Welcome to the second week of the 2016 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop which is divided into three hives which are lead by some pretty famous quilty bloggers:
About me: My name is Jennifer and I'm a quiltaholic. My living situation is somewhat unique compared to most quilters as my husband, our dog, Lola, and I live full-time in a fifth wheel RV (recreational vehicle). Hence, the name of my blog, RV Quilting. You hear a lot about tiny houses these days and ours is that for sure, only its on four wheels, not five as the name implies. We live in less than 350 square feet. Since my husband loves his TV and his recliner and when I'm not quilting, I sit at our table, also known as my desk. I do have a recliner also, but rarely use it. I know you must be wondering how I can be a quilter and live in such a small space. Actually, it is pretty easy and I really like my space. You see, where the couch was, there is now a large table which is my quilting space. My husband cut a hole in it so my sewing machine, a Bernina 770 QE, is set down in it so I'm sewing and quilting at a comfortable height. No more shoulder, neck, or back pain reaching up to free motion quilt. We have a large closet and since I don't have a lot of clothes that need to be hung up, I have tubs that contain all my fabric which are sorted by color with two tubs of novelty/Christmas fabrics and one with projects. Lola's bed is under my quilting table and she is kind enough to share it with a really large tub that contains my batting and zip locks that hold my scraps sorted by color.
My sewing area in our large 5th wheel with my old Singer
We are currently traveling in our 27 foot 5th wheel and here are some pictures of my quilting spaces.
The table is where I do my sewing, piecing and quilting.
My fabric is stored in the tubs under our queen sized bed.
Beside my chair at the table is where my Bernina, Featherweight, a tote that contains my cutting mat and rulers, and a container holding threads, embroidery floss, etc.
Then I have a drawer that used to house my t-shirts, but now its where my iron, notions container, and Bernina attachments live.
Last, but not least, is my ironing station set up on top of our stove. My Steady Betty ironing board is pretty worn out, but it still works great.
When we aren't traveling in a smaller fifth wheel RV, we live in Pahrump, Nevada which is about an hour northwest of Las Vegas. We are about 50 miles east of Death Valley National Park, which, by the way, is amazing, so we are in the midst of the Mojave Desert. It is quite different from Colorado where we lived before we decided to sell our home and go full-time RVing.
My quilting history: I began quilting back in the mid 1980s when I took some classes at a local quilt shop. I learned about making templates, piecing by hand, and hand quilting. I'm not sure when the cutting mats and rotary cutters came on the market, but this shop didn't have them. At that time I swore I'd never use a sewing machine to piece or quilt; it was unheard of. Well, as they say, never say never. December of 2013, my daughter-in-law, Jennifer, and I took a beginner quilt class at Jo-Ann's in Las Vegas. We made a Churn Dash block and I was hooked.
My machines: I bought a very inexpensive Singer from a big box store and pretty soon after that returned it and bought a Singer Confidence Quilter machine. It worked well for me for two years, but I really, really wanted a Bernina and in March of this year I bought the 770 QE (Marion) and I love it. Also, about six months ago I bought a Singer Featherweight (Stella).
My Favorites: My first quilt was made with a batik layer cake and the pattern was Cake Box. I had it quilted by a longarmer and gifted to my daughter, Jennifer, my first born. Unfortunately I cannot find a picture of it. Since we live on a very limited budget I knew if I wanted to make quilts, I had better learn how to quilt them as I couldn't afford to send them to longarmers. Thus I started learning how to free motion quilt and I love it. I learned by watching videos and reading a lot of books, both hard back and on my Kindle.
My most favorite quilt was a memory quilt for my son in memory of his dog, Alder, whom I helped care for while my son traveled for his job. The pictures aren't the best and neither is the quilting but I loved every second while making it.
Alder Memory Quilt
One of the Alder Pictures with DIL, Jennifer
Another favorite was Lightning Strikes for my granddaughter, Dakotah.
Lightning Strikes for Granddaughter, Dakotah
I then made Scrappy Mountain Majesties (a Bonnie Hunter pattern) quilt out of recycled men's shirts for my grandson, Cole. I also pieced the back which you can see in the picture of Cole with his quilt.
No picture of the front after it was quilted :(
Cole loved it!
One last favorite is a mini I designed for the Las Vegas Modern Quilt Guild block of the month using the Drunkards Path block. I called it Night Flight and I had so much fun making it.
My blogging tip is all about pictures. You don't have to be a professional photographer and you don't need an expensive camera., but you should try to get outside whenever possible to take pictures of your creations. Early morning or late afternoon offer the best lighting. Going outside isn't always possible so do your best with the circumstances that present themselves at the time. Also, be sure to add your blog name or URL to each of your pictures. There are lots of free programs out there for accomplishing this. On my cell phone I use a free application called Add Watermark which works really well. For my computer I have Photoshop Elements which isn't free, but a program I've had since my scrapbooking days.
My questions for you: Do you do your own quilting or send it out to a longarmer? If you do you own, what is your favorite, free motion, wakling foot, or a combination of both. I like both free motion and using a walking foot.
The Blog Hop schedule for my hive: I hope you will visit each and every blog and take a few extra minutes to leave a comment. This is week two of the Hop.
Blog Hop Week 2 - June 20th
Blog Hop Week 3 - July 11th
Blog Hop Week 4 - July 18th
Many thanks for visiting and don't forget to leave a comment. Bloggers love comments.
