How I started quilting...

I have been quilting since I was a kid.  One of my fondest memories was sitting at the dining room table cutting out a blue Dresden Plate quilt with my grandmother.  I still can clearly see that day in my mind, and it was in the winter, so I remember looking out on the empty field which was the view from her dining room window, and like always, I remember the window being open. Yes open, because they heated with a wood burning stove, there was never a happy medium. 

So its easy to say, that I was quilting before the rotary cutter was something that most quilters had.  We cut templates out of cardboard, and traced every single piece, and cut them out with scissors.  I was still quilting much like this when I graduated high school.  I remember the first time I got a rotary cutter, and the plain green mat with no lines.  We used it to cut sashing strips and binding.  That's about it.  At the time I didn't know much about quilting, but I did know that I liked old fashioned style scrappy quilts. 

For graduation, I received a book by Grace McCance Snyder from North Platte, Nebraska.  It was a autobiography of sorts about Nebraska's most famous quilter.  Because of that gift, from a high school English teacher, I immersed my self in quilt history.  Now because of this, I have done countless hours of research, and I also teach quilting.  Something I do enjoy a lot.  Below is a quilt from Grace, one day I hope I am able to make at least one Masterpiece Quilt.  In the mean time, enjoy Grace's quilt.  Maybe it will inspire you to make your own  masterpiece someday like it has me. 

Flower Basket Petit Point Quilt. She copied a design on a China Plate.

Mrs. McGill's Cherries

Grape Quilt...Click on pictures to make them larger.  Obviously she made more than one Masterpiece.