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Sunday, June 19, 2016

New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop 2016

Hi, welcome to week 2 of the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop!  I'm Jaime and happy to be a part of this event with so many other talented quilt bloggers.

Once upon a time, a little girl lived in a small town.  Ha! No, really. I grew up and now I'm a mom, taxi driver, chef, and counselor to my teenage son, Carter. Being a single mom, he keeps me pretty busy and sometimes gets in the way of my quilting. Lol!

I also teach in that same small town.  Everyone knows everyone (and your business) and I teach children of friends that I grew up with. I'm currently changing grade levels, from teaching first grade to fourth grade next year.  From "don't pick your nose" to "maybe you should start wearing deodorant." I'm looking forward to the new change, it keeps me fresh.

My mom taught me to sew at a very young age.  She likes that I give her the credit. I used to sew some of my own outfits when I was in high school.  A few years ago, I ventured out into the quilting world.  I thought I would like to try it out, it seemed like a challenge.  I made my first quilt following the instructions on a tutorial and lots of YouTube videos.

I would love to say "I was hooked," but it was probably another year before I decided to try it again. But I did...and again and again and again. I was reading all these blogs about quilting so I decided to blog about it.  I love that it gives me a way to share what I'm doing.

If you blog, or are thinking about blogging, my suggestion to you is to keep a schedule.  This is my own suggestion to myself and thought I would share. Lol!  Keeping up with regular posts can seem daunting.  But if you set yourself a day or two each week to post, maybe it won't seem so scary and mind-boggling of what to write about.  We will see how that works out for me.

Back to quilt talk...one of my favorite quilts is Carter's Texas A&M Aggie quilt.  My two brothers and I graduated from there. Whoop! We are an Aggie family and Carter knows no different.  He wanted A&M bedding so I made him a quilt for Christmas.
It gets the most use out of all the quilts I've made.  Even my dog, Penny loves it.
My quilt patterns that I have sewn are pretty basic.  My skills are getting better (at least I think) and I have made some quilts that I have to say I'm proud of.  One is a throw quilt.  This one was quilted on a long-arm machine and that was fun learning how to do that.  I don't own a long-arm (only in my quilting dreams), but I rent time at my local quilt shop.  I had to have someone nearly hold my hand through the process but one I definitely want to repeat.

Another one of my favorites is a baby quilt.  This is a favorite because I love triangle quilts and the colors of this quilt are just fun, trendy and beautiful.
My mom and I still sew together.  We make some quilts tops together and she calls herself the "worker bee" because she thinks she just takes directions from me.  But we also sew baby bedding together. 
I've lived in this small town of mine my whole life.  My family is here.  My roots are here.  My heart is here.  It's home.  Small Town Stitchin' just seemed right when we started sewing and I started blogging.  I hope it just keeps growing.  I hope to one day design my own fabric.  I'm working on learning that process but it is a slow and very steep learning curve for me.  For now, my immediate goal is to increase the difficulty of my piecing and keep blogging about it. 

My Question for You:

My favorite part of the quilting process is piecing the top.
My least favorite part is the cutting.  
What about you?  What are your favorites and least favorite parts of the process?

For more blogging fun you should hop on over to some others that are posting on this blog hop with me:

Jennifer @ Inquiring Quilter
Abigail @ Cut & Alter

And don't forget to enter for some fun giveaways over at Meadow Mist Designs.  Cheryl is one of the great masterminds and organizers behind our blog hop.

Check back soon for a finished quilt that is all boy!

49 comments:

  1. I enjoy your post. I love the baby quilt. Am I am also a nut for HSTs.

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  2. Hi Jaime. Reading your description of your small town made me want to live there as well, or at least spend a bit of time. My favourite parts of the quilting process is the start and the finish, I feel a bit bogged down and impatient to be getting on to the next project when I'm somewhere in the middle.

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    1. Ha! Hope I didn't make it sound too glorious! I understand the impatience! I get started on one and I'm ready to start another. I a few unfinished projects...

