Welcome to my stop on the 2013 Let's Get Acquainted New Blogger Blog Hop! I'm thrilled to be participating, and I strongly encourage you to check out the other participants - Beth has put together a great group. You can find the full schedule of participating bloggers here, or by clicking on the button above.
By way of introduction, my name is Adrianne, I'm in my late twenties, and I live in Wellington, New Zealand. As part of the hop, I thought I would share a bit of my quilting journey with you. I made my first quilt top over Christmas/New Year 2006/2007, just for fun, and my mum (who is also a quilter) quilted and bound it for me. I didn't know it then, but it was the start of my quilting obsession!
I took a break from quilting for a few years while I finished studying and started my legal career (yup, when I'm not quilting, I'm a lawyer). Then, in early 2011, I decided to make a quilt as a wedding present for one of my oldest friends. I had that (king-sized!) quilt long-arm quilted, but bound it myself. This quilt is made from left over blocks and fabric from that wedding quilt.
It's the first quilt I quilted myself, around the time I started this blog (nearly a year ago!). Since then, I've been quilting up a storm!
This is a selection of my recent-ish projects. I particularly love making quilts, and I branch out into pillows and mini-quilts sometimes. I've tried my hand at making zipper pouches and I'm steeling my nerves to try making a bag.
My absolute favourite part of quilting is picking the design and choosing fabric (some might argue that the evidence suggests my favourite part of quilting is buying fabric - but I'm not admitting anything like that!). I love designing my own quilts and blocks - I use Touchdraw for quilt and block designing. I've put together a few a few tutorials, and you can check them out on my tutorials page.
I do all my piecing and quilting on my little 25-year-old Bernina - I blogged all about my sewing machine here, if you are interested. I stand by my view that you don't need a big fancy machine to quilt (I bet it's nice though!).
My number one tip for new bloggers is to join flickr, and post your photos there as well as on your blog. I didn't really think people used flickr anymore, until I started blogging. But, it is alive and well, and the place where most online quilting bees and swap groups are located. I've had some amazing opportunities through flickr - including having one of my quilts in a real life magazine!
I'd love for you to join me on my quilting journey! You're welcome to become a follower, subscribe to my RSS feed, or follow my blog with bloglovin' or your favourite reader.
It's the first quilt I quilted myself, around the time I started this blog (nearly a year ago!). Since then, I've been quilting up a storm!
This is a selection of my recent-ish projects. I particularly love making quilts, and I branch out into pillows and mini-quilts sometimes. I've tried my hand at making zipper pouches and I'm steeling my nerves to try making a bag.
My absolute favourite part of quilting is picking the design and choosing fabric (some might argue that the evidence suggests my favourite part of quilting is buying fabric - but I'm not admitting anything like that!). I love designing my own quilts and blocks - I use Touchdraw for quilt and block designing. I've put together a few a few tutorials, and you can check them out on my tutorials page.
I do all my piecing and quilting on my little 25-year-old Bernina - I blogged all about my sewing machine here, if you are interested. I stand by my view that you don't need a big fancy machine to quilt (I bet it's nice though!).
My number one tip for new bloggers is to join flickr, and post your photos there as well as on your blog. I didn't really think people used flickr anymore, until I started blogging. But, it is alive and well, and the place where most online quilting bees and swap groups are located. I've had some amazing opportunities through flickr - including having one of my quilts in a real life magazine!
I'd love for you to join me on my quilting journey! You're welcome to become a follower, subscribe to my RSS feed, or follow my blog with bloglovin' or your favourite reader.
I've just recently passed a milestone in terms of blog followers, so I'm planning a celebration for next week. I haven't quite got all the details sorted, but the chances of it involving the chance to win fabric are very very high. Hope to see you there!
Now off with you to check out this week's participating bloggers:
Friday, June 14th
Now off with you to check out this week's participating bloggers:
Friday, June 14th
Julie
@ Jolie
Maxtin
Melissa
@ Melia Mae
Quilting
Adrianne @ On The Windy
Side <--- that's me!
