Christmas Table Top 2005 - My First Quilt

This tabletopper is the very first quilt I made and the very first time I ever used a sewing machine. It was a Ladies Night Out project at a new (in 2005) quilt shop in Williston, VT. We paid $5 and were given a pattern for a block, the fabric to make it, and the use of the store's machines. Within one week I owned my first sewing machine (a mechanical Pfaff). The last week of the series, we each designed our own layout for the blocks we made. The store's owner, June Bugbee, encouraged me to try free-motion quilting on one of the fancier Pfaff's in the store. Since I had only been sewing for about a month at that point, I didn't realize this was often considered difficult. She made it look fun and easy and made me borrow the nicer machine to quilt my finished quilt top. Needless to say, I traded in my mechanical machine for the nicer one with IDT and more stitches 2 weeks later.
This is the beginning of what will be my lifelong addiction. I have been really making up for lost time ever since. The stash has outgrown my house, I have a Janome 6600 that gives me a larger quilting bed and even more stitches, and I started a little business to promote embellished quilting in the Burlington, VT and online areas.Posted by Picasa

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