Learning to quilt

FIRST QUILT SQUARE

Recently I've made 3 baby quilts to donate to Newborns in Need (http://www.newbornsinneed.org/). Although I have many years of sewing experience I'm discovering that quilting is a craft unto itself and even though I'm pleased with the quilts I've made so far I would like to learn the art of quilting. I can see a lot of room for improvement in my quilts.


Yesterday I took Quilting 101 at Joann's Fabrics. It was a 2-1/2 hour class with just me and one other student. I had originally signed up for the class in February but it was cancelled twice since there weren't enough students enrolled. I was surprised considering how crowded the store usually is and by how much quilting fabric they sell. Maybe most people have already taken the basic quilting class. Judy, the teacher, was experienced, patient and nice. She taught us how to make a square design by using the rotary cutter and mat, the importance of cutting straight, sewing straight and ironing seams. I learned many shortcuts I would have missed if left on my own. She also taught us how to make a binding to use when finishing a quilt.

SPRING PLANTING

This is the second annual family vegetable planting. To see the results of our first year go to http://6ptstar.blogspot.com/p/vegetable-garden-2009.html .

Because the garden isn't at my house I didn't participate much last year once the seeds and plantings were in the ground. I usually would "bop" in once a week to see how things were growing but it was my sister Sandra who did the daily watering and weeding. I missed not participating in the daily activities of the garden but since we don't have room or the sun on our condo patio I was happy to participate in the initial planting at my sister's garden.

This year I've decided to plant seeds ahead of the in-ground planting as a way to participate a little more. We have enough space and warmth for this. So this week (3/17/10) I've planted seeds to grow 6 tomato plants, 6 zuchinnis, 6 bell peppers, 4 watermelon & 4 cantalope . The weather has warmed considerably, reaching in the high 70's, so it's the perfect time to begin. We'll see how it goes.