My First Quilt

After two years of work, I finally finished my first quilt.  I actually didn't really think I would like quilting.  I always thought it was for old ladies who had too much time on their hands and figured I would try it out someday when I was older.   But, a friend in my ward was teaching a free quilting class (and she is a very talented quilter) so I figured I would take the opportunity and learn how to do the basics.  

What I came to discover was that I REALLY like it!  (Great- just what I need, another hobby, right?  I don't even have time to do the hobbies I already have.)  I realized that quilting is just up my alley.  I love piecing things together and I really enjoyed coming up with my own patterns and doing the math, cutting and sewing, etc.  One thing I am challenged with is the color coordinating, but I guess there are helps for that.  I had a lot of fun looking around at other quilts and getting ideas from them, and then adapting those to my own.  This quilt is just a sampler of a bunch of different quilt blocks.   I was also amazed to realize the unlimited potential to create something unique.  I never thought it would be so much fun!  

So, I went to the class once a month and then worked on it little by little, and finally finished the quilt at the end of July.  My goal was to enter it into the county fair.  I have never done that before and wanted a new experience.  

I have to admit my experience at the fair was a little disappointing for me.  First of all, it probably took us at least 15 min. to even find my quilt and when we did,  it was folded up in a glass case about knee-high.  I was a little sad it wasn't displayed up on the wall where most of the quilts were and there were empty spaces up there.  I know I was a little whiney and it shouldn't have really mattered, but I had looked forward to having it displayed.   The second thing was that I had gotten second place, but the more I thought about it, the better I felt about the ribbon.  If I would have gotten first place on my very first quilt, what would be the fun in trying again the next time?   Anyway, I am pretty sure I will do it again someday.  

One funny thing about the whole experience, though, was that a few minutes before I left to turn in my quilt, Erika and Kyle said, "Oh, we want to enter something!"  So they hurried and built a little lego scene and turned it in together and guess what-  Yes- they got a blue ribbon.   Ha ha.  I was very happy for them, though.  They were really excited about it and had to have their picture taken by it.  

Erika and Kyle showing off their blue ribbon and Lego creation.
It's a little hard to see and not so clear because Aaron took it on his phone.

The Box Elder County Fair is just such a fun, down-to-earth event.  I actually think it is really neat to see the amazing things people are involved in.  It is so fun to see peoples' creativity- it's inspiring!   One thing we saw that someone made was a large sculpture of the Brigham City Temple made out of Legos, and it looked like a professional little miniature.  The legos were purchased from all over the world.  There were a lot of things like that.  People enter anything- from baked and canned goods to art or produce from their gardens!  This is so different from the Utah State fair that we went to when I was little.   I just love the small- town feel.  The kids especially enjoy the animals and the rides.

Heidi had a blast on the dragon ride.