elsie's Aprons - 2004 - quilted by Bonnie Hunter

This was the first of what would be several

what I have come to call Rescue Quilts.

The original dresden plate quilt was made

by my maternal grandmother, Elsie.

Through the years, her muslin foundation 

and backing had become thin and stained 

so I carefully unstitched the dresden circles

in order to hand appliqué them 

onto new background fabrics.

You can read more of the quilt's story HERE.

This project was the first time I had worked 

with clearly defined limitations.

(the number of plates and the fact that 

 the quilt shop in question was too far away

to visit for alternate background colors)

As time progressed, I would learn

that limitations like these

make me work more creatively.

First Star to the Right - 2004 - quilted by Chris Ballard

First Star was created during a class

at one of our local quilt shops.

The spiral lone star from Jan Krentz's book

was intimidating to say the least.

You can read the quilt's full story HERE.

I later made one more lone star 

and came to terms with the fact that

these are not my favorite kind of quilts to make.

Pompeii - 2004 - quilted by Chris Ballard

Pompeii was made for our younger son

as a Christmas gift.

You can read the story of this quilt HERE.

It was gratifying to see how much

this particular quilt meant to my son -

an early lesson in the power of quilts.

Decadent Dreaming - 2004 - quilted by Bonnie Hunter

Decadent Dreaming was made for 

our older son and his soon-to-be-fiancee

as their Christmas gift.

You can see more 2004 photos of the full quilt

and read its story HERE.

I used my notes from

 Catherine's Folk School class

but managed to turn things around

creating an entirely new block design.

And thus I discovered that a mistake

was nothing but a design opportunity.

* * *

By the end of my first year,

I had made thirteen quilts,

six of which were gifted

 to family and friends.

I didn't know it then

but the making and gifting of quilts

would become an important part of my process.

Quiltdivajulie