This giveaway is now closed, but the comments are still worth reading.
Well, I promised you a giveaway yesterday, and here it is! Rhonda Cratty contacted me last week about a book she's written, entitled Our Family Quilt. Rhonda has generously agreed to sponsor a giveaway of her book.
The story is about Grace, a master quilter, sharing her creative gifts with her young granddaughter, Audrey. Together their lives unfold around their family quilt. The love between grandmother and granddaughter keep a family’s generations turning despite minor setbacks, disappointments and celebrations of life. Friends and family of a charming mountain town in Colorado come together for life’s moments, creating an inspirational, heartwarming story.
Our Family Quilt immerses readers in:
• Family Life
• Contemporary Women
• Quilting ideas
• Creativity for everyday living
• The secret world of Grandmothers and Granddaughters and the people they love
Rhonda explained to me that the inspiration for Our Family Quilt came alive when a friend first took her to a quilting class. She knew the journey she wanted to take the characters on, and she knew how to sew but not how to quilt. She also went to quilting shows, learning as she went. Eventually, she joined a quilting guild, listening to the inspiring speakers and meeting encouraging quilters. With each new friendship made, she became inspired to add a different dimension to both her quilting and her book. You can read more about Rhonda at her website right here. You can also read more about the inspiration for her book in this article that appeared in Summit Daily, based in Breckenridge and Summit County, Colorado.
So...what do you need to do to win? Well, you know that always means leaving a comment. Any comment will do, but if you need an idea, tell me what inspired you to become a quilter. That's easy for me...I wanted to become a quilter when I saw my own grandmother's quilts. The opportunity to learn didn't come until later in life, but I always knew I'd get there some day. Please make sure I have a way to contact you. No-reply equals no chance to win. If you're not sure, please leave an email address.
I'll leave this giveaway open for comments until Friday at midnight and choose a winner at random on Saturday morning. But if you don't want to wait, you should know that Rhonda will make the eBook version available for just 99¢ beginning Wednesday morning. You can purchase the eBook version beginning tomorrow morning right here. But don't delay. The book price increases incrementally every 32 hours thereafter until it's back to its regular price on March 1st.
Okay then. Good luck!
48 comments:
I became a quilter when I saw a quilt class being offered locally and I wanted to make quilts for our daughters with hand and foot prints on it to remember them being that small. That was 39 years ago.
I always wanted to quilt since my grandmother was a quilter, but time was always against me. But then I just decided to make the time and I don't regret it for a minute.
I had always received quilts from my grandmother but she lived far away. We always had quilts on our beds and I would tell my children about where each of the fabrics came from, the scrap quilts came from my clothes scraps. I knew how to sew and did it well. I even worked for a while at a fabric store in the late 80's and bought for my quilting stash although I had never made a quilt, because I never seemed to have the time or space with three kids and foreign exchange students. Then in 1992 my oldest daughter decided she wanted to make a quilt for a graduation gift for a friend. She came to me for help. I knew the concepts and helped her. Every time she threw it away I pulled it out and ripped the mistake out and had her do it again. We finally got it done and had it long arm quilted. This was actually her second quilt as the first one had been blocks made by her grandmother and we had inherited when she passed away. The rest as they say is history, I started making quilts. A lot of quilts. I wish I had kept better records of all I have given.
My Grandmother was a quilter. She started making each of her children a quilt, then when they all had theirs, she started with the grandchildren's quilts. I was fourth in line to get a handmade quilt from my Grandma. Unfortunately, she passed away before she finished her third quilt for the grandkids. BUT! I was always at my Grandmother's house, because my Mom worked, and I got to learn how to do these beautiful art pieces from her!
As a child I loved playing with scraps my Granny kept in an old trunk. She and I would look at all the little bundles of fabric and talk about the things that could be made with them. I started making my own clothes at an early age and kept the scraps just as Granny had. I pieced my first top when I was 15 years old. Both of my grandmothers and my mother helped me quilt it. It took many more years to get completely hooked on quilting, but it was always there tucked safely in my mind as a precious memory. The obsession really took off while watching "Simply Quilts" when empty nest syndrome had set in and there is no turning back now!
