Taking Up Quilting

Last week, my friend Laura told me she wanted to learn how to quilt.  I'd been feeling inspired by blogger Owen's Olivia, but I don't have a sewing machine, so I thought all hope was lost.  I talked to my mom, who said my grandma made her quilts by hand, so armed with Laura's enthusiasm and the knowledge that this MIGHT just be in my genes, I decided to give it a try.

Saturday, we headed to Jo Ann's to pick up the quilting basics.  Quilting basics...hmmmm...I realized I had no idea what you needed to quilt...so I called my mom to find out what I should buy.  I had my list of "must haves" and decided the best idea was to find an employee who might take pity on us and show us around.  

Luckily the employee I picked was an avid quilter and (probably) the manager.  *Score*  She found us a prepackaged set that included the "self-healing" Cutting Mat, a rotary cutter, and a large ruler.  This set was due to go on sale the next day, but after some pitiful looks, she told us how to get it at 50% off that day.

Then she pointed us in the direction of the fabric.  Wow - there was a lot of fabric!  I decided my first project was going to be a bag (that I could then use to hold all of my quilting supplies).  I decided to go with bright colors for the bag - a bright blue with little flowers, and yellow with a circle pattern.

Then we picked up some of the small things we'd need - pins, needles, a thimble, a pincushion (I got one shaped like a bird), super sharp scissors, and then thread.  Jo Ann's had things marked pretty well, until we got to the thread.  There was display after display of thread.  A nice lady saw us standing there looking pretty confused, had pity on us, and helped us find what we needed.  She ALSO gave us another coupon to use when we checked out. 

Between the staff and kind shoppers, it was a group effort getting us out of the store with everything we needed.  :)

Here's my loot!

I should also mention the Jo Ann's employee thought I was totally crazy for thinking I'd be able to do this by hand.  She looked at me like I'd lost my mind (maybe I have) and asked me to bring in what I make when it's done to show her.  Now I've got my game-plan, the tools necessary to make it happen, and the motivation of showing Michelle at Jo Ann's I could do it.  Check back later to see how it goes - let's just hope Michelle wasn't right...