Twenty-seven years ago, when Hannah was a newborn, I took a quilting class with my sister-in-law. I made a couple of quilts. Smartphones weren’t a thing back then so sadly I don’t have pictures of them all. I remember I made a baby quilt for someone’s baby shower. I made a Christmas quilt and the only reason I know this is because I had leftover fabric packed away. And I made this quilt that I gave my Aunt Raini. I cannot believe she has saved it all these years and to be frank, I can’t believe it is still in one piece. I did straight machine quilting. If longarms were around (and google says they were), I knew nothing about them.

I started having babies and having fabric spread all over my house and floor wasn’t going to work with chasing little ones. I put my sewing machine away and promised myself I would quilt again one day. That sewing machine has moved thru 4 different houses. Last Thanksgiving I finally made my way up to the attic and scheduled a refresher course. I couldn’t even remember how to thread my machine. Can you believe I saved and moved that machine around for over 20 years only to find out I didn’t have the power cord/foot pedal??!! I was so disappointed. I took my machine to a local store and found out that Elnas had been discontinued and I would have trouble finding a part for it. I shelled out several hundred dollars for a new machine and brought it home. As I was unboxing it, I looked at the cord and noticed that the holes looked vaguely familiar. I took it over to my old machine and like magic it turned on!! I took that new machine back and bought the foot pedal and got to work. My quilt instructor informed me that like most things, they don’t make new ones the way they used to. My machine, although basic, was a pretty good machine. Nice and heavy with metal parts and newer machines are made out of plastic and break more easily. I have since upgraded my machine, but am still hanging onto old faithful. The newer machine is definitely quieter. With a blended family I don’t currently have the space to have a designated sewing/craft room, so I have set up my “sweat shop” at the end of my dining table. Quieter is better for everyone in this case!!

Since this blog is about documenting things for myself and my family, I wanted to share all of the quilts I have made this year. I can definitely see my improvement and growth over the course of the last 12 months. This is the first quilt I made along side my sweet quilting instructor. It’s just a throw Christmas quilt and it’s pretty cute!

Next up, I made a king size Christmas quilt for our bed. I loved it back then, but now I don’t love it quite as much. Since I have improved so much I know I could do better and cuter, but I’m still proud of it.

Still in my Christmas era, I made this throw Christmas quilt that I gifted to my Aunt Raini. Since she took such good care of the one from 25 years ago I knew it would be in good hands. It’s cuter than my Christmas throw so I’m a bit jealous!!

In late January I found this group on Facebook that was doing a mystery quilt sew along. You had no idea what the finished product would look like but I did know it was a Valentine’s quilt. I still love this one. It’s one of my favorites!

My sweet daughter, Ellie Grace, knew I was taking up quilting and gifted me some fabrics at Christmas. I decided to take those fabrics to make a quilt for her. When she was a baby she had a sweet woobie and blankie that both had minky fabric on the back. I decided to use minky fabric on the back of her quilt so she could have a grown-up woobie! I hope she will use it and treasure it and pass it down to her kids one day!

I took another class and have another super difficult quilt to finish that I will share at some point. It’s the hardest quilt I’ve ever made and not sure I have it in me to do another one. Stay tuned for more on that!

Summertime came and a sweet friend’s daughter asked me if I would make her a guest quit. She had seen a Tik Tok where wedding guests sign a quilt square and then it is sewn together for the couple to treasure for years. What a special idea and was thrilled I could do this.

My best friend’s daughter loved the idea so I did it again for her wedding shower. It’s fun to let the bride choose the color scheme they want and see how it comes together. I have at least one more of these planned for 2026.

I knew I wanted to make a quilt for my Mom for Christmas and she had been requesting a blue and white quilt. I sent her multiple pictures as I would come across them, but she was particularly enthusiastic about one with bows. It is called “Little Darling”, but the only problem was the fabric wouldn’t be available until after Thanksgiving. I busted my rear to get it made and finished in time. I am so grateful to my local quilt store. They did the quilting a few days before Christmas and I was able to do the binding and have it wrapped just in time.

Lastly, I wanted a quilt to fold at the end of our bed and it is probably my favorite one to date!! I love it so much! It is called “Flower Girl” and is from the same line of fabrics that the bows came from. I have also purchased these cute little tags to go on my quilts. They all say different things but my favorite is, “made with a little bit of cussing and a whole lot of love by Amanda DeShields”

I haven’t started another one yet. It’s New Year’s Day and life is returning to normal. Work will resume again and my “sweat shop” won’t see as much action. But I am loving the hobby of quilting. I love that it takes me off of my phone and social media. I love that I have to use my brain and engage in a task. And I love the finished product and hope that each person who has received a quilt will treasure it forever.

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Happy New Year to you all! May you find a wonderful “grandma” hobby to pursue in 2026!!