Over on
my Instagram account I am joining the March Meet the Maker challenge hosted by Joanne Hawker, and I'm already feeling inspired on day #2! :D
Today's prompt is
How you started...and I thought I'd share a broader history of that here on my blog where I can share more pictures! Besides, it's good to have that some where my readers can come back to if they'd like, and somewhere I can refer to if needed. Ready to take a trip down memory lane with me? :D
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| Me and Nan making applesauce! :D How about those bangs?! Lol! |
To REALLY start at the beginning, my grandmother and mother were the ones challenging me to sew all my life. My grandmother made beautiful dresses for my sister and I growing up, we even have some video that I cherish of her working on new spring dresses for us (and making another mistake on the pesky sleeves)! Lol! "It's WRONG! Again!" :D Truer words, Nan...
At about age 10, a homeschool friend of my mom's wanted to teach her only son to sew and wanted him to have a friend to kind of encourage him on, so she offered to teach me as well. Even at age ten I was super excited to sew! We lived in a small trailer, and my mom never sewed as her machine was packed away. So this was my first experience sewing for myself...at least that I remember. My friend soon grew tired and frustrated with his sewing, but I finished my first project (a little drawstring bag - woohoo!) and moved on to my next project - a beautiful floral vest with tiny tulips all over it, and lined in a sky blue. *bliss* I cannot tell you how much I hated that vest by the time I finished! LOL!!! ;) Wow, that was a hard first time project, but I learned all about curved seams and right sides together, pattern placement, and became best friends with the seam ripper (we're still good friends, btw). I eventually finished the vest and it was marvelous and I'm still proud of it. :D
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| My sister Jessica and I in our patriotic skirts Memorial Day 2010 |
Fast forward years later and I'd sewn more projects on my own, including Civil War costumes (with the very much needed help of my skilled grandma!). I began to sew quite a lot of skirts for myself and my mother and sister in my 20's. The more I sewed the more I had leftover fabric pile up after a project was finished. I never knew what to do with it, so it sadly sat unused. One day around 2010 or so, and probably inspired by Pinterest, I decided quilting was my next new thing to become skilled at. I'm into most crafts...sewing, cake decorating, cross stitch, knitting and crocheting, and even scrapbooking! Living within an hour of Lancaster county, PA with the Amish and their quilting history has always inspired me, and having piles of scraps of fabric lying around from projects...it all just easily fit together (like a quilt! haha).
My first quilting project was a star block...oh how I love my star blocks! :D They are pretty much a signature design of my Odds n Ends shop. ;){
my star mug rugs here} I picked out my favorite sunflowers and turned 3 mastered blocks into a table runner. I even
HAND QUILTED the binding as instructed (I've never done that again). Ha.
My second quilting project was my first quilt. We had some friends in Texas, at the time, and my sister and I had some wonderful trips down there with them. Since I was interested in quilting, even then, we all stopped in their favorite local quilt shop and as soon as I saw the texas state panels I knew I wanted to turn it into a keepsake quilt of all the memories of our trips. This was my first pattern design I created on my own! :D After this quilt I was hooked and I've been addicted to quilting ever since.
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Prairie-Style Texas Quilt and pillow
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A girl can only create so many designs and projects before the house is over-run with quilting, so I dove head first into starting my own quilt shop in 2016 and officially opened in 2017 so I could share the love. I named it Odds n Ends for the scrappy bits and pieces that inspired me to quilt. I started my own space on
SquaredUp.com instead of Etsy, at first, to save money and give me a start to see if I could do this business-girl-boss thing. It has been super slow going every step of the way, with more roadblocks, tears, and struggles (personal and business-related) over the last 2 years but I can honestly say it's been worth it. And I am so glad I jumped in and dared to be brave!
My little quilt shop offers me a place to create with color and pattern, to have self-expression without breaking my piggy bank, and to share that joy with my customers. I believe every home ought to have a little piece of homemade quilting in it. It's a pleasure to quilt lovely handmade decor pieces I know will be enjoyed in the varying seasons and through the years.
Recently, I've been able to get a sense of community with other crafters and seller's that I'm newly joining into. I have also opened up an
Etsy shop in the last few weeks and joined that community as well. I'm excited to see where else God and my little shop take me this year and the years ahead! :D Someday I hope to have a booth at my first craft fair!
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If you are a maker and want to join in the challenge too,
Have a blessed day!
~Rachel~
