my grandma would be proud.

santa brought me this for Christmas.  last year i got a sewing machine.  i used it once to sew pillow cases... he knew i had been itching to put it to better use.
it was filled with all sorts of sewing goodies.  sewing!  yes, back in the high school days i actually did well in my home ec class.  i sewed an apron, which i no longer have but i remember vividly the fabric.  

oh dear fabric!  there is so many of you to choose from.  i found myself a whole lot overwhelmed at the little boutique fabric store.  the floors crept and the aroma reminded me of my great grandma's house-- as well as the charm, oh the charm.  the door nobs and doors and the stove that heated one room so warm that i thought for a moment to shed some layers.  it was full of bright & funky colors.  full of shelves lined with yards and yards of fabric.  a fairy land.  i slowly made my circle.  the store attendant asked me several times if I needed any help.  i just kindly looked at her with a smile on my face and replied "oh, i'm good, thanks though!"  chuckling inside because i knew why she asked, and kept asking.  i looked like a kid in a candy store for one, and for another i kept picking something up, then putting it back, then picking something else up, then putting it back.  then thumbed through a sewing magazine.  all while examining the quilts & clothing displays around the store.  i could not believe our fabric options these days.  there are some super talented designers out there.  I ended up picking this up.  and purchasing it.

thought it might be a good start.  my plan: sew squares together and figure out the rest later.  i sat with the squares blanketing my living room floor for 2 hours and i couldn't get a "color pattern" i liked using them all.  so i divided the squares.  i decided to begin with the set of fabric that had fewer squares.  i didn't have a quilt pattern to go off of, so it was interesting.  i think i trimmed and re-trimmed it all until the finished project is now two inches shorter all the way around than originally planned.  yes, i drew up my own pattern, to scale, of how i was going to do it.  though not fancy...i'm pretty proud.  and my grandma Betty would be too.  

i just really wish i spent more time sitting next to her while she was quilting, rather than playing hide-n-go-seek and house under her quilting projects.  i totally understand why she used a thimble- always thought that was strange and that thimbles were supposed to be used for a childhood game we played "baptism".  though she tied all her quilts- my fingers were raw after binding mine (thanks to a wonderful utube tutorial).  oh how i miss her.  and felt a little closer to her while sewing my very first quilt.  i think she would be proud.

here's to many more sewing projects in the future, hopefully!