Saturday 2 May 2015

How did I get here?

Hi everyone, Karen here
Jo has asked each of us to write a little bit about ourselves on the blog. Her first question is
How did you get here?
WELL-- it started when I was 12 years old and my mother bought a new sewing machine. It is still a vivid memory for me.
A salesman brought the White sewing machine in a wood cabinet to our house and started to give my mom a lesson on how to use it. I said "Scooch over, Mom" and the rest is history.  I think that she had to wait until I was at school to get her hands on it.
I started making my own clothes and I wore them proudly. One of my friends mothers took pity on me and showed me how to set in sleeves after she saw my first attempt. I would not take any advice from my Mom for some reason.
I made most of my own clothing through high school and beyond. When my children were born and KMart opened, I decided that I still needed to sew but looked to quilting as an alternative to dressmaking.
I started very traditionally but was often frustrated with the length of time that one project was taking.  Back in the 70's most quilts were hand done-start to finish and I don't have the attention span needed to persevere. The rotary cutter and mat are the finest invention of the era and I welcomed them with open arms. Most of my quilts are machine pieced and machine quilted.
This is one of the first quilts that I made, using Eleanor Burns Quilt in a day method. It is machine pieced and hand quilted. It's all polyester including the batting. It has been washed many times and its still in great shape. We have it on our bed always.
Camping in the Mountains At Night

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