Exploring talents

We are all given earthly talents. Some of them are natural talents, and some of them take a little honing. Talents come in all shapes, forms, and sizes.
One of my natural talents is being able to handle adversity. My other talents, I think, all are going to take a little honing.
Right now I am trying to explore a couple of different talents, one being the "crafty" version and the other a skill. On the craft side you may notice my blog headers changing periodically. While this is not really a "passion" for me I do find it fun (and fun is always good in trying to wade through adversity) and, who knows, maybe it could even turn into something else... although I cant say I am confident enough for that just yet.
The other talent I am focusing on - the skill - is sewing. Eventually times could get bad enough that knowing how to work a needle, read a pattern, or repair a sock could come in pretty handy. I made my first sewing creations as Christmas gifts, and even though they were well received, I pray that they will hold up (at least to get a few good uses).
This was my first...

Its an "ugly" quilt I made for Andrew and Lisa. Its not made to be especially beautiful, just useful. And I learned a lot. I learned how to sew a straight line (almost). I learned how to measure and cut squares. I learned how to back a quilt. I learned how to tie a quilt. AND I learned that all things come together better if you take your time. Overall though, I had fun doing it and assured them their quilt was made with love.
This was my second...

Another quilt, this time for Kandis. Different fabric. Different challenges. AND I learned a little more... OK, a lot more.
So now, onto my third project.... a king size quilt for our bed! This is kind of where all of the talents I listed in the beginning come together. Adversity = $$, which means I couldn't buy all the fabric at once. Creativity = trying to find fabric and a pattern that both CJ and I would be happy with. Skill = the whole darn thing.

I would like to "journal" my trials of this monster quilting project... so you get to benefit from my learning! Lucky you... unless you decide not to read it... then... whatever... but anyway..
I figured by doing this I will keep myself on track and work on it as much as I can... not getting too discouraged along the way.
SO here is what I started with.

Most of the fabric (still want to find a green and another brown) and tools... once I figured out the design (which is mostly in my head so you can't see a picture of it until its finished).
Step 2 is cutting the squares, then cutting the squares into triangles.

Seems easy enough! So far so good.

Third is sewing the triangles into a block (that's where a pattern comes in handy). My finished block size is 12".. so without knowing what size triangles will make a 12" block... complicated. But my good friend Jessica assures me that its not too math involved... true... if you have a pattern!
So, after jamming the sewing machine a few times (Mom gave me temporary custody of her sewing machine, thanks Mama). Ripping one seam apart, because somehow I managed to sew it incorrectly. AND almost fine tuning the art of measuring... here is my first block!!


I have made 2 so far. YEAH! These blocks are going to make one big square... or probably a diamond (which is actually just a square tipped to the side :0) in the center... and corners... of the quilt. With the solid green and darker brown around that.
The image I have in my mind seems like it will work nicely... hopefully my real life work will come out as well as I envision!!