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  3. Hi Jaime - lovely to read more about you and your town. You have made some gorgeous quilts for just starting out. Isn't longarm quilting fun!! Basting a quilting used to be my least favourite but now I longarm it's not a problem so I can't actually say I have a least favourite I truly do enjoy all aspects of quilting ..... maybe keeping my studio tidy!

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    1. That's always a never ending job! It' like laundry!

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  4. Hi, I love your quilts. And lucky you that you still get to sew with your mom. My mom is a big fan of my quilts but she doesn't sew. Definitely my least favorite part of making a quilt is pin basting. The best part is when I see the finished top all ready to be hand quilted in my hoop. I love planning my hand quilting patterns. It's like doodling on a hip urge sheet of paper. 95% of my quilts were quilted by hand. HOw about you?

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  5. Jamie,
    What a great post, so fun getting to know each quilter and learning what makes them who they are. You quilts are lovely and I too have used my local quilts shop to quilt a quilt. I have not had time to return due to work, but not with the summer off I may get another one in.
    My favorite part of quilting...as of right now the binding and least favorite...cutting, I still get shakey making that first cut into the beautiful fabric. Have a super week. Hugs, Heide

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    1. Oh, I don't like binding. It's a close one with cutting for me.

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  6. Hi, so nice to 'meet you' and learn about your quilting journey. My favorite part of quilting is the actual 'quilting' and my least favorite part is basting - ugh! Thanks for sharing :-)

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  7. It's great you have access to a long arm when you need it - that's on my wish list to rent some time on one. My favourite part of the quilting process is when the basting is done before the quilting - the weight that is in the 3 pieces basted together makes it feel like a proper quilt to me even before any stitching is added. My least favourite part is the binding!

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    1. I had to take a long arm class before I could rent time on it. I definitely encourage you to try it.

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  8. It is so nice that you sew with your Mom. What great memories you will have as years go by.
    I do not like picking the fabrics for a quilt. I am not good at putting colors together. However, I do love the piecing.

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    1. Oh I love choosing the fabrics! I have too many now.

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  9. Hi Jaime! It is great to get to know you better. I think that having the ability to use a long arm when you need it sounds fantastic; no need to own own and learn how to maintain it. :) I also dislike cutting / fabric prep and think that quilt top assembly is magical. :)

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  10. Hello Jamie, it has been lovely visiting your blog and finding out about you, your town, and your quilting. I really like your triangle quilt, so bright and fun, I like the colours you chose too. I love planning the quilt, dreaming about it, changing my mind, letting it evolve as it comes together. I really don't like the basting, and I always worry I will get tucks in the back, although I rarely do. It is much better with a Kwick Klip though, it half's the time and it's easier on my fingers too.
    Smiles
    Kate

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  11. I enjoy picking out the pattern and the fabrics the most. Next, I like cutting. I like ironing the fabric the least.

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  12. Hi Jaime! Great to meet you. Wonderful post by the way. My favourite part of quilt making is making the binding and doing the hand sewing. My least favourite part is piecing the top oddly enough!

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    1. Oh, we could team up. I'll do my favorite and you do your favorite...and we trade. :)

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  13. I love to piece, quilting not so much!

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  14. Hi Jamie! Thanks for your post. Great to get to know you better. I really like your red and blue (aqua?) triangle quilt. It is gorgeous. I love to piece and put tops together, and I hate to baste!

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  15. Your blog is so cute! My favorite part of quilting is piecing, I also really like binding. My least favorite part is basting. Ugh.

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  16. I love the piecing too....Hate to iron..... happyness044312yahoo.com

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  17. The quilts are beautiful!!! like Anna i also HATE ironing (or fusing interfacings to fabric - ugh!). My favorite part is binding - i don't know why but its the part I look forward to the most because it means the quilt is finished and ready to use. I cant wait to bind!

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    1. I really don't like binding but so many of you have commented that you do.

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  18. Hi Irene! What a lovely post. Your small town sounds like such a wonderful place to live! Your quilts are lovely and what a brave quilter you are to try longarming them! That's on my list of things to try someday. Let's see...I love designing quilts and choosing the fabrics. That speaks to the artist in me. Deciding how to quilt a quilt and actually doing it are among the least favorite things because I find it real hard to do. Cutting fabric is up there though! Ugh. It's so boring, but necessary.

