Revisiting My Quilting Hobby

I’m taking the time to go through my draft folder and have been finding lots of topics and paragraphs that are no longer applicable or current. Like my 2024 DC Pen Show adventures and purchases. I might grab a few pictures and just update my draft post of fountain pens and inks. Or I might just merge a few drafts to include a post of pens that caught my eye or new-to-me inks that I came across. Let’s not forget my sketching adventures. Still working out the details and my blog queue for posting. In the mean time, here’s what’s up for today.

I started today’s blog post late last year and left it in draft mode…waiting for pictures to be taken. I think I’ve gathered the pertinent pictures and I’m ready to publish. Enjoy!

I have been working on an old hobby. Quilting. Last time I started this sewing adventure was back in 2005 when I purchased my first sewing machine the Viking Platinum 770. I went through a quilting phase in between sewing clothes for myself, machine embroidery, and sewing tote bags. Here’s the two quilted pot holders I made from that year.

I sewed the blocks by machine. For the last step of the binding process, I folded over the binding and hand sewed it into place with slip stitches.

Here’s my basic pot holder with decorative stitches sewn on top of the seams:

Here’s one with a machine embroidery design in the center block:

Here’s the finished back showing the hand slip stitches around the binding:

Fast forward to now, I’ve joined a local quilting club. We meet up once a month at a local library. Most of the club members are friends/co-workers from my previous job. I’m so happy to be able to spend some quality time with them.

I’m back to creating pot holders. This time I’m actually learning the quilting steps and taking the time to break down the process. Creating lots of mistakes along the way. Learning to cut exact fabric measurements, sewing scant 1/4″ seams, matching intersecting seams, sandwiching fabrics, quilting with a walking foot, cutting and sewing binding pieces, and binding my quilt block. I’m having so much fun!

Our first project was a basic piecing project where I had to hand sew the fabric around the paper squares and then hand sew the blocks together:

Sandwiching my block top to the batting and fabric backing:

Sewing the binding around my pot holder:

Here’s the final project:

My sewing mojo was at full steam ahead. I dug around my studio to find my cotton fabrics/stash. I took inventory to see what I could use for my quilting projects: cottons and batiks

My preference is to sew with batik fabrics. I like the crispness of the fabric and the dense feel, but lightweight. I also enjoy all the patterns and colors. For me, it’s easier to put together fabrics and they somehow go together without much effort.