My path to quilting is long and crazy. There are no quilters in my family so there was no lifelong desire. I learned to sew clothes in 4H (1981) and joined the quilt class senior year of high school. I didn't sew anything else for the next 15 years.
I began tatting when I was 15, eventually I learned of adding tatted motifs to rubber stamped cards and made an annual trip from Miami to the stamp store in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Then a stamp store opened 2 miles from my house and I eventually began teaching rubber stamping classes. A frequent student encouraged me to take quilt classes with her at the LQS across the street. It was all downhill from there. I haven't stamped anything since 2006 cuz it's all quilting all the time now! I've now moved back home to WNY where I teach quilt classes at my LQS. LOL!
I'm the current librian for the local quilt guild. This book would be an interesting addition for members and myself to read. I didn't realize in the 70's while taking a college course, I created a small Cathedral Square sampler it became my first quilt.
My Grandma didn't quilt, she crocheted, but her mother quilted and I still remember Great Grandma's quilt that was on my Grandma's bed. It was a double wedding ring done with muslin and all blue fabrics. We used to dump our Halloween buckets out & sort the candy on that quilt. It was lost in a fire while I was in High School and I still regret its loss to this day. Only smoke and water damage, which probably could have been reversed, but my Grandma threw it away. It was my Mother that taught me to sew, and I have sewn garments forever. My cousin got me quilting, which was a small step because I have always loved fabric. Seven or eight years and numerous quilts later, here I am.
There were always quilts in my family. When I became pregnant with my first child I decided it was time to start my own. I took a quilting class from a quilter friend and my first quilt was for my new baby girl. Now I usually stick to table runners, baby quilts, and doll quilts.
ha! I need to do a post for her soon too :)
Interesting topic....my mom sewed and developed my interest in sewing clothes when I was about 10. My grandmother taught me to knit and crochet. Neither were quilters. But mom did give me a beautiful quilt made in the hills of Virginia, to 'dress up' my antique brass bed when I was a teenager. So, no surprise I would eventually try my hand at quilting, which I did when I needed projects to do at home at night when my daughter was too old to need help with her school work but too young to be left alone. I have since joined a guild and love the comraderie of the ladies there.
I fell in love with my first quilt made by my Aunt Inez. I can still remember looking at each tiny square: approximately 2"x2" if memory serves me correctly. *LOL* I didn't learn how to quilt until we retired to Kaua`i fifty years later.
BTW, I love your blog! We have two Russian Wolfhounds and two quilt-helper cats.
I have been sewing for years and once I was living on my own, I made all my clothes. I stopped sewing garments over twenty years ago and started making quilts. Quilting is much more enjoyable! The book sounds wonderful. Thanks for the opportunity to enter the giveaway.
I came from a family that loved to sew. I have been sewing since I was old enough to reach the peddle of my mom's treadle machine. Although they made lots of quilts, I didn't get interested until my children were born. Once the quilting bug hit, I was a goner. I have been quilting ever since. Thank you for the giveaway.
I saw quilts for sale while a passenger in a car. The quilts would be hanging on what appeared to be a clothes line. I was all of 10 years old. I tried quilting unsuccessfully at age 24. Not until 10 years later did I get help and guidance to successfully make a quilted item.
Wow, it's been so long I don't really know where the original inspiration came from, because I've always loved textiles and antiques. Since my mom and grandma didn't quilt there was no early exposure. But I remember a couple of antique quilts, well worn, on the beds at my late mother-in-law's home so that may have planted the seed. There was one in particular, pattern unrecalled,but it was made up of many small squares, might have been an Irish Chain, that I particularly loved.
THat looks like a very interesting book.
