Tuesday, September 4, 2007

A Gift from the House

You put so much work into a house: buying it, paying the mortgage, fixing all the little or big problems, and redecorating. It only seems right that the house should pay you back every once in a while. Mine did this weekend.

Look what I found in an old closet.


A brand new, never-been-used quilt frame! I was so excited. My husband even put it together for me. You see my baby quilt stretched out on it. My neighbor across the street told me that the lady who lived here before me never quilted. So, why is there a quilt frame in my basement closet? I have no idea. True, the frame is not the best (my husband had to jury rig the toothed wheel to the rod with nails and mirror wire), but it is free. And free is good.


Can I share a little secret with you? Hand quilting is not that hard. If you have ever done embroidery work or cross-stitching, you'll be fine. This baby quilt is only my 3rd quilt. I've been avoiding hand quilting - certain that hand quilting was best left to the experts, but when I found this frame downstairs in the basement, I knew I had to give it a try. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that quilting is not that difficult once you get a rhythm going and it's fun. Now mind you, this quilt could never be shown at any country fair or jury show since my stitches are anything but even, but it's good enough for a baby.


PS. I hope you had a wonderful Labor Day weekend!

4 comments:

Tracie said...

That's so freaking awesome. Too bad our house was new construction. No happy surprises for us.

I'll pass on your compliments to John. He tries to act like it's no big deal, but I caught the huge smile on his face as I wove in his ends for him (he'd fought with this yarn for so long, I wasn't going to make him weave in ends, too). Tonight we start on the next one.

Anonymous said...

Marie

the quilt looks fab! I'm hugely impressed - big kudos to you! My house hasn't given me anything nearly so great _ although I did find an old jigsaw at the back of a cupboard when I first moved it (but I think there were pieces missing!)

Windyridge said...

I should be so lucky,,,,

Not Lucy said...

I once found a Belgian waffle maker, an electric frying pan, a tea kettle, a warming tray (and maybe something else-it was nearly 30 years ago) in a cupboard in a duplex I was renting with my first husband. I still have the waffle maker and the electric frying pan. It was like Christmas!

Hand quilting isn't that hard and it gets more even with practice.