Molli
@ Molli
Sparkles
Laura
@ Little And
Lots
Sarah
@ Duck Egg
Threads
Kelly
@ My Quilt
Infatuation
Cari
@ There's A
Thread
Valerie
@ Between
Quilts
I have been following you! I love your blog and my girlfriend has the same Bernina you do. I am a Bernina gal myself so already, we are kindred spirits. I just recently uploaded a bunch of photos to FLICKR..just getting my feet wet there!
ReplyDeleteThanks you for introducing yourself. I like the "leftover wedding" quilt. I was interested to read that your machine is old - mine is a Singer which is about 25 years old - unfortunately I can't get a walking foot to fit it, so my latest quilt is going to have to be handquilted, at least until I get to the border when I may be able to do straight lines all around it.
ReplyDeleteI love your mosaic of your quilts..they are just beautiful! I need to try out this Touchdraw..is it like an app?? Thanks for the great post!
ReplyDeleteGreat to get to know you better! Your work is outstanding. I still can't believe that you quilt your big quilts on your home machine. I am impressed!
ReplyDeleteAll the quilts in your mosaic are beautiful and congrats on being featured in a magazine! Great learning more about you and your quilting journey.
ReplyDeleteI love seeing what you're up to! So many gorgeous projects!
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite things about quilt blogging is "meeting" people who are quilting all over the world. I didn't realize you were in NZ! You have made some really lovely quilts. I love the layout of your scrappy trip-a-long quilt, in particular--and you have such a great sense of color!
ReplyDeleteSo great to meet you on the hop! Your quilts are lovely. It is amazing how quilting can suck you in ;) AND I adore your name, ours are so close together!
ReplyDeleteI am so amazed at the number of projects you have been able to fit in. They are wonderful finishes. Are there any good fabric/quilt stores in the windy city? I am thinking of visiting the family in Napier sometime October and may pop down to the windy city :-)
ReplyDeleteI am trying my new blogger account as my wordpress account is a non-reply commenter so I hope this works.
I had the good sense to start following a while ago ;-)
ReplyDeleteLovely post Adrianne. Quilting must be a pleasant change of pace to your career hours. I hadn't thought to update my flickr account - although I do have several hundred quilts flagged there as my favourite's collection (I haven't joined Pinterest).
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing quilting year you've had Adrianne!! Hard to believe you've had time for professional career as well! ;)
ReplyDeleteYou already know I'm a fun, but it was great to learn a little more about you :) Your scrappy tripalong quilt is probably my favorite that came out of that whole craze. I would love to get some more info about how you use Touchdraw for block design; I actually have the app and I have played around with it, but I always end up back with pencil and graph paper. Congrats on your followers milestone, you have such a beautiful blog and make such beautiful thing that everyone should be following you!
ReplyDeleteLovely post. I will try touch draw at Fat Quarter Retreat in London this year.
ReplyDeleteYou've made a beautiful collection of quilts!
ReplyDeleteSome beautiful makes there Adrianne, but i still adore your Oakshotts hexy quilt most of all :o)
ReplyDeleteI love your blog, and have been following for quite a while already. And I love your saying - it doesn't matter what machine, you still can quilt! I am saying that to myself many times, to stop thinking about saving and buying a machine.. better save for other things or buy battings!haha
ReplyDeleteI have been following you for a while now, and I love your blog! It is so nice to find out more about you. The quilts are fabulous - we have pretty similar tastes. I agree about sewing machines, but I do love my Janome's too!
ReplyDeleteAdrienne,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your post and see you like Elizabeth Hartman patterns - I love your style and congrats on having your work published!
New follower via Bloglovin
Pretty fabric is my weakness too. One could say I sew so that my husband can't say anything about fabric purchases...
ReplyDeleteI like that you don't have a fancy machine. My machine is pretty basic as well and I always feel slightly inadequate about it, and it is tricky at times, but it's not going to stop me from quilting!
Congrats on the published work, btw. That's awesome!
