Quilting

Mary Sue..Sewing her Quilt

Finished Quilt...and I helped...

Interesting Fact: Amish quilters and others are trilingual. They speak Pennsylvania Dutch (or Low German) at home, Hochdeutsch (or High German) during church services, and English when speaking with outsiders. Pennsylvania Dutch is a spoken language only, so they are required to write in English.

Enough about farm life or now. Let's talk about my new hobby. I have always fancied myself, somewhat of a creative person. When I was young my Grandmother taught me how to crochet, which I still do. About 15 years ago I got into scrapbooking, which I still do. All these crafts are very popular here in Georgia, but nothing seems to be as popular as Quilting.

In every little down-town shop you will find quilts on display. There used to be this little ice cream shop downtown, inside they sold some of these homemade quilts. (I of course purchased one....just had to have it) If you have never seen a homemade quilt, they are exquisite.

After seeing these quilts all over the place, I knew I had to learn how to make them. I have been here now for 5 years. This summer I took my first baby step into the quilting world. A girlfriend of mine, Mary Sue (if you read the mullis memories blog posted on my list of blogs you might be familiar with Ms. Mary Sue.) Approximately, one month ago I got this brilliant idea to take Mary Sue to the brand new quilt shop in Eatonton Ga. (the only city I know of in Putnam County). This was the beginning of my quilting hobby. Mary Sue talked her niece Jan and myself into signing up to learn how to make "charm square" purses. I loved it and have made 10 bags to date. (One was for Mary Sue's Birthday, which she got early because I couldn't wait.)

Today Mary Sue came to visit me, with an already quilt top in hand. She needed my help to help her baste the quilt so she could machine stitch it. (I was so honored as I am a novice.) While I sat and watch Mary Sue stitching in the ditch (quilting terms), I learned so much... I asked if you was going to make those fancy stitching designs you see on quilts. Her response was, "This is not heirloom quilt, it a baby quilt, it gonna wind up on the floor, and they better make sure their damn floor is clean before you put a quilt I make on it. The quilt was taking a little while and Mary Sue said she thought the quilt was on steroids, because it seemed to be growing as she sewed it. She said it was making her side-ways. (Side-ways for all of you not familiar with the southern language, it means drunk.) The stuff in the middle of the quilt is called batting. Mary Sue prefers cotton batting because it doesn't "beard" like polyester batting. (Bearding is when the puffy white batting comes through the sewing holes). As she was sewing the presser foot was coming loose. We ask my husband Charles why this was happening and he told us it was from the vibration and he could fix it with some "Lock Tight" and it would never come off again..Mary Sue responded that would be like gluing your shoes on your feet. (There are different sewing feet for different projects.) Mary Sue as much in common with the Amish, she too is trilingual. She speaks, English, Southern, and Quilt.

Next, week I will be graduating from bags to actual quilts myself...Mary Sue is going to teach me. I will keep you posted.