A Wife in Transition

Welcome, welcome to A Life in Quilts!

I have wanted to quilt for years.  The brilliant colors, the patterns, and the amazing designs that tell a story.  I can remember being a small girl and running my hands over my grandmother's quilts, following the delicate stitches and wondering how she did it!

So I've always had this fascination with quilts, but I've always thought it had to be one of those things
I'd do whenever I had some free time.  Roughly four years ago, I decided I had a little free time and hand-pieced a 9 patch wall hanging, but never actually finished the border...let alone the quilting and binding.  Still makes me sad that I never finished it.

Fast-forwarding a bit...A year a half ago, my husband and I made the decision that I would stay home when our newest arrival was born after I had worked in the mental health industry for several years.  What a change!

I've been running an online business for a few months now, and kept waiting for some free time. 

Of course, free time never comes, but then I got an idea for a Christmas gift for my 9 year old daughter.  I asked my husband to guild her a bed for her American Girl and I would make the mattress, sheets, and cover. 

I purchased some fun floral and striped squares and made my own, doll-sized pattern.  I spend the next week or so, hand-piecing the little quilt, and then quilted and bound it by hand as well. (I have nothing against using a sewing machine...mine is just on the mend at the moment.)  It came out beautifully and amateurish, since there is a lot I don't know, but my stitches are at least even and mostly straight. :)  

Besides just becoming a pretty blanket for my daughter's doll...this project rekindled the yearning I have to quilt.  I've been doing a lot of soul searching as of late, with the new year on the horizon, and I've decided to go for it!  Instead of waiting for time and treating quilting as a hobby, I'm going to treat it as my job and work it into my online business.

What can you expect? 

My plan for this blog is to learn to quilt like a pro, but to share my process with you as much as humanly possible.  I plan to include you in everything from picking out the fabric to my frustrations in binding.  I want this blog to be a help to those of you who are just starting out as I am and a way to connect with other quilters, so that I may learn even more.

Are you a quilter?  Have you ever wanted to be one?  Let me know by leaving a comment below!