I have two sisters who have quilted for years. One sister and I left snowy Rochester, NY to visit the other sister in Florida one February, 6 years ago. The two quilty sisters had such fun visiting all the quilt stores in the area. I couldn't stand it, looking at all the beautiful colors and the quilts in the stores, and by the end of the visit I said, "OK, OK, teach me to quilt!" And they very happily did, and I've been quilting ever since.
My mom sewed, made our clothes when I was small, but never quilted. Not sure how I learned that my dad's grandmother was a quilter, but she was & so I guess it's in my genes! I took a quilt class thru' adult ed, and one of my classmates was involved in starting a new quilt guild as part of the YWCA. I've been a member since the first meeting. Somehow I ended up being the chair of our 1st quilt show...without ever having been to a quilt show at that time! I found a photograph of my great grandmother, sitting on my grandma's couches with a quilt on her lap, needle in hand, but taking a break from stitching. I put it on the front table at the entrance to the show and we got a lot of comments on it.
I have sewn for most of my life, starting with Barbie doll clothes. My mother is a master seamstress and she and my grandmother taught me to hand sew these clothes about the age of 7 or 8. I had a great aunt who sewed for the Hagar slack company so she was a master seamstress as well. Roll forward about 40 years and I was laid off of the job I had for 30 years. I took stock of what I wanted to do that work had always prevented as I worked long hours. I always wanted to learn to quilt, so I took a class at one of the local quilt stores. It was not a beginner class but a paper piecing class. I love paper piecing which I know you hate but I think it is because I learned it first and loved that it turned out so well. I was instantly hooked. I have met many wonderful friends through quilting and probably will quilt until I can no longer see. I love quilting! Creating beautiful quilts for my family and friends brings me great joy.
I started quilting when my mother and I took a quilting class through my city's community park adult education program. That was many years ago and I am still learning new skills!
nikilsend(at)outlook(dot)com
Sounds like a very interesting book. My aunt was going to an overnight mystery quilt and I thought it sounded like fun. So I went too and that's when I became a quilter.
I used to quilt on my grandmother's quilts--teen and preteen. I love learning and years later, I saw a class on making quilts. I've made then for the last twenty years.
My grandmother was a quilter and I had always dreamed of being the recipient of one of her quilts~ She sold them as part of her very meager income. When she passed on, there were no remnants to be had. Most every one that lived in close proximity to her got the bits of belongings she did own. I requested of many family members of locations of her quilts and found 2 that a cousin had. **unfinished** but was not willing to part. I asked for photos and am working on reconstructing my grandmother's original. I have fallen in love with the process.
My siblings and I received quilts from our maternal grandmother, what we would call
'postage stamp quilts', small scrappy squares. I loved the color in them and when crafting as an adult, I decided I had tried most crafts so quilting would be next. It became my biggest love.
My great grandmother quilted. I always loved her quilts. A few years after she died, I decided to get some fabric and make a quilt (don't know what happened to all those squares I cut out). I didn't start quilting till 2001, 2 decades after she died. I have some of the quilts she made.
I got interested in quilting when my mom started making baby quilts for each of the grandchildren she had. Then one day I met up with my best friend from high school and she showed me a quilt she had made hanging on her wall. I thought, "I want to do that too". However, where I lived in NY there were no quilt teachers or classes that I or anyone knew about. When I moved back to MI to take care of my father, a new quilt shop opened nearby and was offering a free beginning quilting class. I took that class and the next class and was hooked. However, life got in the way and I have been trying to get back to it.
My mother is a crafter and quilter. I remember going to sales and sitting under the counter while she went through the reduced fabric bins. She is someone I have always tried to pattern my life after.
I finally started my hand at quilting about 4 years ago. Have made 1 finished quilt so far for my son who lives 1100 miles away and a few table runners. I'm now working on a log cabin quilt for our "new to us 5th wheel" we got it last summer and just love it. Am so happy I discovered your blog. Thank you for all your posted.
