The First Finish

​The Irish Chain may have been my first quilt to begin, but the Log Cabin was my first quilt to begin and finish. ​It was Christmas 2004, and I was on the search for meaningful (and budget friendly) gifts.

I had drug out the sewing machine handed down to me from my mom, and my friend and I started sewing pajama pants. I think we made around 15-20 pairs! I did not think my Dad would find pajama pants very exciting though, so I found Eleanor Burn's book Quilt in a Day for the Log Cabin, and away I went. I made 3 quilts that season for Christmas gifts. I put in a few shortcuts along the way with them too .. ironing each step was unnecessary, the binding was done via turning the quilt inside out and sewing on the inside, and it was only tied on each 16" block corner. Ha! You know what though? Everyone who saw it lavished generous praise, instead of pointing out the problems of those shortcuts, and it built up my desire to make more.

Ironically, I still look for more efficient processes, but at least now I know the importance of each step! 
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PS: This was also my first dog, Dixie. She literally came out of the nickel ads. She taught me the value of a well-bred dog (like the difference in fabric from Joanns versus a local quilt shop ;) ). Dixie introduced me to dog agility, and while she and I didn't go very far, she led me to my next dog who won classes at National events. Dixie, however, did know how to retrieve a beer from the fridge and always sported a bottle opener on her collar!