1) the first quilt I ever made

 In the spirit of full disclosure, this is really not the first quilt I ever made. I did make one when I was in college for my then boyfriend. It was very simple, just squares and I think I tied it. I really can't remember. Matt Freel had it in his dorm room, but I don't know if he kept it after we broke up.

So, now that that is off my chest, this is my first real quilt. I made it for my husband while he was in Baghdad the first time (in 2004). I had joined the quilt club at the Baptist church, and those little dear ladies introduced me to a craft that would eventually change my life. I used 3 different sheet sets and one of my husbands shirts to make this quilt. I also used some pretty batiks. I thought batiks were the bees knees back then.

 I was very frustrated because the little ladies wanted me to take out lots of stitches and redo many parts of the quilt before I quilted it. I was in a hurry and I wanted to jump right into the quilting stage. I have always been terribly excited about the actual quilting of quilts. Well, one of the women sided with me in a very controversial moment. She boldly announced that it was my quilt and if I didn't mind the odd bits, I was welcome to stack the quilt. Well, I did. And they helped me do it. I pin basted it and quilted most of the quilt on my el cheapo Singer sewing machine (not the lovely little classic feather weights I have today, but a really horrible plastic one I bought at the PX for about $100). I ended up breaking the sewing machine during my first needle change. Alas....I expected too much from my machine. Nellie (one of the church ladies) told me I shouldn't muzzle myself with a weak machine, and I should invest in the best machine I could afford. So I invested in my first Bernina. It was an Artista 165, and I still have it and it works like a dream still.

I was able to pay off my $4,000 machine within the first year with the money I made making my Camp Follower Bags.

 There is no real fancy pattern to the quilt block. I just cut blocks and put them together. I did try to fussy cut the centers of each block, and I did alot of "make do" maneuvers that I still do today.

Here is a bit of the quilting. I used some pretty green Gutterman cotton thread. I think after I had finished the quilt I found out it was really hand quilting thread, but I didn't know the difference at the time and my new Bernina happily quilted away with it.

The back of this quilt is very horrible with all it's wrinkles that I unknowingly quilted over. I know this quilt is packed with flaws, but I finished it in time for my husband to take it back to Baghdad with him after his 2 week R&R. I dig this quilt and I am quite proud of myself for making it. I did have 2 tiny kiddos in diapers at the time.