Cristi quilts?? Who knew?!?

Yeah, seriously.  Good question.  I think I've been quilting in my head for probably about 10 years.  That's when I asked my mom for a sewing machine for Christmas.  My grand master plan was to make duvet covers that resembled quilts (ie had the patchwork thing going on... (which I still plan to do...) and for those of you that know me well, you probably know making a beautiful bed has always been high on my list of priorities...  (B'c that's obviously, so...  um, important?  Yeah.  Right.)  But seriously, I've daydreamed about sheets, beautiful fabric and the like for years!  Some college age girls bought new clothes.  I bought new sheets.  Now, I guess the truth is that I rarely actually MADE my bed, but man, when I did (ahem.  DO.), it's really quite nice.  (Except right now, while I have this momentary crisis of decorum, while I switch styles from very modern to more of the vintage/shabby chic look...  maybe a post for another day.)  

But when did I actually start quilting and loving it so much so that now I'm attempting to sell them?  And isn't quilting for old folks? (or at least the less hip? cool? .....  let's see ...  where am I going with this?  b'c I'm certainly not hip or cool, I'm just a dorky scientist....)    Let's just start here:  I decided one day that I really NEEDED to make a quilt for my daughter's bed.  Like in the way that a mom yearns to nurse her baby...  (some of you may get that??)  ...  I wanted to make, by hand, something my 3 year old would LOVE and that would make her feel loved as she cozied into her bed.  And so it began.  And now I'm so addicted to looking at and buying fabric, it's ridiculous.  I have to really work on self-control to NOT look at fabric in an evening and to not. buy. anymore. for a little while.  I also think that putting together pretty fabrics into a beautiful quilt is a bit like designing a home or painting or even maybe baking.  It satisfies my creative side, in a way that science just isn't capable.  So, when the kids are down and I've got Lost or Dancing with the Stars on, putting combos of fabric together and deciding on a quilt top is really one of my favorite things to do these days!  And so, there you have it.  So I'll be quilting if you need me.  Oh and b'c online tutorials have been KEY to my learning process, I'll be posting tutorials on as many sewing & quilting related topics as I can come up with.  If you have something you'd like to see or any questions, post a comment and I'll try to answer it!!  

OH, another HUGELY important thing for me to mention is that I'm not doing this alone...  My good friend Desiree is not only the designer and quilter of 2 of the quilts already posted, she is also the photographer of any photo that looks fantastic.  The one above was taken by ME and not meant to reflect on her photographing skills, b'c I tell you what, this lady is one heckuva photographer!!  And quilter.