I made a patchwork quilt when I was in high school and have made many quilts since then. I also love to read:)
I started to quilt when my daughter left for college. I wanted to send something with her that she could wrap around herself when she needed a hug and know that her mother loved her.
I was inspired to try quilting as I studied the Amish. I needed some stress relief from my day job & thought I'd try quilting. My quilts don't look like Amish ones at all, but the addiction stuck!
Lroghair at aol dot com
what a wonderful idea for a book. My mom started hand quilting when I was in high school. she taught me, but it was so slow. You know, no instant gratification. LOL. Anyway, fast forward 10-12 years and I joined a women's group at church that made baby quilts for the crisis pregnancy center our church sponsored. It was all done by machine. Ohhhh, I fell in love. to this day I love making baby quilts.
What a great idea for a book! My grandmother was a crochet-er. I didn't learn to crochet until many years after she had passed, but I still have some of her "gems." As a Home Economics teacher, I was always interested in quilting, but didn't have time for it until I retired. I make quilts for family and friends and now that I'm going to be a first time grandma, to provide a legacy for my grandchildren. Isabella is expected in mid-May and I'm in the process of making things for her, including quilts.
Rosemary
My mother made all of our clothes until junior high school. She started our "training" when we were about 10 and then we made our own clothes after that. I didn't do any quilting until I was retired when my company was bought by another one and we were "down-sized". I started watching quilting videos from Missouri Star Quilt Company and got hooked. My first quilt was a 9-Patch for my son when he moved to Berkeley. It was followed by a Zipper quilt wall hanging and a Log Cabin. I just finished a Civil War quilt top that needs to be quilted. I have all of the squares made for my Bear Claw quilt and they have to be sewn together and then quilted. Whew! Too many beautiful fabrics; so little time!
For me it was when we bought our 1st home in December of 1989. Like everyone we were house poor, not much money for extras. On my day off work I drove to the next town for some window shopping and I passed a quilt shop. Of course I had to go in and see all the beautiful quilts and fabric, I was hooked! I wanted a quilt for our bedroom but, I knew I couldn't afford it. I grew up with both granma's and my mother sewing most of our clothes. One of my fondest memories is dumping my granma's large button box, out on the floor of her sewing room while she sewed, I loved to organize and play with them (still do). After that day I borrowed my mothers old Singer and taught myself with books from the library. For Christmas and my birthday, I asked for a rotary cutter, mat, rulers and for our anniversary my husband paid for a Triple Irish Chain quilt class. His gift from me was the finished quilt. This summer we'll be married 30 yrs, I don't think I'll ever stop quilting, it's really an addictive hobby. Thanks for letting me tell my story, I enjoyed reminiscing. ;-> Toni Anne
my decision to give back to people who had less than me, that i could sew quilts, have someone quilt them , and gift strangers for nothing more than have them stay warm.
My mother taught me how to make English paper piecing quilts when I was about 10. I loved the process and as I got older discovered there were also a lot of other ways to make a quilt. It is such a fun creative hobby and I love playing with beautiful fabrics.
I think my love of quilting started before I knew I loved it. The mother of my best friend growing up always had a quilt on a rack that was suspended from the ceiling. When we slept, the quilts were so heavy we couldn't move. I always laughed about it, but loved it.
Neither one of my grandmothers quilted that I knew of, but I did learn to sew when I was about 12. I made a lot of my own clothes, all my curtains and re-covered a love seat one time. That nearly wiped out my desire to sew.
Then I made my first quilt in 2008 and fell in love with it. I hope to have more time when I semi-retire in about a week. Looking forward to sewing and maybe some more quilts.
Your blog posts are always so entertaining. And, I love to see what all you accomplish in a day. A. MAZ. ZING!
Thanks for sharing.
I got tired of making garments, but not tired of sewing. So a friend and I chose a quilt pattern that looked pretty. The giant dahlia was my first quilt. My email is a78mandel at yahoo dot com.
I think becomming a quilter was just a natural progression. I'm a quilter in the same way I have red hair and 10 fingers & toes, lol.
