The way-back machine

Log Cabin, Straight Furrows set ~ 88"x88"

I was digging through my big box of quilt files this afternoon...magazine tear-outs, ebay printoffs, old show catalogs...and came across a slide sheet filled with slides of my first quilts from my newlywed days in the mid-1970s.  This is my very first quilt! 

The slide is overexposed, so I tweaked it a bit in Picasa but the image still a little washed out and yellowish.  It was quite vibrant!  I used 'calicoes' available at the time, some cottons and some blends.  There weren't many options available then.  No quilt shops.  Mostly fabric departments at JCPenney and department stores.  I used hot pink kettle cloth for the center squares...so modern for the time, when everyone was remaking traditional quilts during those Bicentennial years.  Kettle cloth was sturdier than calico, which was helpful structurally because this piece was tied through the centers and at the block corners with embroidery floss (extra-thick batting and a percale sheet backing).  At the time, I couldn't imagine ever hand-quilting a whole quilt!

Here's the best blast-from-the-past.  No rotary cutters then.  I made separate templates (out of cereal box cardboard) for each strip size and traced and hand-cut each piece.  One hundred and twenty one blocks' worth.  Sadly, I no longer have the quilt, which was a family favorite.  But I do have a few pieces of cloth that I used in my stash. 

Ok, playtime's over...back to the task at hand.  Have a great weekend!  (Do you still have your first quilt?)

Comments

[Carole]

That's a beauty and quite impressive for a first quilt. My first one was for Hannah, it was a Trip Around the World from Eleanor Burns' book. It hangs on the inside of our front door all winter - it helps keep out the drafts that come naturally with our very old house.

[Sujata Shah]

That's amazing! Your first quilt had so many pieces? No rotary cutter and you used templates? I am forever impressed.. Not that I wasn't in the first place with your quilting ability!
I do have my first quilt and it is not nearly as big or spectacular.

[annette]

I think your quilt is wonderful! I love being reminded about how we "used" to do things. Quilting is so much better now. Your Log Cabin is truly a keepsake.

[Debbie]

That was your first quilt?? Wow, it's amazing! And I remember the days before rotary cutters, etc. My first quilt was done with cereal boxes that I cut templates from and was all by hand. I'm glad that quilting has improve because I don't think I would have done another one like that. You have a real heirloom!

[Cynthia]

Great first quilt! Mine was a nine patch crib quilt for my first baby, in sherbet colors including scraps from my mom, grandma, and great-grandma. That was 20 years ago!

[Judy]

Your first quilt is impressive.

I do still have my first quilt. Like yours it is cotton and cotton blends and has been "well loved". I put it away a few years ago so I could preserve it in it's current state and it wouldn't disappear forever!

Judy

[Vicky F]

Hi Jan,
You inspired me to do a post about my first quilt, too. I'm finally giving it some respect. All my fabrics were from J.C. Penney as well. I had to have cut the squares with scissors, but apparently my mind has blocked that painful fact.
Thanks for your great post!

[Janet]

I can't imagine cutting all the pieces for a quilt like that with cardboard templates!! Wow, you were determined! It's a lovely quilt. I still have the crib sized Bearspaw quilt I made for my oldest daughter when she was born. I have the matching bumper pads too in a closet somewhere :0)

[Anita]

I wish I had pictures of some of the stuff I made back in the 70's. But my photos were accidentally thrown out when my parents divorced. I do have a non-official quilt from my Jr. High years. I can't bring myself to use it or get rid of it, so it stays folded up in the closet. Some things are best left in the closet! http://bloominworkshop.wordpress.com/2008/02/26/want-a-good-laugh/

I think your log cabin is timeless! I'm just glad that rotary cutters were invented!

[Miriam]

What a great quilt of memories.
I have only been quilting for a relatively short time, so my first quilt is still safely here.

[Karen Beigh]

I like Log Cabin quilts. Makes no difference how old or what kind of fabrics were used. Thank you for sharing.
Yes, I still have my first quilt. It is made with cotton and aida cloth cross stitch pictures.

[Pat]

A great post, Jan! Log cabin quilts have always held a special place in my heart & I do have the first one I made. Started quilting in '82 so rotary cutter was part of my tools.
Still have the quilt but it is threadbare around the edges - our son slept under it for many years. Can't part with it.

Cardboard templates? you were a brave soul:o)

[AileenPettigrew]

Oh, that is beautiful!

[Lynn]

I really like this quilt!!! And funny how we USED to do things!!! Sometimes I'd like to go back to some things but I'll never give up my rotary cutter!!!!

[Mary Jo]

My first quilt was a rail fence made before the rotary cutter. I made it in my first quilting class and the teacher insisted we piece everything by hand. I still piece some things by hand but not a block as simple as rail fence. My daughter has it but it's a small lap size so hasn't been used much but I got bored with piecing the same block over and over again and just stopped. I'm amazed I ever finished it. My second quilt was a log cabin pieced by machine.

[Susan]

Finally finished looking at your Toyko flicker set. THANK YOU.

[kathie]

omg how fun is this! just made me smile. YES when I went to my first quilt class she had us make templates from cardboard.
forgot all about that.
no I don't have that first quilt, unfortunately.
Kathie

[Tonya Ricucci]

aaaghhh, templates!!!!! fun quilt though - glad you still have some of that fabric.

[Lindey]

Thanks for sharing your first quilt, Jan. Mine was a maroon and blue Sampler made the old-fashioned way from cottons purchased at our local grocery store (which still had a dry goods section back in 1979). Twelve years later, I gave it to a young man who was down on his luck--unemployed and living in a tiny, unheated camper. He left the area a few months later, and we lost contact with him. I often wonder what became of him, and of that special quilt.

[Diane]

Jan, you were clearly a star from the very beginning of your quilting career. I began quilting in the mid 1970's too and remember the JC Penney calicoes, cereal box templates, and cutting everything out with scissors. My first quit was a four patch. I had no idea the pattern even had a name. Still have the quilt even though it is in tatters.

[Pam]

That is a great first quilt, I am sorry you don't have it any more.... the first quilt I made was a small (36" x 36") trip around the world, done with Christmas fabrics. I hand quilted it, but then sewed the binding on by machine. I have thought about taking it off & doing it right, but it is a good way to remember where I started! I started quilting right around the time when rotary cutters were becoming standard equipment. In my first quilting class though, we cut templates with scissors and learned how to draft our own patterns on graph paper.

[Melissa]

I know I'm in the minority because it's all about getting to the fun part but there is something so wonderful and slow about tracing templates onto fabric. Even though I bought a rotary cutter back in 1988, I have only just recently gotten comfortable with it.

What a wonderful first quilt and please tell me it's with a family member who loves it dearly!

[Carla]

I was just telling about making log cabin blocks with cereal box templates last night! Oh, and buying fabric at JCP...that's a great memory too...I recall shopping there for dress fabric as a child...got lavender polkadot...Easter dress I think! I want to know what you did with that first quilt? Fun, post!

[Meredithe]

That's amazing for a first quilt - particularly without a rotary cutter to make it! My first quilt is still blocks - hate the fabrics so don't think it will ever get finished. There are better quilts to be making!