My First Quilt with Hilary Jordan

Can you believe it's the last Friday of December and of 2023? The year sure has flown by! Since it's the last Friday of the month, that means I get to share another My First Quilt interview with you 😊 Today's interview is with Hilary Jordan, of By Hilary Jordan. Hilary is a quilter, quilt pattern designer, cross stitcher, Youtuber, and more.

You can connect with Hilary on her website, on X, on Instagram, Pinterest, Youtube, Tiktok and, Facebook.

And now, here is Hilary's first quilt! Don't you love a good recycled denim quilt?

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

I made my first quilt back in 2008, I don't remember exactly why I wanted to make the quilt but I know I wanted to make it as a gift for my Dad. My Granny Opal was a quilter but she passed away in the Fall of 2006 before I got into quilting. At that time I had been sewing on and off for about 4-5 years, but I mainly made little crafty projects or garments. 

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

My first quilt was a blue jean quilt made from old jeans, plus some denim I bought at the fabric store because I ran out of jeans. I remember making a template out of cardboard to cut out some of the pieces and all the pieces were cut with scissors. I didn't even know what a rotary cutter was at that point in time. The quilt just had basic piecing and I quilted it myself on my tiny Brother sewing machine. I think the throat space was only 5 inches or so and I outlined each block at 1/4". Trying to force it through that little machine was a workout. I made my life even harder by using a high loft polyester batting in it too.

Who taught you to make the quilt?

No one, I followed the pattern from a magazine, read a few sewing/quilting forums, and kind of made it up as I went. This was the time before the convenience of YouTube. I was in college at the time so I didn't really have anyone to show me what to do. My Granny Opal was a quilter and it was something I always wish I could have learned from her, but she passed away in 2006.

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

Probably. The quilt was made from recycled blue jeans, and I actually have a blue jean quilt top sitting waiting for me to quilt it. I love the idea of using reclaimed textiles in quilts and I want to try and do it more. My Granny Opal (If you can't tell she's my quilty inspiration 😇) made many of her quilts out of old shirts and dresses, and 9 times out of 10 the quilt back on a quilt was an old sheet. 

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 a bit of a gap between my first quilt and the next one. Since I was in college at the time, crafty endeavors happened sporadically. Especially when I did a semester away for the Disney College Program in the Fall of 2009.When I moved into an apartment my senior year I did make a little Halloween table topper. It wasn't until I was pregnant with my oldest son William a couple years later that the quilting bug really bit. 

Where is the quilt now?

My Dad still has the quilt since it was a gift for him, and he uses it all the time. He and my Mom are retired and travel around in their RV part of the year, as you can imagine space is limited when they're on the road, but the quilt is always along for the ride. 

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

No. I'm really thankful that I jumped into sewing and quilting at such a young age. I started sewing at like 13/14 and I made this quilt when I was 19. There was this freeing mindset that I just wanted to make, I didn't have any preconceived notions about how it should look, or if there was a right or a wrong way to do something. There was just the determination and excitement to do it. I honestly only tell myself to take more pictures of the process. 😆

Anything else you want to share about your first quilt?

I really wish I had more photos from when I was making this quilt, back then I posted it on a site called Craftster.org but it has since shut down. I have one photo from back then before I gifted it to my Dad, and thankfully my Dad sent me this adorable one of him with the quilt a couple years ago. 

Thanks for sharing the story of your first quilt with us, Hilary! I especially love that your Dad still takes his quilt on his travels ❤

Advent 2023 - Love

Devotion for the week...

I'm posting this week's devotion a day early, so it actually falls within Advent, rather than on Christmas Day. I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!

It's the fourth week of Advent! For this Advent season, I'm sharing devotions first published in 2017. So far we've looked at hope, peace, and joy. Today we'll take a look at love.

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When we love someone, we often sacrifice things for that person. Maybe we sacrifice time doing something we want to do in order to do something they want to do. Or maybe we don't buy something we want because we need that money in order to buy something they need or want.

If you are a parent, you understand this concept of sacrifice quite well. For our kids we give up everything from nights of unbroken sleep to the keys to the car, depending on the age of our kids. We give up hours and hours of our time to help with homework or taxi them to the places they want to go. We buy them new jeans every couple of months because their legs just.won't.stop.growing and we can't have them walking around with their ankles showing.

Now, just for a moment, think about what Jesus sacrificed in order to be born in Bethlehem. Paul wrote, "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness" (Philippians 2:5-7). Think about this for a moment: Jesus was not limited by a human body until he came to earth for us.

Imagine what it would be like to never be limited by fatigue, hunger, thirst, pain or sickness. That is just part of what Jesus gave up to come here.

I have been sick with a head cold all this past week. It has been driving me crazy because there are so many things I want or need to do, but I just haven't had the energy to do much. Then it hit me: Jesus probably suffered head colds while He was here.

We don't often think about Him putting up with the problems caused by sickness, but I can't see how He would have avoided it for all of His 33 years.

