November Firsts

Jamie Lee Curtis had a lengthy interview in the October 2012 issue of Good Housekeeping.  She talks about a friend's daughter who had a "summer of firsts".  The point is that children have lots of firsts; adults - not so much.  They quit trying new things.

I was surprised to find that I had four firsts in November (usually I don't have any!).  They all happened to be quilt-related, so it wouldn't hurt me to branch out, I guess.  Anyhow, these are my firsts and what I learned:

MY FIRST FIRST: QUILT RETREAT
I learned that I don't know how to pack!!!  I had a very large plastic container on wheels, with a handle.  You'd think I could've fit everything in there, especially since I didn't bring a sewing machine.  You'd be wrong.  I also carried a sewing basket, purse, skinny (but huge) carrier for my cutting mats, and an even huger bag of extension cords and power strips.  I'm pretty sure there was other stuff, too.  I need a new plan for the next retreat in February.

I also learned not to pack water next to handmade name tags that I made with non-permanent ink.  I was lucky that seventeen came out OK, but two were smeared.  Those two women were gracious and wore them anyhow!

 
MY SECOND FIRST: EMBROIDERY

I started this at the retreat, and was I ever glad I did.  I learned to do the smoothest stem stitch in the world from my friend Mary, an excellent crazy quilter.

MY THIRD FIRST: ENGLISH PAPER PIECING

I used fabric from a charm pack to make this coaster, and used Insul-Bright for the batting.  I cut the hexagons from paper.  I learned how time-consuming that is, so in the future I'm going to buy pre-cut paper templates from Connecting Threads.  They're worth the money and will be more accurate.  

After I meticulously sewed the hexies together so you couldn't see any of the stitches, I debated if I should hand applique or machine stitch them to the front.  Did I want to look at machine stitching after all that work?  I decided yes because it would make it more sturdy and do double duty as quilting.

MY FOURTH FIRST: QUILTER'S COMPASS

If you like modern fabric, do yourself a favor and go to Quilter's Compass in Monticello.  My friend Barb took me there this weekend and we had a fantastic day!  It was Small Business Saturday and almost everything in the store was 20% off.  I KNOW!!!!  When did you ever hear of a quilting store doing that?  

I learned that I liked that store and that I like when Barb drives me there.  Here's some of the fabric, along with a few things I got at Patches and Petals in Belleville on the way home.  Nearly everything you see, though, is from Quilter's Compass.

    This fabric was on a rack that was already 20% off.  I got ANOTHER 20% off!!

Art Gallery, Robert Kaufman, Moda.

1930s reproductions.

 Loralie Harris (spools and sewing machines) and Benartex text.

 

I needed reds for a fabric color wheel I'm making.  I don't know what I'll do with the leftovers, since I don't like red!

 A stack of miscellaneous. PLUS there's another dozen and a half fat quarters - I got tired of taking pictures.

I learned that what's even better than firsts, is finding ones that you want seconds and thirds of.  That's what I'm going to do with all of my November firsts.