In the Spring of 1998, I was browsing in the clearance section at Jo Ann Fabrics and found a couple of clearance quilt patterns, Grandmother's Fan and Bear Paws. I purchased the quilt pattern which included templates for fifty cents each. Quite a bargain! It was ambitious of me to take on an 80-block quilt! With fabric purchased, I went about cutting all the pieces. It took about 11 hours to do the cutting. Later I came to realize that the fabric choices were not the best.
At that time, I only did hand quilting. Most of this quilt was hand quilted;
the piecing, joining of the blocks and quilting. The border was machine sewn
and I used machine stitching on the actual border.
I was so critical of my work, having been taught by highly skilled Hand Quilters
in the early 70's. There was an attitude against machine quilting in years
passed. The standards were high, and it was easy to become discouraged by
stitches that seemed too long, crocked, etc. I was critical of my quilting
skills but overtime, I decided to stop being so critical and just enjoy the quilting!
That attitude change helped me finish this quilt. Hand quilting is beautiful,
but I am slowly converting to machine quilting. I will always love hand quilting,
but I stay open and try not to judge. It is really all about enjoying
quilting.
It took me so long to finish this quilt and I learned so much! It is one of
my favorites!
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| Grandmother's Fan |
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