Learning to Quilt

We have a number of ladies at our church who meet every Wednesday to quilt. They've invited me a number of times to come over for their weekly potluck lunch and of course I accept! I love going over there to look at the latest quilt they're working on. They're all so beautiful. We have so many talented quilters around here. One of them is Roxy. Roxy has tried for the last couple of years to get me to start quilting, and I'd always put her off. I didn't have time, didn't want to start a new hobby, couldn't afford it, it was too complicated, already had too many scrapbooking supplies, etc.

Well, *hanging my head*....last December, several of the ladies dragged me into the Quilt store. Of course, I didn't put up too much of a fight. I love looking at all those beautiful fabrics. And I was smart! (Or so I thought). I left my wallet, checkbook and credit cards at home! I knew I didn't want to get started on a new project. So...what do I find when I'm in there?! The most PERFECT material ever! *happy dance* I've been searching for years for the "perfect" comforter/bedspread for our bed. And there it was, in a bundle of 6 fat quarters in the quilt shop. I just about died. And Roxy knew that she'd finally hooked me!! Of course, I dragged my husband back the very next weekend to show him the colors (get his approval, since it is his bed too), and to pick out the borders for the quilt. My husband indulges me so much and just kind of rolled his eyes when I told him I wanted to make a quilt. "But Roxy's gonna help me!" I said. *giggle*

So, today, I went over to Roxy's house and she gave me my first lesson. I learned how to measure & cut the pieces, and then actually sewed the first 2 rows of 8 for the top. I am SO excited. The colors are gorgeous! And it really is easier than I thought it would be. Though, I'm not sure I could replicate anything I did today on my own!

Roxy has a nify computer program where she can plug in the pattern and colors and print it on on her printer. The program does all sorts of nifty things with quilt patterns and I can see I'm going to need to add another room onto my house for this new hobby (cuz it won't fit in the room with all my scrapping supplies!)! Here's a computer generated drawing of my quilt. The real colors are similar, but not exact. The colors in my quilt are more foresty/green/deep purple colors, with a few lighter colors to offset the darks. I can't wait to get it done. I'll try to get a pic of it when it's done!