Sunday, July 10, 2011

Alice: Obsessed with Quilting!

I remember precisely when I made up my mind that one day I would learn to quilt.  Years ago my husband and I were invited to dinner at a new friend's house, and the wife took me on a house-tour.  Every bed in the house was graced with a quilt that she had made.  I told myself then, "Someday, I'm going to make quilts.  And then every bed in our house will have a quilt made by me!"

Well, that's not yet happened!   I made my first quilt, machine pieced but hand-quilted, between 1990 and 1993, working on it only in the summers, since I was still teaching full time.  In 1999, newly retired, I began quilting in earnest.  Many of my quilts have been given to others.  I have several wall hanging quilts in our home--including my few art quilts.  But none of the beds in our home has made-by-me bed quilts!

I've sewn for almost as long as I can remember,  and some of my earliest memories are of sitting with friend Kitty out on a quilt under a tree in the hot Texas summers (prior to air conditioning!), sewing rather sloppy doll clothes.  As a teen I made many of my own garments, and once I married and the children came along, I sewed for them and myself until I went back to teaching full time.

I discovered art quilting some four years ago.  I feel as if I have one foot in art quilting and the other in traditional, which I still love.  I NEED this group to spur me on to make more art quilts, to experiment, to risk, to dare, to rev up my creative juices.  I am excited and can hardly wait until tomorrow, when Carolyn will announce our theme!

2 comments:

  1. Your history in quilting is interesting and the numbers of quilts you have made for family and friends is awe inspiring. I am glad you love the old and the new. I found a quotation of Rhoda Cohen's at her website: "Finally, my definition of an Art Quilt: It exhibits an aesthetic connection common to the whole range of visual arts while holding fast through fabric and technique to its folk art origins."

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a super quotation! It is a definition that appeals to me and aptly captures what we are trying to do with our art quilts.

    ReplyDelete