Hello Quilty Friends! It has finally come to an end. The endless hours of of trimming HST's is over. Halleluiah!
While working my way though thousands of HST's it was fun to take a walk down memory lane. Funny how we can remember each little piece of fabric. Most of the time I remember exactly where I got the fabric, the designer or manufacturer and of course the quilt I made using that fabric. These black and red HST's are from around 2005. The red is from Walmart and the black is a Joann Fabrics.
My oldest son, Derek, chose the fabric to use in a quilt for his bed. The pattern he picked is called Double Pinwheel and came from my first purchased quilting book, 101 Fabulous Rotary Cut Quilts. Up to this point I made my own patterns. When I bought this book I thought I would never need another quilt book since there was 101 patterns in this one. HAHA! Silly girl.
I made the quilt exactly by the pattern and purchased the fabric requirements stated in the book. Back then I was a single mom working 10 to 12 hours a day, 6 to 7 days a week and I wasn't thinking clearly. It wasn't until the top was complete did I realize my son's bed was a super single twin bed and this quilt was too small. We went to 3 different Walmart looking for enough red fabric to enlarge the quilt. The red fabric was sold out. The only thing I could do was to make the border of the quilt larger. Once the quilt was on the bed the extra wide drop looked pretty good. I learned 2 valuable lessons.
1. Measure the bed.
2. Buy more fabric than you think you need, which I still do today.
Thirty years of quilting up memories. The HST's only go back to this black and red quilt. The scraps before this quilt were almost all used. Before 2005 money was tight and my fabric stash was literally scraps from things I needed to make because money tight and it was cheaper to make it than to buy it already made. Not the case these days, huh?
As the last batch of HST's were added to the bags the memories kept flowing and I became a little emotional.
What is it about getting older that makes us more sentimental? Do you see the teal/aqua gingham below? That is a poly cotton from my moms stash and is one of my most loved prints. I'm looking forward to finding ways to use all of these.
It may be a few months before I can start making quilts from them. There's still over 20 quilt tops needing to be quilted and many more UFO's needing to be completed. Remember this is a year(or more) of UFO busting. But when I do start making quilts from them, the 1 inch HST's will be the first to be used. Maybe a mug rug or small wall hanging, only time will tell.
For now it's back in the box they go. I have a non UFO Lone Star quilt I need to make for someone and it has a deadline. When it's complete I'll come back and count them so I can start working on ideas for using them.
Until next time...
I hope you find time to stitch up something sweet!
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You are such an inspiration…. I need to get cracked on mine. What is it about us quilters, we just can’t let a scrap go. Have a good day!
ReplyDeleteYou are so inspiring Lea Anne...help me get to sewing some more and out to find my mojo. I'm 64 and yes you do get sentimental more..thinking of long ago memories and loved ones. I'm so happy you finished that mountain of HSTS...I applaud you dear!! Great job!!
ReplyDeleteWell done, Lea Anne, what a marathon! You are always inspiring, and I love your colour choices. I am also ufo finishing, and enjoying it. I stopped working a very stressful job a year ago, and am thoroughly enjoying doing what I love most. Quilting is the biggest part of that. Very much enjoy this blog, and was delighted when you started up again. Xxx
ReplyDeleteI don't know what's happening, I'm trying to comment and the page refreshes - I'm sorry if it's giving you multiples from me :-( The HST's are a great accomplishment - it goes to show how much we can accomplish by working steadily. I get you on the sentimentality. I don't have it about fabric so much, but I've been doing some major purges of items as we near retirement, and it seems that I have memories associated with every little thing I'm trying to let go of. I'm trying to embrace that feeling, and just enjoy the memories as they come up. I look forward to seeing what you do with all those sweet HSTs!!
ReplyDeleteNope, only one post from you. I don't know why it would refresh, maybe it's just a glitch.
DeleteYes, measuring the bed and buying extra yardage are both lessons I've learned the hard way, as well! And by "learning my lesson" I mean that I have learned to recognize the mistake when I keep on making the same mistake again and again... ;-). Those scraps from long ago sure do hold a lot of memories!
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on a job well finished! Singing the Hallelujah chorus here to honor you! Happy stitching!
ReplyDelete