Hi Quiltly Friends!
Welcome to Alison Barry Quilting! I am Alison, the face behind Alison Barry Quilting! I went down the rabbit hole of quilting in 2019 and have been quilting ever since.
I come by my love for sewing naturally - both my grandma and mom were avid sewists. My grandma made all of my mom's clothes until the day she got married (literally - she made my mom's wedding dress) and my mom embroidered and sewed, countless Halloween costumes and anything else that my brother and I needed.
In 2015, we had friends who were expecting their first child and growing up my mom always gave handmade gifts for momentous occasions. I wanted to embody that giving nature and decided to embroider a birth announcement. While it turned out beautifully, my wrists (thank you carpel tunnel) were not happy for me for months.
In early 2019, my oldest was transitioning from a crib to a twin bed and I wanted to make her a special blanket beyond a tied fleece blanket. In conversations with a friend she mentioned that she always wanted to make a quilt. I took that idea and ran with it, knowing nothing about seam allowances or that I needed an iron. It was not an overly enjoyable process as I was relearning how to use my sewing machine and I had no clue what I was doing.
Then later in 2019, our friends who I made the birth announcement for years prior, announced that they were expecting their second child. Having handmade a gift for their oldest, I could not go out any buy something so I ventured down the quilt path again. This time, however, I watched a ton of YouTube videos, bought an actual pattern, and I purchased the cheapest iron I could find. The result was not perfect, but I was hooked.
Over the next several years, I made numerous quilts for babies, weddings, or just because. I found though that as I was working through patterns, the patterns were not well written and steps were repeated multiple times, which slowed down the creation process.
As a busy mom working a full-time demanding job, the value of one's own time is ever apparent. Also, personally, I thrive on seeing progress and completing a project and tedious piecing instructions were turning me away from something I enjoyed so much.
In order to maximize my time and truly enjoy the quilting process I started rewriting patterns using streamlined piecing techniques, which eventually spawned into me writing my own patterns.
My patterns are big, bold, statement quilts that look complex but in fact are easily pieced and can be constructed quickly.
I look forward to having you join me on this pattern design journey! Make sure to subscribe to my newsletter to get sneak peaks at upcoming patterns, surprise promotions, and other fun quilty adventures that I share!
Happy Quilting!
~Alison