My Turn at Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop

Hello, my name is Pat! I think it's always best to start off by introducing myself and to tell you a little about me. I live in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York (over 300 miles from NYC). I'm definitely a country girl. I have been married to the most wonderful guy, Joe, for over 11 years and we have the best Corgi, named Humphrey Bogart.  I have 2 grown stepdaughters, 2 grandsons, 2 acquired granddaughters that include my acquired son-not-in-law, and 2 granddogs.

Humphrey on the dock greeting the kids and grandkids coming in for the day on the lake.

I have a day job that I really do love, I'm a Quality Engineer at a local college (I do surveys and other statistical analysis). Any of the various hobbies I have (or had) require gloves. I'm not sure why this is, because I'm not particularly fond of gloves.

I don't have a horse any more, but I still love dressage.

(1) How long have you been quilting?
 That's a good question, I have no idea! I have been sewing since I was a very little girl (way back in the 60's). I used to take my doll dresses apart and use them as patterns to make them new dresses. Does anyone remember polyester double knit and stretch and sew patterns and classes??? I made some of my own clothes at one point. My mom started quilting in the late 70's, but I was in high school, then college and only reaped the benefit of her work. I didn't have time to sew, but I did like to paint.

 In the 90's, I bought a sewing machine at a garage sale for $25. It was then that the idea for quilting sounded like fun. I love design and color. My mother was still quilting like crazy, but she only made quilt tops and had them long-arm quilted. So I made a few quilts, maybe one every few years. What turned me into a fanatical quilter was my mom passing away two years ago. I inherited her stash (truckload upon truckloads of quilting fabric, notions, and machines). I decided then and there, if this was coming into my house I was going to use it. Then I started playing around with FMQ. A love affair was born!

(2) Favorite quilting tip
 Hmmm, I would probably say be fearless and quilt what YOU love. Sometimes certain patterns or techniques can appear daunting, but for goodness sakes, in the end it's just fabric and thread. Give it a try. For me it was FMQing. The thought of lowering the feeddogs, my mom was scared of it, yikes,  how could I do it. But I did, and now I piece to get to the quilting stage! The other thing is that you need to quilt what you love, not what someone else wants. Don't make a quilt you are not excited about making, even if a loved one asks you. It makes quilting drudgery!  Feel free to check out my Tutorials and other Tips and Trick page for more quilting tips.

(3) Favorite blogging tip
 Link-up! Join QAL's! I didn't understand this when I first started blogging. The quilt blog community is one of the nicest, most supportive groups I have ever known. Blog consistently (3 or 4 times a week). Blogging pushes me to quilt because I want to join in the community!

(4) Favorite fabric 
I'm really starting to obsess over solids. I just love them. I made my first all solids quilt this summer. You can even vote for it over at The Bloggers Quilt Festival! ;)

(5) Favorite craft book 
 I'm really not a craft book kind of person. I'm much happier looking things up online. I love Leah Day's FMQ fills, her blog, the Free Motion Quilting Project, is a fabulous resource. I did just recently purchase Angela Walter's new book Modern Free Motion Quilting.

(6) Favorite books 
 I don't have much time to sit and just read, but I do listen to audio books while I quilt. I'm a huge fan of Vince Flynn and Brad Thor, I have listened to all of their books.

So now you know me! I love to quilt, I love the blog quilt community! I hope you will come back and visit!  Thanks so much for stopping by.

A huge thank you to Beth at Plum and June for organizing this Let's Get Acquainted Blog Hop! What fun it's been!

Color Me Quilty!

Pat