every quilt tells a story

While I'm not back into sewing just yet I thought I'd share with you a few of the older quilts I have made over the years. Be warned, some content may make you laugh out loud! Things were certainly very different when I first started quilting 30yrs ago! Fabric & colour choices way, way back then were very limited, you wouldn't have contemplated internet shopping for fabric, & we didn't have all the inspiration that's available now out there in blogosphere! We all made our initial sampler quilts of course, which was a really good way to learn all the basics. But I felt people were obsessed with perfectionism {you've heard of the quilt police!}, getting the exact fabric if they ran out, and layouts were often standard & methods limiting.  Over the time I've been sewing, alot in the quilting world has certainly changed -thank goodness- and there are some things that I think are really great now... it's lovely that so many younger people also love quilting too, I love that there's more colour, more patterns, more techniques to explore, and I really enjoy being able to document my own quilting journey in this way! So here we go...

lots of little 4 patch square-in-a-square 4" blocks
the first of many scrappy quilts

I bought the fabrics in Auzzie at a quilt show 2008, a couple of lovely liberties in there!

actually it still kinda looks "fresh & modern" to me! 

1930's little prints Fan Quilt with a touch of yellow batik

ha-ha, seems to me I had more time for handquilting way back then!

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Whether a Kaffe fan or not, one of his earlier books Museum Quilts is really worth having a look at. It showcases some of those wonderful quilts in the Victoria & Albert Museum in England. I have made a couple of quilts using his patterns from this book.

Gypsy Throw, gifted to my daughter's in-laws

Snowball Quilt, I love a blue quilt
but sadly it's still a UFO ! 

another Snowball Quilt
oh dear - I must have been going thru' a very brown phase!

so glad now I added in that turquoise & grey stripe as well!
Gifted

 

Brick Path Quilt
while simple in layout it's still a favorite of mine
now all quilted & gifted

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And here's a couple of pics of earlier quilts that are now being very much used & loved on little Olive's bed.

I drew up the pattern after seeing something similar at Material Obsession



Ice Cream Quilt

from the "Gentle Art of Quiltmaking" by Jane Brockett

I really enjoyed raiding my stash to find similar medium toned fabrics 

then threw in the darker pink spot to add interest  

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I made this top ages ago, never finished it

BUT it's my inspiration for something a bit more "modern" that I am planning at present

As you can see my quilting style has been all over the place, over all these years! Fast forward to today and it still remains a great hobby, full of creativity & challenges, full of new quilty friends and full of lovely fabric! Hey, I'm sure you will all have lots of stories about your first quilting ventures too - I'd love to hear about them!