About

Hi! Welcome to my blog!

About Habibi Homemade:

Habibi is an Arabic word that means “my beloved,” which is used for dear friends.  Four college friends created this blog in 2011 to share our love of various crafts with each other and the world.  At some point, the other girls found that the blog did not fit into their crazy schedules.  I was the least experienced blogger at the time (by which I mean zero experience) but I’m slowly learning the ropes as I turn this into a quilting and sewing blog.

About me (rozsamaria):

I’ve been quilting since 2008.  My Hungarian grandmother taught me how to sew when I was a little girl. (Both of my grandmothers were excellent seamstresses and my Hungarian grandmother used to do beautiful needlepoint, and my mother did various needle crafts before she had children.)  A college friend and her father were killed in a car accident a month to the day after graduation and I wanted to make something for her mother.  (I’m not sure why I decided that I should make a quilt, since the  most complicated thing I had ever sewn before on my own was pillows, but I didn’t think it would be so hard.)  I made that quilt, and then I had friends getting married the following spring and I made a log cabin quilt.  Then a friend had a baby and I made a baby quilt.  I don’t think I set out to be a quilter but I became one.  I also sew and sometimes I’ll feature sewing projects, mostly presents I make for family and friends, like aprons and napkins.

I find that quilting relaxes me, although it can be stressful when I’m frantically finishing a quilt because the wedding is next week or I have to rip out a whole row of seams.  It provides me with a creative outlet and I love making things for people.  Most of my quilts are presents, mainly wedding presents and baby quilts, since that’s the stage of life most of my friends are at right now.  I generally make bright, colorful, scrappy quilts full of different prints.  I try to pick colors the recipients will like and use that as my color scheme.  I’d like to branch out into more modern quilts because I think they look so cool, but I haven’t really made that move yet.

I quilt in a tiny city apartment.  I have fabric everywhere.  I store it under the bed and on the dresser, but it spreads out into the living room.  I live with a friend from high school, who is used to my mess, and she’s very patient about the amount of our shared space that my quilting takes up.  (Right now I have two small tables covered in fabric and a pile of partially-finished quilts on a chair.  I guarantee that whenever you view this page, the situation will be similar, if not worse.)  I generally put my quilts together at my parents’ house because they have more space.

I can’t count how many quilts I’ve made anymore.  I lost track.  I generally make between three and five a year, but this year I’m going to surpass that.  I’ve made two for myself, both this year, which I’m using as a bedspread, and one for my boyfriend.  The rest have all gone to family and friends.

I’m always looking to improve with my quilting.  In the future I’d like to show a quilt.  I’d like to try paper piecing.  I’d like to learn to applique properly.  I’d like to improve my free motion quilting skills.  I am working now on improving the blog, which for two years was just a place where I wrote a quick post and threw in some pictures.   As I started to follow other quilt bloggers, I saw how much I could improve my site.  This About post is the first step in that.

Thank you for visiting my blog!  I hope you enjoy it.  Please leave me a comment if there’s something you particularly like, and visit often.

Happy quilting!

Rozsamaria

June 2014

P.S.  Rozsa is the Hungarian word for “rose.”  It’s my Hungarian grandma’s nickname for me.