The Beginning

Since starting this website in April of 2025, I have 16 years of experience in quilting. Do you want to know all about it? I want to share my story and will do so a little at a time...but first, the beginning.

I was married for 35 years. I didn't live close to my mom most of that time and so when her and Papa Wally would come for a visit it usually meant they stayed a good long weekend or a week. Those times would have been much more enjoyable if my husband and parents were friends, but they weren't. The last time my Papa Wally was coming, my husband told me to find something for them to do while they were here so Papa Wally would leave his garage alone. My Papa Wally was a man who fixed things and tinkered with things, my husband not so much. So, when Papa Wally came to tinker my husband didn't like it. Although he would never say anything, just made me. SO...this particular visit, i asked mom to show me how to quilt.

Mom learned a couple years prior and made baby quilts for every pregnant person she met. Mom's best friend, Diana taught her how to quilt. When I asked mom, she was happy to oblige. I already had a sewing machine, practically new since I didn't ever have anything to sew but I never was interested in quilting. Even now it was the only thing I could think of that would keep them busy, so quilting it was.

First we went to the thrift store and found some fun scrubs that we could fussy cut the ballerina's out and make squares. Even before mom and I started quilting, I found a great deal on a rotary cutter and a cutting mat. I had NO idea why I bought them other than they were ON SALE. Even when Mom started showing me how to cut material, we didn't use them. We used an acrylic square in several sizes made out of plexiglass cut from the hardware store. She taught me to use the square and draw on the back of the fabric with a pen and fill the back of the fabric with as many squares as I needed and then get my fabric scissors out and cut them all. I did as i was told but I wasn't very good at it and got the "if you don't do it right don't do it at all" speech from Papa Wally. I wanted to do it right but this was not easy to cut accurately.

When they went home I continued with the baby quilt and gifted it to my bff's son. Then it was time to do another. So, YouTube to the rescue! I found out how to use the rotary cutter and mat to cut fabric. I sent Mom the video. We were both thrilled. She had boxes and boxes of squares she'd cut. She liked little blocks so she put them all individually in zip top bags in bins. Yes, I inherited them a few years ago. Such fond memories.