My First Quilt with Becky Jorgensen

It's the last Friday of the month, so I'm here with a new My First Quilt interview! I love getting to share these stories of quilt industry folks and their first quilts! Today Becky Jorgensen is sharing the story of her first quilt(s).

Becky Jorgensen is a quilt pattern designer, author, business coach and award winning quilter. Since beginning her blog and pattern design in 2007, she has also launched Patchworkers Plus- an online quilt group connecting quilters from around the world,  and the Patchwork Planner - helping quilters track and organize their projects, calendar, classes and more. 

You can connect with Becky at her website, and learn more about Patchworkers Plus here.

And now, here's Becky's first quilt (maybe 😆)!

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

Oh - I don't even remember!  I have been a sewer for quite a long time. I have a little X-stitch from when I was 8 and for a few years stitched for stitching store, Shepherd's Bush before I became interested in quilting. I even sewed up some shorts and such when I was a teenager. I believe though that my first quilt was a table topper that had alternating four patch blocks and a square. 

I am a lover of libraries so I'm fairly certain that the pattern I used was from a book that I had found there and checked out.  

I'm thinking that I just wanted something to do.  I had gotten a sewing machine from someone and needed a project so I could use it. 

Another contender for the first quilt was a baby quilt for my first daughter Jerika. It had nine patches and then pieced people in the border. I remember that not being easy! I vowed never to sew people again. lol 

I'm pretty sure that my journey and interest in quilting was pushed by having children, which is very similar to other quilters. 

Neither quilt is perfect. I look at them now - especially that table topper and think. Wow. Those four patches are not even the same size. I totally didn't care! They needed to work and so they got trimmed to make that happen. I don't mind.

The other candidate for Becky's first quilt

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

They are traditionally pieced. I don't remember if I had a rotary cutter when I began. I did quilt it myself. Straight lines - nothing fancy and on my own sewing machine. No hand quilting.  

Who taught you to make the quilt?

While I was the one who followed the instructions from the pattern and did everything, my mother is a quilter and grandmother is also creative. I believe since I had experience in hand stitching from very young, I picked up the sewing machine and quilting pretty easily and quickly. 

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

Yes! The baby quilt - while bright in colors wasn't aghast or offensive. lol The table topper was more civil war fabrics.  Both I still enjoy.  

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

I believe that while I had breaks, I do remember that after exploring those I began attending a block of the month with my mom every month. Sewing up blocks and learning a bit more and paying attention to a few rules - like trimming up and pinning at seams to make sure they aren't off.  After that I found a quilt group to attend and began to sew even more.  

Where is the quilt now?

I have both of these quilts still! In fact, the table topper I even use. I don't mind them not being perfect. I enjoy the layout, the fabrics I chose and the end result. While they could offend a lot of quilters, I like having them around still. 

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

Go for it. Try it out. Cut that fabric. Sew whatever you want. If you want to use crazy fabric, use crazy fabric. While listening to others opinions is great - you still need to allow yourself to do what pleases you and makes you happy.  

Don't worry about making others happy or worrying over your points. Enjoy the process. 

And - if you don't like it.... change it! Don't finish it. Make it into something new. Figure out what you can do so you do like it. 

Anything else you want to share about your first quilt?

Not really about my first quilt, but just some thoughts. 

Quilters tend to be such givers. We sew for charities, babies, graduations, weddings, birthdays... any kind of celebration that could include a quilt - we sew for it. But don't forget about yourself. I love having quilts all over my home. I allow myself to keep them if I want to. Sometimes I make something extra special just for myself. 

Don't let the cost of fabric keep you from quilting.  I still shop thrift stores.  I cut up clothes and men's dress shirts and woman skirts. They have wonderful cotton and they can be used in quilts and don't break your bank. Look outside of the quilt store if those prices don't fit your budget right now. 

Also- Use Them! Wash them and get them crinkled and snuggly. Toss them on beds and chairs and couches and in your car. I don't intend for my quilts to last for 100 years. I would really rather them be used to threads, that's why I sewed it in the first place. 

I feel the same way, Becky! Quilts are meant to be used and loved! Thank you, Becky, for sharing your first quilts with us 😊

Summer Dreamin'

Welcome to TGIFF, the party where we celebrate our finishes! Around here, the quilts sometimes get finished in a timely manner, but then the blog post doesn't 😅 This week I'm finally getting around to sharing a quilt that I finished near the end of February, which means it has taken me almost 6 months to take the time to sit and give Summer Dreamin' its rightful place on the blog.

Summer Dreamin' was the Stash Artists pattern for March, so I was working on these blocks in January and February, when the world outside was snow and ice and cold. As I sewed the blocks and added them to my design wall, they felt like a little pop of summer in my sewing room. The more blocks I put up, the more summery it felt, until I knew I had to reference summer in the name somehow. Since it was the dead of winter, Summer Dreamin' felt like the perfect name. It's not often a quilt name comes to me so easily, so that was a nice change.