Sure, a head cold is a small thing to put up with. But Jesus left heaven, where there is no sickness, pain, death or crying, and came here to earth where He had to deal with all of those things.

Why?

Because He loves us.

So in your worst moments, when you feel lonely or like no one cares, know this: Jesus loves you. He loves you enough to have given up all of heaven and to have taken on all the infirmities of these human bodies, just so He could come and save you.

That is the true reason for this Christmas season!

2024 Goal Planning

It's that time of year again...time to look back to see how I did on my 2023 goals and look ahead to what I want to do in 2024. Yvonne, at Quilting Jetgirl, is holding her annual planning party again this year, so you can write a post of your own and link it up there. The extra accountability of sharing goals publicly really helps with motivation!

So, how did I do on my 2023 goals?

1. Keep making small quilts

In my mid-year review at the end of June, I said I had made 5 quilts that were baby size or smaller. Since then, I've made another 9 small quilts, for a total of 14 small quilts this year! Woo hoo! I think my two Merry Mini quilts might be my favourites of them all.

2. Make new placemats

Oops. I still haven't done this.

3. Learn to sew pants

Nope. In fact, I don't think I made any clothes at all this year.

4. Release 4 new patterns

Close! I added three new patterns to my shop this year. They were the Merry Mini pattern, plus Scrappy Playground

and Illusion.

5. Women of Wisdom Easter QAL

Yes, and it was one of the highlights of my year! I love connecting with you over a quilt and devotions as we get ready to celebrate Easter.

6. WIPS-B-GONE 2023

Yes! We wrapped up the third annual challenge at the end of November. There were soooo many great finishes again this year! I had three finishes, one of which I still haven't blogged. The other two were my Proverbs 31 mini and my Tilted Flowers baby quilt.

7. A secret project

The secret is out, and the Stash Artists membership opened its doors for the first time in June! Sewing over Zoom with members has been wonderful, and I've shared four stash-friendly patterns in the membership so far, including Scraps Take Flight. If you'd like to be notified when the Stash Artists doors are open again, join the waitlist here now.

Overall, I'm very happy with how I did on my goals this year. Of course, I'm always thinking about the next quilts I want to make, so I have no shortage of things planned for 2024. Here are the goals I'm setting for the coming year.

1. Keep making small quilts

Using up those smaller scraps of batting feels great, plus small quilts are fun to make. Maybe a set of placemats will finally make an appearance, too.

2. Sew some clothes

I love wearing the clothes I've made, but some of them are starting to look worn, so it's definitely time to make new ones! I have the patterns and the fabric, I just have to pause the quilt making sometimes to make the switch to garment sewing. As a bonus, making clothes is much faster than making quilts. Well, that's true once I get the fit right at least. I'm not setting any specific goals for what I'll make, just that I will make clothes throughout the year. Will I attempt making pants? Your guess is as good as mine 😂

3. Moments with Jesus Easter QAL

Of course there will be a 2024 Easter QAL! The quilt is designed, and I'm planning to make the test version over the Christmas break. This year the devotions will focus on the stories of people who interacted with Jesus, and what their moments with Him then can teach us about our moments with Him now. Join the waitlist now to be sure you don't miss it when registration opens in mid-January! Here's a sneak peek at part of the quilt design.

4. All things Stash Artists

In 2024 there will be 6 new Stash Artists patterns (the first one is almost ready for its January 1st release!) and 6 Sew Together Sessions. I can't wait to spend the year sewing with members and making scrappy quilts together! Here's a little sneak peek at the January pattern, Blooming Beautiful, and yes, I did use all those threads - and more! Remember, you can join the waitlist so you don't miss it when the doors are open next.

5. WIPS-B-GONE 2024

This is just a given at this point. I love connecting with the people who participate in the challenge, and I love putting the focus on my own WIPS for two months.

6. Finish my Hexie Rainbow top

I started my Hexie Rainbow in 2016, and here's what it looks like right now. It's about 63" wide and 71" long.

The bottom right corner is finished, and I'm working on squaring up the bottom left corner. There are still hundreds of hexies to go, but I think it's within the realm of possibility that I'll have the top finished in 2024. Then I have to decide if I'm doing big stitch hand quilting or machine quilting. Right now I'm most tempted by the hand quilting, but we'll see what I'm tempted by when I actually get to that point.

7. Regular workouts and 300,000 steps a month

I definitely feel better when I move more, so I'm making that an official goal for 2024. I've been trying to get 300,000 steps a month for a few years (an average of 10,000 a day), but not hitting it as often as I would like in 2022 and 2023. Time to step up the commitment (see what I did there? 😉😅). As for the workouts, I've been enjoying Yoga with Adriene and Nourish Move Love's strength training workouts, both on Youtube. For 2024, I want to do 2-3 Youtube workouts per week, and since they're usually 20-30 minutes each, that should be doable. With the walking that will be needed to reach 300,000 steps a month, that will have me enjoying some kind of physical activity most days.

One thing's for sure: I won't be bored in 2024! What are you hoping to accomplish in the next year? Do you set goals, or do you just follow your interests in the moment?