My first quilt

March 17 being National Quilting Day I was reflecting back on quilts that I have made through the years.
I was in high school when I made my first quilt, 1970.  I wanted a quilt for the beach and sun bathing - a padded quilt was a perfect idea.  I never made a quilt before and my mother never made quilts.  In fact, I had no clue on the process I just knew what I wanted to accomplish.

I walked up to a Kmart ( which was the only store that carried fabric near my home) and purchased cotton percale and some quilt batting with my babysitting money.  When I got home I cut the fabric and batting into long strips about four inches wide using a yardstick and a pair of scissors.  With my mother's sewing machine I proceeded to sandwich and sew the strips together, a row at a time.  I was sewing a quilt as you go - that was the process I figured would work to sew all the quilt on a sewing machine.  When I was finished I sewed a binding around the raw edges.  It took a little over a week to finish.  Completed, it was the size of a full bed - enough room for me and a couple friends to hang out on.

My quilt was perfect.  My friends loved my beach quilt too and asked me to make one for them.  I just told them that I would help them make one, but they never did.  That quilt got a lot of wear and tear and was patched over and over.  I brought it to the beach, picnics, tailgating and just dragged it around.

Looking back, just think I could have been the one who created the quilt as you go craze.  

I can not begin to count the number of quilts I've made since then, but I'm certainly more skilled and the technology has made the whole process so much easier an accurate, but my first quilt was so cool and I still have it.