Isn’t it the best when you meet someone you like and then you find out they like all the same things you do?! Well, I’d like to introduce you to Cari. I met her through one of my quilt-alongs a while back and then found out just how much we have in common! Cari has made so many of my patterns, and she always sends me cute pics when she's finished. I thought it would be fun to share what she has made and a little more about her… think of this like meeting a new quilting buddy, I dare you not to smile as you read and see what she has shared!
It's an unexpected delight to have this opportunity to share with you all. A little about myself. I’ve been sewing since I was in single digits. My mom signed me up for summer sewing lessons at the Singer Sewing Center in Upland CA. It was 1957. I rode the bus to the shop and made a hideous pair of orange shorts. It was about then that I realized garment construction wasn’t for me. But I did love the creative, yet obedient, nature of fabric. Eventually, in my 20s, I discovered the art of cutting perfectly lovely fabric into small pieces and stitching them back together. I haven't looked back since.
There isn’t an aspect of the quilt-making process that I don’t enjoy: choosing design and color, prepping the fabric (I ‘starch’), cutting, stitching, pressing, stitching some more, and then, magically, the big picture appears. At the beginning of 2022, I even got myself a 15” midarm. So fun!!!
My first quilt was more than four hundred 4” squares (absolutely not 100% cotton), that my Mom found somewhere, I stitched them together with no direction or plan. I tied it because I didn’t have a clue how to finish it. Then, I bound it with a satin ribbon. It quickly became the ‘sicky’ quilt under which all of my children recovered from various illnesses. That was more than 50 years ago! Good Grief!
I also design and make purses, pouches, and free-standing embroidery designs. I like to stitch. I need to sew. I tell my kids it keeps me out of trouble. After my husband passed, I bought a ‘used’ home near my kids and took the wall down between two small bedrooms to make a nice size studio. And guess what…it still isn’t quite big enough. My daughter came over the other day to find me doing embroidery in the guest room and said “Two Studios?!” I just smiled.
My favorite quilt shop is 35 minutes away. On the way, I pass several other perfectly fine, shops, but my absolute favorite quilt shop is the "Bernina Connection" in Phoenix. I always feel so welcomed there – like Norm walking into Cheers – they say “Cari” and I’m home.
I was an accountant in my former life, so I love the rules. Any rules, give me a rule and I’ll follow it. I rejoice over reconciled accounts, straight lines, and flat borders. I like square quilts. I like being as accurate as I can be at every step, because (as I have recently discovered) a longarm quilter cannot always ‘quilt it out!
Because I like rules, I love Krista’s designs; they lend themselves to accuracy. To date, I’ve made at least fifteen of Krista’s quilt patterns. Many are from her kits, which are absolutely the best kits I’ve ever purchased.
Like Krista, I am dyslexic, so her thinking and mine match up. Beyond that I love her imagination: I mean bees and turtles and sunflowers? Come on!
I’ve enjoyed the quilt-alongs I’ve participated in, but I always get so excited, I cannot wait for the next week. I’d love to say I will be joining for the Gilded Christmas Tree Skirt quilt-along this year, but I’ve already made 4 of them. Yikes…I may need intervention.
Lollipops & Licorice with a twist!
Thanks, Krista for sharing your creativity with us all.
Cari Apostol
There's still time to join! The Gilded Christmas Tree quilt along starts November 15th. Purchase your Gilded Christmas Tree Skirt pattern, then go to www.facebook.com/groups/5565561496856804/
with your pattern number and request to join the group, or type Gilded Christmas Tree Skirt Quilt Along in the Facebook search bar.
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Krista