Several blogger buddies of mine have posted links to two ladies who decided they wanted to see a parade of quilts – your first quilt that you made and the last quilt that you made. Go to either of these links to see what it is about. Simplify and LaVieEnRosie
I no longer have my first quilt or second, third whatever. I’m not sure how many I had made before I started to keep track of quilts and the history of them. I didn’t know about doing that for quilting. I am self taught and learned the “rules” along the way. The oldest quilt that I have a photo of I believe is the Lone Star quilt that I made for my daughter Melanie in 1991. I only have this one photo. Like I say this was not the first but I no I had not made much more than baby quilts before this and the few large quilts I made were poorly done. This quilt was made with cheap fabric, was not pulled tight enough when quilted, and I remember the center of the star puffed up a lot in the very middle and had to be really quilted to hold it down 
It is hand quilted by me and I actually did the binding with all the colors of the star, I didn’t know not 
everyone does that at times.
My last quilt that I finished is one of my own design, ( I believe I finished it in April) some of it is hand pieced, some needle turn applique and a little was machine pieced. It is all hand quilted. “Walking the Primrose Path” I have come a long way in the 18 years in between quilts and I have made over 75 quilts since then, at least 30 to 35 of those have been queen size – all are hand quilted by me.
I don’t know if this means I have too much time on my hands or what! LOL I do no that I enjoy quilting very much and have come along way with my quilting. I still have never taken a class and remain self taught.
This is the last evening for the give away. I will accept all comments through the evening and in the morning when I wake up it is closed. I will then set out to put everyone’s name in the cap – some of you one time, some of you two times if you left a comment on your blog. The winner will be announced on Saturday – come back and check – I will send an e mail to the two winners.
{ 15 comments }
wow thank you for the look at your first and latest quilt I am amazed by your hand quilting that is something I would love to try one day
hugs Beth
I am in awe!!! As a hand quilter I know the gravity of what you describe. Amazing!!
.-= Bren´s last blog ..A Clean Slate =-.
thanks ladies – I will need to go over to the links I posted and see what some others are posting for the very first and last quilts and see how much people improved (or maybe didn’t) LOL
Great quilts Karen. The one thing I learned really quickly is not to sew over the seam allowance when hand piecing, I was self taught too. I don’t have my first or the last quilts I made, in fact I have only 4 completed projects after 20 years of quilting.
Crispy
Crispy I guess I have way too much time on my hands!! though until the last 3 or 4 years I normally only worked on one or two projects at a time and therefore really got things finished.
Hi Karen ~ Rules… schmules! The only reason why it’s nice to know them is so that you know exactly what you’re doing when you break them!
Your quilts are wonderful and you’ve obviously figured out all the really important stuff. It also appears as though you already know that we learn the most from our mistakes, more than we could ever learn in a class. I’m also floored that you have hand-quilted so many large quilts ~ that’s an astonishing accomplishment!
Thank you for joining in the fun ~ and I look forward to seeing more of your beautiful quilts!
.-= Carrie´s last blog ..The green thing… =-.
Lovely quilts, Karen. Thanks for sharing…
.-= Anya´s last blog ..Ami Simms Would Be Proud =-.
I don’t think it means you have too much time on your hands. It means you have your priorities right and make time for something you love to do. Your latest quilt is beautiful.
.-= Wanda´s last blog .. =-.
Ah Karen even your first looks fabulous. I can identify with quilting to keep the poofyness out of a quilt…I wondered how to stop that for about 3 quilts.
Your last posted quilt if beautiful and your blog is always so informative to read. You have the gift of words.
.-= NANCI´s last blog ..THESE OLD QUILTS… =-.
Nanci I am LOL at the “gift of words” comment. My family is always laughing at the way I write – run on sentences and too many ands and commons
I write the same way I talk and talk and talk – much to my husbands dismay at times! He thinks I never shut up!
I really do like your quilts, Karen. You have made lots in your ‘career’. I like words and always enjoy your blog and the information you give.
I especially like the last quilt that has piecing and applique in it. Just lovely.
I’m glad you got to spend time with your daughter. I remember my grandma teaching me how to can bread & butter pickles. Something I’ll always remember.
thank you Joyce. I have made a lot of quilts and they did get better with time – at first my stitch work was not good at all, it really improved with practice.
What gorgeous work, Karen. I would certainly hope that wasn’t your very first quilt- you put us all to shame! Thanks for joining in- its good to have you!
.-= Camille´s last blog ..My first quilt =-.
Your Broken Star quilt is just lovely…I love the binding! and your latest quilt is just gorgeous!
I am totally impressed with the sheer number of large quilts you have hand quilted…I finally learned to machine quilt just to empty the closet of all those tops! I still love to hand quilt-now I just save it for special quilts.
.-= Miri´s last blog ..Vintage Thursday Thingie: A Honey Bunch Book and more =-.
The lone star was not my first quilt but I mainly just did baby quilts before that and they had a lot of embroidery on them and then quilted. I did not know how to do my knots and knotted them nice and neatly on the back side of the quilt! I do believe I did that on the Lone Star also. I am getting slower at quilting than I use to be in that I have really come to love to make the tops, but next year will be the challenge to myself to quilt everything that is waiting to be finished.
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