All the fabrics came from my stash and they're a mix of new and old, batiks and regular quilting cotton from a bunch of different companies. Most of the white pieces were cut from my white scrap box, so there are a few brands of white mixed together to make the background. Do you have your scraps organized in a way that makes it easy for you to actually use them? If not, check out my Escape Scrap Overwhelm guide!

Those scrappy blue pinwheels are probably my favourite part of the whole design. Blue and pinwheels always make me happy! 

I took a bit of a shortcut making the flying geese for the pinwheels. I've been making blue and teal flying geese as leaders and enders for the last while so I can eventually make a quilt of scrappy blue and teal Flying Together blocks. I knew I had a nice stack of them that hadn't been sewn together into blocks yet, so I raided that for this quilt, leaving me needing to piece only a handful more to have enough for all the pinwheels. Of course, that means my Flying Together quilt is pushed even farther into the future, but I'll get there someday (maybe).

Since the quilt felt so much like summer to me, I knew I wanted to quilt flowers on it. I considered the loop and flower meander I used on Ombre Twirl and New Life and this Formal Garden baby quilt, but that wasn't quite what I wanted. At some point while I was piecing and thinking, I noticed the daisy chain banner I have on two of the sewing room walls. Could I replicate that as a quilted flower? I tried drawing it on a scrap of paper and was excited that it had exactly the vibe I wanted for this quilt.

Now the only question was, could I quilt it large enough? I tend to quilt small, even when I'm trying to quilt bigger. I blame it on learning to free motion quilt on a Kenmore machine with a 5" throat space and no extension table - I didn't have room to quilt big back then! I wanted these flowers to feel big and showy, though, so I had to really focus on keeping them from getting smaller and smaller as I went. I'm happy to say I was successful at keeping them big, so that most of them finish around 4" across. That's huge by my quilting standards!

In keeping with wanting the flower to be showy and summery, I used yellow Aurifil thread (2135) for the quilting. From a distance, you can't see the colour of the thread, but as soon as you get close it becomes noticeable.

I didn't have quite enough of the sky blue for the whole back, so I added a chunk of royal blue to make it big enough. Here's a picture I took in the backyard in February. The yellow thread really shows up on the royal blue, even from a distance!

A bright pink binding felt like the perfect choice. 

I had to take the cover picture for the pattern in the snow in our backyard in February, but then Zach and I took Summer Dreamin' to the beach for these pictures in April. It wasn't exactly warm (in the one picture I took of Zach he has his coat zipped up, the hood of his hoodie pulled up, and his hands in his pockets!), but the snow and ice were gone, so this summery quilt looked right at home.

Summer Dreamin' has since found its forever home with our niece Julia, who sent me a picture this week of her cat draped over it, saying George loves it. I love when the quilts I make get used, even by the cats!

That's my (finally blogged) finish this week 😊 What have you finished that you want to share? Link it up below so we can celebrate with you.

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My First Quilt with Ange Wilson

It's time for another My First Quilt interview! This month Ange Wilson of Gnome Angel shares the story of her first quilt.

In her own words, Ange is "a self-confessed fussy cutter, lover of patchwork and a proud fabric fondler. I design quilt patterns (specialising in traditional patchwork and samplers), host a podcast (Fussy Cutters Club) and run the annual 100 Days 100 Blocks event. I can talk for hours... sometimes it's even all about fabric!"

You can connect with Ange at her website, her shop, and on Instagram. 

And now, here is Ange's first quilt!

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

2011. My Nana was moving into a care facility and so she gifted me her Janome sewing machine (which I still have). I don't know why she did it, but it changed my life forever. I grew up in the tropics of Australia and so quilts weren't really a "thing". However, for as long as I can remember I've been fascinated by them in American culture. I used to love seeing them in film, in books, on the internet. I was just enamoured with the idea of being able to make something and have that thing be passed down through the family. To be able to still be a part of your family for generations. It's an amazing concept to me and still gives me comfort to know that if anything were to happen to me my son would have a hug from his Mum in quilt form whenever he wanted it. 

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

It was super simple squares and rectangles. Super basic. Ha! No. I'm not a quilter, I'm a patchworker. I haven't quilted any of my quilts. My bestie, Raylee of Sunflower Quilting quilts all my creations. 

Who taught you to make the quilt?

The pattern I brought had basic instructions and then I winged it. It was shocking. I used a 1/2" seam! I had no idea. I ended up making another quilt after it before someone recommended I take a beginners class at our Local Quilt Shop. It was a game changer. 

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

Probably... I still use a lot of blue and green, but I think I'd likely fussy cut the prints if I was to do it over and be more conscious of tonal differences in the fabrics I used.

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

I was in love before I started. After my 3rd quilt I challenged myself to make a quilt top a month for 1 year. The rest they say is history...

Where is the quilt now?

In my cupboard. My Nana passed and she wanted me to have it back, so I have it here. I'll pass it on to my kiddo when I go and pray that he finds someone he loves to pass it on to. 

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

Nope. I think I'd just smile knowingly and tell myself I'm about to go on an amazing adventure. 

Anything else you want to share about your first quilt?

My quilt photography has gotten a LOT better since I made this quilt! LOL

Thanks for sharing your first quilt with us, Ange!