Great post! I also thought Fickr was dead... I mean, it's yahoo, right? Ha! I was so wrong. I love your mosaic :) and I totally agree. Quilting does not require fancy things. But those fancy things are fun! I've been a follower for a while and am excited to see what the future holds!
ReplyDeleteHi Adrianne,
ReplyDeleteYour quilts and quilting are both gorgeous. Yay for you for quilting yourself on your Bernina! You are right - you don't need a fancy machien for quilting. Mine Bernaina is nearly 20 years old though I'm seriously considering an upgrade to a newer Bernina with a little more throat space :-)
Wow! your quilts are really fantastic, and how impressive for one of them to be featured in a magazine! It's great to read about your quilting journey!
ReplyDelete-Kelly @ My Quilt Infatuation
Hi Adrianne! Nice to meet you through the blog hop. I love your scrappy trip. It is truly worthy of being published! All your works are very lovely and I am certain I did see that little fox pillow before. Cute!
ReplyDeleteLorna:)
http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com
I love that post! So interesting to hear more about the quilts, and how you got there! That wedding quilt is amazing - i had never seen it before, I am really impressed!
ReplyDeleteNice to see a round up of those projects all on one page Adrianne! I'm keen on my old machine too-it's definitely not the machine that holds me back-except perhaps when FMQing a large quilt-that's the only time I ever wish for more throat space!
ReplyDeleteI am so in love with your little foxes!!! I love your machine too. That is encouraging for beginners. They don't have to sell their car to do amazing work! I recently joined Flickr and am loving it.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilts! I love the plus block using 5" charms tutorial. I think it would be perfect to use up all the charms I've collected through swaps. Nice looking blog too :)
ReplyDeleteNice meeting you through the hop!!
Wonderful post - your bright stars on grey quilt speaks to me - so fun! I think I will have to take your advice and post my pics to flicker, this is an opportunity I am missing out on! Great for you to be published in a magazine - so exciting!!!!
ReplyDeleteAwesome post! I absolutely love your hourglass quilt! That turned out great!
ReplyDeleteCan I win fabric even if I live in the USA?
ReplyDeleteI love your blog - the fox mini quilt is really great. I don't think you need a fancy machine for quilting, either. I have a $99 Singer Simple machine that I bought three years ago. I don't have any problems - I would like to have a fancy machine with lots of neat stitches, but i will have to wait for that. I'm a new follower. Keep up the great work. I would love to visit New Zealand someday. My favorite singer/songwriter is Neil Finn/Crowded House.
Excellent intro to your blog. Your work is great and I completely relate to you on fabric purchases! Looking forward to following your blog.
ReplyDeleteHi, nice to meet you. I have just started following you. I really like your quilts and your little fox.
ReplyDeleteGreat post! Iloved all your projects. Wasn't the scrappy trip along fun! I am a new follower.:)
ReplyDeletejan@http://sewandsowfarm.blogspot.com/
Congrats on having your quilt in a magazine - that's awesome! You've made a lot in the past year and do beautiful work. And I'm with you on the buying fabric part...I'm really good at that too.
ReplyDeleteYour quilts are lovely. Thanks for the tutorials about equilateral triangles. I have those bookmarked and am very excited to do a triangle quilt later this summer.
ReplyDeleteI really love your style, Adrienne. I've been poking around your tutorials page and am really looking forward to digging into some of them more. Your line about fabric buying possibly being your favorite part made me laugh. Someone could easily accuse me of that too. :) Following you and looking forward to reading more.
ReplyDeleteLove your style. The quilts are very vibrant.
ReplyDeleteLove your work.
ReplyDeleteCarol
Hi Adrienne! Love your work! We have been in some of the same swaps on Flickr and always look forward to your creations. I have bookmarked your tutorial on equilateral triangels - something I have been wanting to try!
