I'm coming in..Head first.

I am banking that everything after this first sentence get easier so lets just get this out of the way. Whew. I never thought I would get up the nerve to write in my own space online. It always seemed too daunting a task. But the last several months I have found myself drawn to all the craft and quilty blogs I can get my hands on. I read through the daily chronicles of other women in my position or in a position I will likely find myself down the road. Mothers, wives, crafters, creators, but most of all individuals. I see the balance they strive for between being a caretaker and a woman with thoughts, dreams and desires. I see the creativity that comes from their experiences and their desire to always learn and create more. I see the friendships they form that become invaluable in their lives. I see all this and think...I want in.
I have always enjoyed doing crafts and sewing here and there but have never really used that desire to obtain skills and growth in the area...until recently. At the moment I am a stay at home wife. My battle with health and energy has left me with different options than I expected for my life. In that turn of expectations over the last few years I have found there are things I can do and have the time for. So I picked up a needle, googled "embroidery" and off I went. My earlier stuff was all given away as gifts without photos ('ll have to track them down for memories sake). Now I have a me a digi camera and a desire to learn and improve.
A few months ago I thought "hmmm, I should make a quilt. I don't know how but surely one as bright as me can figure it out." I didn't even know what a fat quarter was and had never heard of a rotary cutter. All things in good time I suppose. My mom said she would help me, and it would be for my little(but not so young any more sister). I figured I better decide what it would look like first then mumsy and I could pick out the fabric and discuss when one of us would travel the 3000 miles between us to put it together. Well quilts come in squares right...you sew together a bunch of squares...yea! I got this great idea to make a tiny replica of it first using tons of 1 in paper squares I cut out. Some how I got the dimensions wrong in my head and cut out 3 times as many as I needed But I was on the right track! This is what I came up with. I was so proud!

Of course I would add some embroidery, those will be the four squares with the little flowers penciled in. I even added a diamond...so creative. Ha. Well, now I know there is actually software to do this for you but I still feel it helped me get a nice picture in my mind. Each square will be 10"x10" so it will be throw size. My first one remember. Pattern done...off to the fabric.
We decided to go with shades of blue since first little sister loves that color. I went to fabric.com and found a line I loved. I told my mom the site I was looking in and to see if she liked anything. Sure enough we both picked the same exact fabrics. Destiny! I just tried to find the link but they are all sold out. I think you can see them ok in the pic below though. So mumsy got the fabric and has cut and organized the squares. (for the next one we are getting her a rotary cutter and matt) Here is that progress.

So we are coming along well, and I even finished 2 of the 4 embroidery blocks. I wanted them to be simple yet elegant. There will be blue birds in all but one...which I will get to later. I tried to pick colors that will go well with the blues and browns of the fabric. Heres the result. I'm a little nervous. Hope fully my pictures will improve with time. Good light is hard to come by in the winter. I got all 4 patterns free off of needlecrafter.com. There are tons of great vintage pattern to print out. I am now well into my 3rd one, each time trying to add a new stitch. I love how each stitch tells a different story and gives your work a special element.

Well I did it. I busted through the blog barrier! Now I can leave comments on yours without feeling silly. Thanks for bearing with me through post #1. Have a great night.