My first quilt.

A few weeks ago, Clinton's sweet Aunt Sandy invited me to come to her house with the other Waits women (Clinton's moms side of the family) and learn to quilt. This was not Sandy's first rodeo. She was so helpful and so patient with us beginners (Becky, Clinton's sister; Ellen, Clinton's cousin, and me). Clinton's mom and her sister, Phyllis, and her mother were there to aid us in our quilting endeavors. 

First, Sandy started by explaining to us how our quilt would be patched together.

Here was my post-it with my notes scribbled on it. 

Our quilt was to be 70in in width and 80in in length. 

The quilt pattern we would use consisted of strips of different widths. 

This list shows how many strips of various widths I needed to cut. Each strip would consist of two different lengths of fabric. A short one, 32 in, and a long one, 44 in (including our sewing allowance). 

Next came picking the fabric. Sandy had so many tubs full of fabric. It took us girls a long time to decide what look we each wanted to go for. It was challenging at times to find fabric that met our length requirements.

 

This was my cutting zone. My quilt ended up consisting of 56 pieces. 

Once we got all our pieces cut, we had to find a large place to spread out all our pieces and match them up. 

You will see that I chose all flannel and plaid for my quilt. 

Above is a glimpse of what Becky's quilt looked like. She choose all floral and vintage looking fabric. It is really a sweet combination. 

I started to wonder if my fabric choice was too masculine...

Finally, it was time to start sewing. We had four different machines set up and ready to go. 

It was a long process. 

First we had to pick up each strip and sew the two pieces together. 

Then, we sewed each strip together, one-by-one. 

Ellen's quilt is the closer one. Slowly, but surely, we started getting our quilt pieced together. 

We were up late that night trying to get the top of all of our quilts finished. 

Our next step is to pick out a fabric to put on the back and take it back to Sandy's so she can quilt it for us. The ladies were saying I should pick out a really girly pattern for the back and that way it can be a his-hers reversible quilt. Who knows what I'll choose...Any suggestions?

Below you will find her quilting machine. I had no idea those machines were so big. 

 I can't end this post until I give a shout out to the Genie. My magical-garage-sale-find-sewing machine. 

Wait for it...

Bam! 

 Ain't she a beaut?

Taste Panel at the Griffin Gate

Hi Friends!

I am determined to get better at blogging. My old is excuse ("I don't have a camera to take pictures of my day-to-day life") is no longer legitimate because I got a fancy camera as an early graduation present. My sweet roomie, Jenna, is teaching me all thing things. I am determined to document more of my life and to learn how to take great pictures. I am learning still, so bear with me. But, here is a picture that I think turned out pretty good. (Mostly thanks to Jenna coaching me.)

Now, onto the title of the post. Recently, I got to go to the Griffin Gate's taste panel. What is that, you ask? Well, when you have your reception at the GG they invite you to their place and make lots and lots of food for you to sample. You are supposed to take notes so that you can pick all the things you want to have served at your wedding. I know you think it can't get any better, but it can. I got to invite three friends!

So, Angie, Jenna, Holly and I set off to eat our body weight in fancy food. These pictures do not do justice to the amount of food at this place. We were stuffed after sampling the appetizers. There were lots of tasty things. I am pretty sure no matter what there will be macaroni and cheese (sans the lobster). If only they had the fried pickles we were thinking to do for appetizers..