My First Quilt with Sarah Ruiz

Welcome to another My First Quilt interview! Today we get to learn about Sarah Ruiz's first quilt.

Sarah is a quilter and aerospace engineer living in Houston, Texas. She is also a quilting teacher, a pattern designer, and a tech editor.

You can connect with Sarah at her website and on Instagram.

Here's Sarah and her first quilt!

What year did you make your first quilt? What prompted you to make it?

I have 2 answers to this question. I made my first quilt *top* in 2003 -- it was a t-shirt quilt that I made with shirts from several 5K and 10K races I had run over the preceding few years. I worked on it at my parents' house using my mom's 1970s-era sewing machine. I never finished it, so it remains my longest-running WIP! Here's a post about it.

A more appropriate answer is that I made my first *finished* quilt in early 2012. At this point I had made a couple simple sewing projects like a pillowcase and tote bag, and decided to make a quilt for a friend's baby. Here's a post about that one.

What techniques were used in that first quilt? Did you quilt it yourself?

It was simple patchwork squares -- very beginner friendly! I quilted it myself on my $100 sewing machine by stitching in the ditch. At the time, I didn't know anything about longarms or that quilting was something you could have someone else do.

Who taught you to make the quilt?

Blog tutorials plus a class on binding that I took at my local Joann store! I did not have anyone in my immediate family who sewed or quilted, and I consider myself self-taught. Each time I wanted to do something new, I'd look up an internet tutorial or simply learn by trial and error.

Are the colours you chose for your first quilt ones you would still choose today?

Yes and no. I still think the color palette -- which I pulled directly from the white fabric print -- is nice, but if I were making this quilt today I would look for different prints and/or more variation in tone and value.

Did you fall in love with quilting right away? Or was there a gap between making the first quilt and the next one?

There was an 8-year gap between my "first" first quilt (the t-shirt top) and my "second" first quilt (the baby quilt). I didn't have a sewing machine, and was occupied with other creative pursuits plus working part-time on a master's degree. But after finally buying my own sewing machine in 2011 and making that baby quilt in early 2012, I was off to the races and haven't stopped since.

Where is the quilt now?

I gifted it to my friend who was having her first child. As far as I know, they still have it! Looking back, the quilt is somewhat wonky, and the fabrics aren't the same quality that I would use today -- but my friend has assured me that she enjoys being the owner of my very first quilt, flaws and all.

Is there anything you wish you could go back and tell yourself as you made that first quilt?

Just to have fun and buckle up for more! I love the quilting journey I've been on since making that quilt. Thirteen years later, my skills are significantly more developed and I have many new tools and notions. I have a much nicer sewing machine, a longarm, several bins of fabric, a dedicated sewing space, and all sorts of associated paraphernalia. But that first quilt is still a perfectly lovely quilt - and it was made without all of the bells and whistles. There are a lot of different ways to make a quilt you love.

Thanks, Sarah, for sharing the story of your first quilt(s)!