Joining in on all the Fun

Lately I've been hooked on blog reading - quilting blogs to be precise. I used to visit a handful of web sites on everything from diets to family life and to playing computer games, but in the last few months I very rarely spend any time reading anything unless it's a blog on quilting. I've got a long list of favorites that just keeps on growing. I keep reading about these great online quilting bees and some pretty cool giveaways and I want in on all the fun...so here I am, my name is Julie.

I'm really pretty new to quilting. My history started with an 9th grade project, it was a small pillow and I got an A+. After the pillow I took a 30 year hiatus from the world of quilting. Almost 2 years ago my mom heard me complaining about wanting a new quilt for my bed, but was unable to buy the one I wanted. She told me she'd help me make one and quilting reentered my life again. In hindsight I should have picked a small project, instead I jumped with both feet right into making a king size quilt. The pattern was easy, a log cabin, from one of Elenore Burns' books. Due to having a large number of kids at home, being a procrastinator, not having a good sewing machine, not having a dedicated room just for sewing and being one of those folks who are great at starting projects, but not so great at finishing things...it took me 6 months to finish it. Once I finished it I found I didn't really like it. I could see so many flaws, it hadn't turned out like I thought it would, it didn't have that perfectly well crafted look that I had envisioned. I began to think maybe quilting just wasn't one of my talents. The one thing I couldn't seem to keep from doing was buying fabric. I didn't buy a lot, so my stash isn't large, just one large plastic bin - that's completely full.

A few months after finishing my log cabin quilt I decided I'd give it another try. This time I opted for a smaller quilt. A twin size Flying Geese, again using an Eleanore Burns pattern book. I had all the geese made when my old sewing machine died. I had it fixed several times, but the fixes just didn't last. I borrowed a machine from my mom and realized that the reason my first quilt came out wonky was because my machine was fighting me in keeping a good 1/4 seam. The fabric would constantly pull toward the left and gave me a very uneven seam. The Flying Geese blocks had the same issues and mom needed her machine back, so I laid away the idea of quilting until I was able to get a new machine. A couple of months ago I was able to buy an Elna Q6600 machine and I love love love it! I am now back to quilting.

This was my very first attempt at stippling. I love this panel, the colors are so vibrant.
This was my next project, a quilt for my brand new grand daughter.


I struggled to come up with a name for this blog. I finally settled on Kitchen Quilter because I don't have a room that is dedicated to sewing. In the past I've used the kitchen table, continually having to put away my sewing things to feed my family. I disliked having to do that just enough that I didn't sew that often. Once quilting became important to me and I had a good machine I decided that one corner of my kitchen was going to be my spot. So...Kitchen Quilter I am.