Hello World!

I'm Mary, and I love to quilt (and do other stuff), and I want to tell you all about it.

I've been sewing at my mother's machine ever since I can remember.  I've made dolls, and Barbie clothes, and bags.  There was even a point at the end of middle school and into high school where I made my own clothes.   Of course, since all my fabric came from Walmart, this led to some questionable fashion choices.
 
My favorite was a pair of super baggy pants that should have been pjs, but instead were worn everywhere until they were disintegrated.  And I still have the rest of that fabric because I'm pretty sure it's illegal to throw away fabric, no matter how awful or tiny the scrap is. 

(Yep, wooly and plaid. So stylish!)

When I moved into my first apartment, my grandmother gave me her sewing machine (as an excuse to buy herself an even cooler machine) and I got to work.  While finishing up college, I made this quilt, and I was bit with the quilt bug.

(This is before I knew you could quilt on a home machine!)

I've since branched out a bit.  I don't think I've bought any batik since that quilt (though I still have the scraps, I can't help myself.)  And I've learned that you don't have to have instructions from a magazine or book to make a quilt, but they're still great inspiration.

(Gratuitous Flea Market Fancy photo)

And, now that I'm a stay-at-home mom with two little kids, I get to see just how much of the things I want and need I can sew for myself.  Because I think it's way cooler to make exactly what you want from the fabric you want, instead of settling for the boring one in the store.  (Don't get me wrong, I love to shop as much as the next girl, but have you tried buying clothes for yourself?  or finding cute, inexpensive clothes that aren't copies of what everyone else has?)

And there's knitting too!

So, I'm looking forward to sharing all the fun stuff that I'm working on, and I hope you'll all enjoy it too!