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    1. Thank you! I am a nut for looking for quilt patterns.

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  19. Hi Irene, I am very attracted to all the colors you chose for your quilts. Beautiful! My favorite part of quilting is choosing the fabric. Pin basting my least favorite. You're lucky your mom and you share this hobby. What a great thing to share. :)

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    1. I LOVE choosing the fabric. So much fun to go into a fabric store. Makes my wallet a little lighter though.

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  20. Love your projects and fabric mix.My best part is choosing fabric and sewing and lest favorite is cutting and joining blocks because I scarry when they don´t match.

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    1. I understand. I get nervous when I join rows because I worry about them not matching.

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  21. I would love to have a local shop rent out longarm machine time! That must be fun :)

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  22. My favorite part of quilting is cutting and then piecing the quilt top together. My least part is picking my fabric and colors that go together. I am constantly second guessing myself.

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  23. My favorite part of quilting is cutting and then piecing the quilt top together. My least part is picking my fabric and colors that go together. I am constantly second guessing myself.

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  24. Hello, nice to meet you. I like piecing best and hate basting. My blogging tip is to not reply to your comments in the comments as no one goes back to check for a reply.

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  25. My favorite part of the process is sewing the patchwork. My least favorite part is basting and quilting. That's why so many of my quilt tops remain as tops. I keep telling myself I'll quilt them when I get a longarm. Maybe one day. :) Great post, I really enjoyed learning more about you. I grew up in a big city but my husband is from a really small town, so I can kind of relate to the small town life. Everybody knows everybody!

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  26. This is a great intro, and I do love your baby bedding!

    Small town life does really have it's moments, I agree.

    I think my favorite part of quilting is piecing the top. My least favorite is probably making the quilt sandwich and basting. Especially getting everything ironed, and squared up and lined up.

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  27. Nice to meet you, Jaime! I wish my local shop rented long arms by the hour! My favorite part of quilting is the designing and piecing. My least favorite part is the layering!!!!

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  28. I enjoyed meeting you Jaime. My favourite part of piecing is when I staart sewing the blocks into rows because that's when the final look of the quilt first starts to emerge. I think I can say that there isn't a part of quilting that I haven't come to enjoy over time although pinning the layers together is probably my least favourite.

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  29. Great post! I enjoyed meeting you and seeing some of your finishes! My favorite part of quilting is designing the quilt and my least favorite is basting.

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  30. Love that you share about grown up in a small town. I did as well. I think all of my school teachers knew my parents. It is fun learning about everyone.

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  31. Jamie, what a great into! I grew up in a small town also so I can relate. Hmmm, my favorite part of the quilting process is the planning, from picking out the fabrics and deciding on a layout. My least favorite part is deciding how to quilt it. I hope you have a great summer and good luck with those 4th graders next year!

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  32. I have lived in a small town too, although not now. So small my great grandfather helped build it. :)
    I think my favorite part of quilting is the cutting and piecing along with the design and color selection. *All the favorites! :) * I think my least favorite part is the backing and basting because I am just not very good at that part because I have very limited space and it never is as easy as it should be.
    Great post! Thanks for sharing your story.

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  33. So nice to meet you. I grew up on a farm near a small town. My favorite part of quilting is picking out the fabrics. Least favorite part is designing the quilt label.

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  34. Hi Jaime! Nice to meet you on this hop. You make small town living sound so wonderful and being able to be close to your mom so that you can quilt together must be a wonderful thing. My favorite part of making a quilt is the actual quilting. I love the FMQ on my domestic machine but I really want to learn how to long arm. My least favorite aspect is the same as yours - cutting out fabric. It's just so tedious. I wish I could just click my heels together and have it done.

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  35. I enjoyed learning more about you during the hop. All phases of making a quilt are enjoyable for me. That's not to say that some quilts present different challenges at various stages. If I had to pick a favorite, though I would have to say hand quilting is my favorite. Maybe because it takes so long to finish that I have plenty of time to bond with the quilt!

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