A New Weekly Post For New Quilters

So, as much as I like to talk about myself and share what I'm working on, I really enjoy seeing what other quilters are doing. I spend far too many hours of the day searching and reading through blogs of other quilters.

(source:http://www.shopage.fr/?q=Newbies) 

I especially love seeing quilts done by newbies. It's just something about seeing someone try a new technique or even just learn to sew a straight line for the first time. This lead me to brainstorming ideas of how I could showcase the works of new quilters. Sort of like an online 'Kudos for you!', sort of thing. This is what I came up with:

Newbie Tuesdays

Every Tuesday I will feature the work of a new quilter. (I'll define a new quilter as someone who has been quilting for less then two years). It will be like a little classroom show and tell, with a few pictures and a little background about the project. I think this would be a great way to show some love and give encouragement to new quilters out there. What do you think?

I'll work on make a separate page this week for Newbie Tuesdays, explaining how to apply to have your quilting project featured. 

The Return of Needle and Thread

I spent the good part of seven years as a costume designer. Five of those years was working full time as a professional costume designer for Phoenix College in Phoenix, Arizona. When I got married, I walked away from the sewing machine. I held a couple of other jobs before settling into my current position of Homemaker.

I have found great pleasure in knitting, crochet, tatting and the various other crafts I dabble in. Yet, in the past few months, I have found myself being called back to sewing. I think it started when my daughter discovered some of my old ribbons and was attempting to sew them together to make an outfit for one of her dolls. With needle and thread I gave her a crash course in hand sewing and she was soon on her way.

An old felted Christmas tree pillow kit that I bought years ago was suddenly pulled out of the closet and I found myself hand sewing the little penny rug designs to the front of it. My daughter then claimed the pillow as her own, sewing the remaining 'pennies' and stitching the whole thing together. My daughter's sudden interest in sewing has now renewed my interest as well.

I don't plan on sewing clothes for any major productions. Instead, I have decided to take on a new area of sewing- quilting! Well, maybe not so new. . .

You see, once upon a time, I got the quilting bug and made a few quilts. It was while I was a college student taking sewing classes and working as a techie in theatre, I was appalled at all the fabric that I saw being thrown away in sewing class and inside the costume shop. So I would dumpster dive and use the scraps to make quilts as home. This lasted until the moment my sewing machine broke- thus ending my quilting binge.

As a costume designer, I was just to busy with the shows and commissioned work to do much sewing for pleasure.

So, now, almost ten years later, I am starting my journey, (again), into the world of quilting. And this time I plan to document my journey- the good and the ugly.

My goals for this journey? Meet other quilters, learn some new techniques and have a lot of fun playing with fabric.