Let's Get Acquainted New Blogger Blog Hop

Hello and welcome! Today is my stop on the 2013 Let's Get Acquainted New Blogger Blog Hop. If you're a new visitor, HI! I hope you'll stay a little while and look around. If you're a repeat visitor, welcome back! You're awesome! Here is the schedule this week so you can take a look at the other wonderful bloggers keeping me company:

Friday, July 5
Christa @ Christa Quilts!
Alyce @ Wonderland By Alyce
Anna (ME!) @ The Crooked Banana
Rachel @ Sew Happily Ever After
Stephanie @ Quarter Incher
Shayla @ Sassafras Lane Designs
Caroline @ Carolines Craftiness
Lisa @ Hilltop House Creative Works

So here's a little more info about me along with some pictures :)

How did you get into quilting?

I decided to start quilting on a total whim. I think I was just wandering around a used book store and stumbled across a quilting book and thought, "I bet I could do that." So I picked up a book (based solely on the title because it had so many superfluous exclamation points and made me giggle: Quilts! Quilts!! Quilts!!! : The Complete Guide to Quilt Making by Diana McClun) and read it cover to cover that night. My mom had bought me a sewing machine for my birthday, so I was set on that front. Soon I had settled on a simple rail fence quilt, bought my cheap supplies from Joann, and off I went!

Finished quilts left to right, top to bottom: first quilt, Christmas gift quilt, Kitchen Window quilt, Scrappy Trip quilt, Houndstooth quilt

I think you can see my progression pretty clearly in the photo above!

I didn't actually finish my first quilt right away. I worked on it for a couple of months here and there and started getting a little frustrated. My seam allowances were horribly inconsistent and it was making putting the quilt top together a real pain. So I shelved it for a while. Over a year, actually, during which time I started and almost finished my Master's degree (I don't know when I would have had time to sew, anyway!). 

Then I started reading quilting blogs while removing staples at work (being a student worker in an archives is seriously boring). When I started my first quilt, I had no idea how huge and amazing the online quilting community was and I definitely had no idea what "modern" quilting was. It was a total revelation and suddenly I decided I HAD to finish that first quilt. So I did. I let my annoyance at all the imperfections go and just decided to look at it as a learning experience. Then I decided to start a blog. Why? Mostly to keep track of my obsession and, of course, because all the modern quilt blogs I had been reading were written by such wonderful, friendly people. I knew this was a community I wanted to be a part of.

Once that first quilt was finished, I immediately started the Christmas quilt above, which was a gift for my boyfriend's parents, who are awesome. And since then, the obsession has just grown! I have completed just the five quilts you see above, but I have also made a number of smaller sewing projects.

See labels in the sidebar for more info!

This is just a sampling- there are several labels in the sidebar you can click to see more! 

What else do you do besides quilting?

Other than quilting, I am also learning to make clothes (slowly but surely- these projects usually take a backseat to quilting). I spend a lot of time with yarn and hooks/needles (see below). I learned to crochet long before I got into quilting. Lately I have been knitting more than crocheting because it is a new skill I picked up, but I still love both! I hate having idle hands while watching TV, so it's great to have some yarn projects to work on.

When I'm not crafting, I am generally reading, baking, or spending time with my two dogs and boyfriend. Or you know, working. There was a period of a few months after I graduated in December 2012 with my Master's degree in Library Science that I was only working 10 hours a week, which left tons of time for crafting. I loved that, but I love being able to pay rent more :P Now I'm working in a library (I know! That's what my degree is in! AMAZING!) and really enjoying my first big-girl job. It was a struggle finding the balance between work and hobbies, but I think I've got it down now.

What are you working on now?

I currently have three ongoing quilt projects: my Elephant Swoon, my scrappy stitch and flip quilt, and a pinwheel quilt (that I haven't touched in over a month). I have news on the first two, though! I have finished my first swoon block and I absolutely LOVE IT.

Look at all the elephants! LOOOOVE! I may notice my Swoon block has a few extra seams... That's because I had to piece together a few of the bits in order to have enough yellow fabric. But I think it looks okay. This is the only block I'll have to do that for, so it should be no big deal. 

I also finished all my blocks for stitch and flip quilt! I didn't snap a picture because I've shown you so many pictures of stacks of those blocks already, but soon I should have some new progress to show you! YAY!

Well, I hope you found something interesting in that long winded post! This blog hop has been so much fun so far and I have gotten to know so many new people. I really appreciate Beth putting it all together for us- you should go give her some love! 

Here is the remainder of the schedule:

Friday, July 5
Christa @ Christa Quilts!
Alyce @ Wonderland By Alyce
Anna @ The Crooked Banana
Rachel @ Sew Happily Ever After
Stephanie @ Quarter Incher
Shayla @ Sassafras Lane Designs
Caroline @ Carolines Craftiness
Lisa @ Hilltop House Creative Works


July 12
Karen @ Karen, {Novice} Quilter
Anne @ PlayCrafts
Rachel @ Let's Begin Sewing...
Jan @ Sew And Sow Farm
Anna @ Quilting Along The Grain
Cath @ Wombat Quilts
Sarah @ {no} hats in the house
Christen @ Love by Hand
Julie @ 627handworks


July 19
Karen @ Little Birdie Quilting Studio
Kathy @ Kwilty Pleasures
Katie @ Snuggle Up With A Dish From Karma
Alison @ Making Happyness
Ella and Nesta @ Ella & Nesta's Little Room
Adrienne @ Chezzetcook Modern Quilts
Nicole @ Modern Handcraft
Aylin @ AyliN-Nilya
Kelsey and Amanda @ Everyday Fray


July 26
Vicki @ A Quilter's Mission
RobinSue @ RobinSue Quilts
Elisa Lea @ Lovelea Designs
Elizabeth @ In The Boon Docks
Jenny @ A Note To Follow Sew
Lorna @ Sew Fresh Quilts
Sonia @ Fabric & Flowers
Emily @ Sew E.T. Em @ Sewing by Moonlight