And Away We Go

So, here I go, starting a blog. And why? Well, I have been reading other’s blogs, mostly about quilting, and I found I really wanted to join this community. I like reading about other’s adventures in quilting and would like the opportunity to share with likeminded people. So thus begins this new adventure.

I am a retired psychotherapist (married with 4 adult children). I used to knit, sew, and do other crafts but work took up too much of my time. Then in 1996 I got my first embroidery machine. That led to joining a small sewing/embroidery group and where I was eventually introduced to quilting. From then on quilting has become my avocation and passion.

At retirement, 2 years ago, I got a quilting studio and a HQ16 mid-arm quilting machine. It took me almost a year to get the courage to use the HQ16 on anything but muslin and so had built up a small stack of quilt tops. However, in the last 6 months I have been slowly gaining confidence and have quilted about half of my tops along with several charity quilts. I attended MQX in April and took three classes with Suzanne Earley where I learned about Meandering Magic and found that I really like free motion quilting. This week I tried my first panto, on a charity quilt. It was not as much fun as free motion and I will really have to work on placement: had to do free motion loops in between passes.

So, this is my first post. I figure I will be talking to myself for a while but soon hope to have others sharing my quilting life. GARI