I became a quilter at the tender age of 18, when our local college was offering a continuing education class. I had been around sewing all my life (my mom, grandmother and great-mother were great seamstresses) and I loved crafts, so it was a natural progression. It was the late '70s and handcrafts were going out of fashion, but I persisted. I thought I was the first to make quilts, but when my mom passed, I found an uncompleted Dresden plate quilt that my grandmother had started, and my mom had sewn onto broadcloth, and now it is up to me to finish it! I plan on having my daughters and grandkids add some stitches to it so we can call it a 5-generation quilt. Thanks for the opportunity! terri-fisher (at) shaw (dot) ca
My son's friend Mum, got me involved way back in 2000. Have been quilting ever since, apart from when I went back to full-time study for three years. Back into every spare moment I have.
sharoneujones@gmail.com
My sister in law needed an extra person for a small retreat, and invited me. I didn't quilt, so she told me to bring any craft and just join in. After watching the quilters all weekend, and becoming acquainted with rotary cutters, I was ready to jump in. I had always loved quilts, but since I hated sewing clothing, I assumed quilts would be even more difficult. So glad I made the leap!!
My Dad was an avid cowboy film fan and I watched the films with him, won myself a Davy Crockett hat as a child and loved seeing the supposed 'wagon trains' and I got hung up on the social side of the immigrants travelling to the New World, long before I was old enough to really understand anything about it all!
Id see rugs and covers and quilts and they'd gel with me somehow.
Years later and flying worldwide as Aircrew with the RAF after many, many trips to the US and Canada ( and other worldwide destinations ) Id see traditional quilts made by Amish and early settlers in museums, store windows etc. I guess some were copies but I was intrigued again and slowly becoming hooked on the social history involved.
Years later still, I worked in a Craft Store and we had hundreds of bolts of fabric and I was in fetish heaven and realised I had a passion for smoothing, touching and smelling fabric LOL
Once my children had grown up I began making, rugs, mixed media, knitting, crochet and sewing scrappy things and now finally I'm moving into patchwork.
For me - making is therapy - my mum was a paranoid schizophrenic and I an only child, my childhood was difficult.
Her illness left an emotional mark on my life so I think my predilection for fabric and making, is my coping strategy for inner calm.
Mind you when I have to pull stitches out, be they yarn or on fabric - I still get stressed lol but its a quite different stress!
You cant go wrong with fabric and cats : )
I have always loved cloth and started sewing when I was very young. There is no tradition of quilts in my family, but as I tried so many genres of sewing, it was a given that I would eventually be attracted to quilting. I began my first quilt when I was in my twenties. It was appliqued and all hand sewn. I think I would find it ugly now as it was made in solids in the old style cottons that used to be around. It burned in a house (well actually a tent) fire before I finished it. I didn't quilt again until I was in my fifties, about fifteen years ago. This had nothing to do with the quilt burning, just the business of life with young children.
Back in the 70's I lived in a town where there was a local shop that had a quilting display. I had always thought I wanted to make a quilt and it sparked my interest in making one. So I bought the book they had and this huge wooden hoop for hand quilting. Since I already knew how to sew I had lots of fabric scraps on hand. Unfortunately the book I had bought stated that unless you made the quilt by hand sewing it you were not really a quilter. So I tried but after cutting out a few triangles and sewing the first two together I decided it was not for me. Although I did wonder what the big deal would be with using a machine which I unfortunately didn't pursue. Years later after I was no longer working I was doing the Fab Shop Hops and looking at the websites I realized there was a big interest in quilting and there were updated methods that made it much easier to make a quilt. So, once again I decided to try and now I am glad I did. Also, I am happy that using a machine from start to finish is totally acceptable as I still wouldn't be quilting if I had to do it all by hand.
Just under th midnight deadline.
Amish Abstractions exhibit at the deYoung Museum in SF got me started. You and Gee's Bend convinced me that I could continue.
Happy Weekend.
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