ArDeGar

**update: I first put this quilt on Bothtwins, before I made my own page, so apologies for the duplicate entry. Haven't figured out how to delete it there.) My first quilt. 08-2014 started cutting, 02-15-2015 finished piecing. This pattern by Liza Prior Lucy is in Kaffe Fassetts' book "Quilt Romance". In retrospect, I wouldn't recommend this pattern, as it calls for paper templates and scissors (techniques have improved) but it's lovely. I collected sale fabric for months before deciding on the pattern, Tumbling Blocks, which I always wanted to knit but just couldn't face 9 colors per row Fair-Isle, and if you've ever seen Kaffe's knit sweater patterns you know what I mean. Fast forward 25 years and here's my chance at Tumbling Blocks! I sent it off for top-stitching at Pacific Fabrics, a locally-owned small chain store and chose Hobbs poly-blend batt. Finished the binding on 04-24-2015. Queen size 94" x 98". I had enough leftovers to make a bolster cover and 4 pillowcases. I have to say that, at the time, I thought I had only one quilt in me (other hobbies, right?) but that is not how it turned out. Stay tuned.

Pattern by Kaffe Fassett from his book "Glorious Patchwork", copyright 1997. Finished size 93.5 x 102, the backing is 108" Free Fall Sateen in the color Battleship from Tula Pink, the batt is Quilter's Dream wool. Our long-arm quilter, Lyn of Camlyn Quilts, did an edge-to-edge pattern called Swirls with a Tail. Her business is in Smokey Point, WA. I made 4 pillow cases to match, one set with flanges. This is my 5th quilt, made between January and May, 2016. The book is still available, 20 years later, through our local Sno-Isle Library system, so it may be at your library as well. Backstory: This is the quilt pattern that started it all for me. I was working at a yarn store in Seattle, been there for years, when this book came in with quilting patterns. We had all of Kaffe's knitting books but this book was all quilts. I couldn't figure out why the yarn buyer brought it in, but I was fascinated. There are many wonderful patterns in it, and Venetian Tiles was my favorite. A knitter for years, I couldn't conceive of taking up a new hobby to make this quilt, which I couldn't take my eyes off of, but I was fascinated. I loved it at first sight, looked at it all the time at work and finally bought the book so I could look at it at home, at midnight, when I was 'shopping my stash' for my next knitting project. I had a huge yarn stash, the product of working for years at the yarn store. Back then we called it SABLE: Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expentancy. Fast forward 16 years (through my second hobby, spinning - because there wasn't enough yarn in the world so I needed to make more - and spinning needed its own fiber stash) when friends convinced my sister and me that we might give quilting a try. We've been quilting since 2014 now and I have resisted collecting a fabric stash so far, because once in a while I visit what we laughingly call the 'wool room', where both the knitting and spinning SABLEs still reside, and that keeps me in reality. Also, the intervening 20 years may have taught me a modicum of self-restraint. I could not make this as my first quilt because I needed some actual quilting skills, but after my 4th quilt I thought I was ready. I started collecting fabric right away though, because I had a colorway in mind: pink. I started with pinks, then added peaches, purples and reds. The center of each block is a QST in 3 colors, palest pink, gray and aubergine. The quilt turned out far redder than my original vision, but I love it. Venetian Tiles, the quilt pattern that started my quilting journey. I think it will always be my favorite quilt. Posted 08-10-18 ​​