ReplyDeleteHi Adrianne! I love your quilts they are so beautiful and colourful and that fox mini is the cutest! Was one of them featured in fat quarterly recently? I'm sure I recognise it. Will be following in future. Amy
ReplyDeleteAlthough I have been reading your blog for quite some time, it is nice to see so many of your beautiful quilts in one post. A trip down bloggy memory lane if you will. I am also just noticing the photo in your sidebar (the perils of using blog readers), it's lovely! Keep up the great work. I love being inspired by your projects!
ReplyDeleteBlogging is such fun. I enjoy checking out what others are doing and adding ideas to my quilt bucket list. I am certainly in awe of everything you have accomplished! Wow!!
ReplyDeleteYou've made some lovely quilts in your relatively short time quilting!
ReplyDeleteYour finished quilts are so pretty, I've definitely seen (and favorited some of them on Flickr already!). I added you on Bloglovin :)
ReplyDeleteHi Adrianne, I also love playing with designs but I've not used Touchdraw before, I'm definitley going to have a look at that. I've been playing with the Threadbias design tool and having great fun with that.
ReplyDeleteWow! Your work is amazing! How do you find time to create and design? Great post! Thanks for being part of this hop!
ReplyDeleteI started following your blog a few weeks ago, and appreciate this chance to get to "know" you a little better. I am also an attorney and am encouraged by the fact that you are able to practice law and create beautiful quilts!
ReplyDeleteThanks Miggsie! Unfortunately you are a no-reply blogger, so I can't reply to you by email :-( I love to meet other quilting members of the legal community!
DeleteI added your blog to bloglovin! I look forward to seeing more of your creations. I guess I will have to break down and finally join flickr!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful quilts, Adrianne, and congrats on that magazine feature -- fabulous!! It's so fun to look back over that first year and how much we got done!
ReplyDeleteAdrianne, such a fan of your quilts and projects. Thanks for sharing your tutorials and some of your tips. I'm so glad that I found you through the link up at the beginning of my blogging experience, I always find your posts so fun and entertaining to read - and the photos are complete eye candy! Love your work!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your lovely comment Ashley! Sadly, you are a no reply blogger, so I can't respond to you directly by email as I would usually do. Let me know if you want to change that, and I can give you some instructions.
DeleteCongrats on your magazine appearance! It was well-deserved--your quilts are beautiful! I'd love to be more involved in designing patchwork (although I'll have to improve my patchwork skills, first:)
ReplyDeleteBeautiful work! I love your style and clour choices.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on Flickr, I was really surprised to find out how alive it is!
Wow, such beautiful projects! Good to get to know you and congrats on being published! I'm a new follower:)
ReplyDeleteSo I've been {happily} following for a while, but just wanted to drop you a line to say I was glad to learn a bit more background to your quilting story ;)
ReplyDeleteHi Adrianne, finally I get to 'officially' meet you, (I've seen you around blog land here and there). I enjoy the planning stages too, I'm going to have a look at your tutorials one of my goals is to design my own quilt. Love your quilts, Sarah x
ReplyDeleteThose green and blue fabrics from the leftover wedding quilt blocks are just beautiful - I'd love to make a quilt for myself with a similar palette! And your fox mini is just adorable...nice to meet you through the Hop! :)
ReplyDeleteLovely to meet you! I'm really in love with your birds on a wire quilt - I'm thinking of doing one myself, and I just adore the simplicity of yours!!
ReplyDeleteThis is my type of place! Bright colours, cheery attitude, and clean, stylish blog. Sign me up! Follower #333, I'll take it! Um, can we be new BFFs?!
ReplyDeleteYour quilts are beautiful and I totally agree that sometimes the older machines, like your Bernina, are way better than the new ones! I've purchased several older Berninas at thrift shops :)
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about Flickr! I really discounted it, too, until I posted some pictures and saw the traffic on my blog. I need to post more there, I just feel like bad cell phone pics, or IG pics are not really "good enough" for flickr. It's for quality photos!!
ReplyDeleteGreat to "meet" you and I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get here!! You've got some wonderful stuff and I'll be following for sure :)
ReplyDelete