Wait, what am I doing?

This is my sewing machine. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

It's a Brother CS6000i, and it's my friend Andrea's fault that I own it at all. She convinced me to give quilting a try, and by quilting I mean sewing. And by sewing, I mean cutting fabric into little tiny pieces and sewing them back together in a manner that is appealing. Honestly, what the hell am I doing? Really, she tricked me. She just wanted someone else to sew with. Well, it worked. I'm hooked. 

She gave me a crash course in August/September last year and imparted all sorts of quilt wisdom. The quarter inch importance, what the different fabric cuts mean, how important seam pressing is and anything else we came across while making the pieces for blocks that would eventually look like this:

Have I mentioned I'm wicked proud of myself? I am. I am very, very proud of myself. I'm a huge color lover. I majored in design in college, and being able to physically play with color makes me so incredibly happy. Also, can I just say, I sewed that! I sewed that together! Holy crap! That's kind of a big deal for me, me who hasn't gotten close to being domestic with a 10 foot pole until this last year. 

While working on those blocks, I also received a gift of a Schnibbles kit from Andrea's aunt, Brenda. And, of course, in what I found out was true quilter's fashion, I started it immediately. 

 I finished it two weekends ago during the huge snowstorm that hit the North East (so glad we didn't lose power!) and now I'm working up the courage to sandwich and quilt it myself. I'm so nervous, but I keep looking at it and I know I'm going to finish it soon. 

So, this is my sew-y, quilt-y story to date. I have a quilt-y, sew-y story - which is pretty surprising in and of itself, to be honest. My name is Jess, I love color, and I'm really, really good at ripping seams. Like, professional. If there was an Olympic seam ripping team, I'd be the captain. Wheaties would sponsor me. Really, I'm that good.

Happy crafting!