Welcome Friends!

I'm so excited to have everyone here at My Quilt Infatuation for my stop on Plum and June's 2013 Let's Get Acquainted New Blogger Blog Hop.  Whew!  Try saying that five times fast!

Although I'm not necessarily a new quilter, I'm a very new blogger!  I've only been blogging for about a month, and through this hop, I've really enjoyed meeting lots of new bloggy friends who understand my infatuation with all things fabricy (that's a word, right?) and quilty as well as all of the challenges that go with it.  Here's a quick glance at some of my most recent quilts.  I try not to put a label on my style.  If I like it, I make it!

A few un-quilty bits of info on me-
 
*I went on my first date with husband not too long after I turned 18 and knew I would marry him right away.  We got engaged when I turned 19 and married when I was 21 (which everyone thinks is so young, but somehow it didn't feel like that to us!).  Eighteen years later (and almost 15 years of marriage), he's still my sweetheart.

By the way- this is what happens when you get married before digital photography- pictures that are difficult to get onto the computer with any sort of decent quality.  And just remember when you look at my big hair people- it was 1998 and my up-do was so in!  Cut me some slack!  :)

*My wild thing is a miracle baby.  We went through a lot to have him!  He was born over 8 weeks premature and weighed just over 3 pounds at his tiniest.  He finally got to come home after 5 weeks in the NICU.  You'd never know it now, though!  We've only got one, but he sure is special!

*I was born and raised in Baton Rouge, Louisiana about 15 minutes from LSU, and I bleed purple and gold.  Geaux Tigers!  I graduated from LSU on my wedding day.  It was my grandfather's job on my wedding day to pick up my diploma since I didn't participate in the ceremony.  After our reception, on our way to our honeymoon, we just had to stop at my grandparents' house so I could lay eyes on my college diploma- then we were on our way!

*Like any good Louisiana girl, I like jambalaya, crawfish, and gumbo- and I can cook all of it.

*I am a singer and I have a college minor in Vocal Performance.  Broadway musicals are my guilty musical pleasure.  I know all the words to the songs of almost any well-known musical and I find opportunities to bust out singing them in daily life (wild thing loves it, while my husband tends to roll his eyes with a smirk).

*I am a complete sucker for squishy Boxer jowls.  Seriously, how could I possibly resist this face?  Even though this face would not stop wiggling for a good picture.

Quilty Confessions-

*I sew on a Bernina 550 QE that I just got for Mother's Day.  Before that, I sewed on a Brother CS6000i.

*I made my first quilt in 1999 and did it the hard way.  You can read more about it HERE!

*I just started doing free motion quilting in February.  I only did straight line quilting before, and I tied a few quilts. 

*I never use straight pins for anything.  Really- not anything.  I hold everything together with my fingers while I sew and and adjust it as I need to.  Not technically the "right" way to do things, but until it jumps up and bites me in the behind, I'll continue doing things my way.

*I prefer to do all of my work on the machine, including binding.  I don't know if it's just a weird thing in my head, but I think that machine stitches are stronger than my hand stitches.  Plus, by the time I get to binding, I'm ready for the finish!

*I baste with safety pins.  I've heard talk that spray basting is the most awesome thing ever, but when I tried it, I ended up picking sticky leaf bits out of my batting, I was sticky myself, and seventeen shades of fired-up mad at the whole thing!  To top it all off, I had two puckers in my quilt backing and I vowed that it would be a cold, cold day you-know-where before I spray basted again.  Perhaps I should have picked a less breezy day for my first try?  Which brings me to my next point-

*Basting is the devil- with any method.  I am not kidding.  And so I can keep this polite, I'll not say anything else.

*I only work on one quilt at a time.  I don't even cut fabric for the next project until the binding is stitched and photos are taken of the current one (and now I blog about it before starting a new one too).  The ONLY exception is the Beginner Quilt Along that I have going on.  I have to do it in weekly bits for my beginning quilters (and it is killing me to stare at it unfinished).  Which reminds me-

*I have two big things going on right now at My Quilt Infatuation- first is the Beginner Quilt Along, which was started because friends kept asking me to teach them to quilt (like I needed any encouragement to spread my obsession- I just needed to wait until summer when I have the time). 

*The second big thing happening (starting TODAY, in fact!) is Needle and Thread Thursday!  I'm starting a Thursday link party, since there aren't many for quilters and sewers on Thursdays.  I hope you'll link up and share what you're working on.  Here's the button!

<a href="http://www.myquiltinfatuation.blogspot.com/p/needle-and-thread-thursday.html" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1275.photobucket.com/albums/y450/kellydyoung/NTTButton1_zps9633aaf2.png" border="0" alt="Needle and Thread Thursday" /> </a>

Well, I'm pretty sure I've filled you in on all of the details you wanted to know, and probably some you didn't!  Thanks for stopping by and don't forget to check out the other blog hoppers' posts this week.  They're sure to be fantastic!

Julie @ Jolie Maxtin

Melissa @ Melia Mae Quilting

Adrianne @ On the Windy Side

Molli @ Molli Sparkles

Laura @ Little and Lots

Sarah @ Duck Egg Threads

Cari @ There's a Thread

Valerie @ Between Quilts